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Guest Post: DIY Ideas to Freshen Your Throwaway Furniture

Guest — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:17:55 +0000

Hi Everyone! We know you may be over here shopping for new furniture, but here at Design Public, we love to mix old and new. So while you peruse for the perfect wallpaper or a new big boy bed, consider pieces you may already own to go with them. Here’s Alex Levin , a writer for Granite Transformations (a green remodeling company that advances sustainable construction practices reducing waste and recycling, such as using broken Skyy vodka bottles to make countertops), with some helpful hints about how to re-use and repurpose. take it away Alex!

In today’s economy, replacing outdated, broken or just plain ugly furniture isn’t always affordable. Furthermore, tossing old furniture also costs the earth. Learn to look beyond the finish of a piece of furniture to reveal the construction, design and material underneath. Here are some ideas to get your started.

Potential Projects:

Lightening up old pieces: Worried that your dark brown antique buffet table will look out of place in your new home – but you love the shape? Paint it a bright bold color that will play off other items in the room and throughout your home.

Freshen up a wardrobe: Strip, sand and paint one white for child’s room. Add funky hardware (knobs and pulls can be changed out as your kids grow up).

Reupholster a sofa or chairs: Choose a fabric you like, and find a matching glossy paint for the wood frame and legs. You’ll need ribbon and adhesive glue to keep it in place, upholstery tacks and a staple gun.

Wooden tables, desks and cupboards. Whether you want to paint or sand down to restore the original finish is up to you. Kitchen cupboards gain a whole new lease of life through simple repainting, while desks can look completely

different through a coat of gloss and a new stencil design.

Getting Started

1. Evaluate your existing furniture. Make necessary repairs; fix wobbly legs, fill cracks, and take care of any other structural problems.

2. Look at the finish. Assess if you need to strip and sand before refinishing/painting.

3. Gather supplies. Round up everything from the dust cover to protect the floor to the paintbrush. You may need to purchase a few safety items, like gloves and goggles.

4. Choose a workspace. Factor in the weather, ventilation, and upcoming in-law visits.

Upcycling: Repurpose an Old Item to Make Something New

Here are a few ideas:

Place an old door atop two filing cabinets to create a hard-working desk.
Turn plastic bottles into chandeliers
Make an Adirondack chair from old baseball bats
Turn an iron into a bedside lamp for a unique retro look
Transform a clawfoot bathtub into a sofa
Turn a discarded dishwasher drum into a modern coffee table

Refurbishing old furniture is easier than you think, and is also a lot of fun. A few quick fixes can help your inherited old pieces fit into contemporary surroundings, save you cash and save the planet.

Images:

Designer Interview: Gitane Royce of Modern Playhouse

Becky — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 09:09:41 +0000

Today we’re having a chat with Gitane Royce of Modern Playhouse. These earth- and kiddo-friendly playhouses make cozy modern spots for children to play and imagine. Who knows, they just might inspire your kiddo to become the next Mies!

1. Did you have a playhouse growing up?

I grew up in a rural New England setting and didn’t have a playhouse as a child. Instead I constructed countless forts made in and out of trees, couches, tables, and with lots of blankets. Modern Playhouse is my way of bringing my nostalgic rural childhood memories to an urban setting. The simplicity of my

playhouses leaves plenty of creative room for a child to make a space all her own… as I once did!

2. How did the Modern Playhouse concept develop?

My child was born. I wanted to give her a space truly her own in our home and hacked out my first modernist influenced playhouse for she and her friends to play in. I do maintain that my 2 year old didn’t care about the architectural influence on her playhouse structure but my idea was to make the openings simple enough that she would appreciate her defining space but still have a connection to the outside world from her domain. In this case the outside world was our living room and us.

The inside/outside connection in modernist architecture is well documented and I think a nice concept for childhood on so many different levels. I began to get orders for playhouses from other families in our San Francisco community and the Modern Playhouse concept was born: simple modern design for kids, made from sustainable materials, easily assembled, and made in the USA.

3. How do kiddos respond to your playhouses?

With overwhelming cheer! The pre-walkers crawl in and pop themselves up at the window, the early toddlers open and close the door and sit at the table with delight, and the 2 yr+ kids

engage in pretend play or artistic endeavors, snack eating, house decorating, and everything a child does but all with a proud sense of place. It is so fun to watch the kids play in their houses! Child-led play is so nice to observe and so important developmentally for them.

4. Why do you think it’s important to produce earth friendly products for kids?

I truly believe that good product design for kids has a sustainable element…whether it be recycled, recyclable, repurposed, made close to home, or made from responsibly managed raw materials. I think as a parent and business owner on this planet I am COMPELLED to do the best I can to manufacture

my kids products incorporating elements from the above list. By manufacturing this way, my hope is that my products reuse traditional waste materials, create less green house gases, and ultimately get passed on to other families after they are no longer needed. Truly there is nothing more satisfying than offering handcrafted, non-toxic, and long lasting sustainable products to my customer. Ok, besides the sheer joy the houses bring to the kids!

5. What is in the future for Modern Playhouse?

As a one-woman show and a parent, everything happens at Modern Playhouse from my perspective… and to coin a phrase from my father-in-law… in the fullness of time. Having said that, I am delighted to launch the Puzzle House during Fall 2011. This house goes together…well, like a puzzle… and is

manufactured from sustainable domestically sourced wood products. The Puzzle has a slightly smaller footprint than my existing playhouses. The Modern Playhouse product line has a bright future with other exciting products to be released in Spring 2012!

We can’t wait to see what’s coming down the pipe from Modern Playhouse. In the meantime, shop all Modern Playhouse.

Flickr Fave of the Week: Look Up!

Becky — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 10:00:42 +0000

How gorgeous is this ceiling? Apparently, it’s crafted from recycled wood. I spied it over on Flickr, and it was added by Flickr member Jeremy Levine Design.

According to the description, he made a lot of green moves in this project, including: gray water recycling, solar energy, passive thermal, daylighting, adding an interior pocket courtyard with bamboo garden and drought tolerant landscaping. To learn more, check out jeremylevine.com.

Green Tuesdays: An Inspiring Rooftop Farm

Becky — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:38:38 +0000

I know we’re a little early for garden talk for most parts of the country, but I was just reading about urban gardner Annie Novak in who brought this 6000 square foot rooftop garden in Greenpoint Brooklyn to fruition. The Eagle Street Rooftop Farm has a Sunday market and also provides fresh produce to local restaurants.

This innovative farm utilizes the latest rooftop gardening technologies while remaining organic, which is not an easy feat. Luckily Novak is up for the job, and has an eager corps of volunteers she’s training to be urban farmers. The fresh food and the view are their own reward.

To learn more about where to buy their produce or to volunteer, check out rooftopfarms.org.

Top photo via Flickr, photos 2 & 3 from rooftopfarms.org.

Flickr Faves on Fridays: Reclaiming and Repurposing

Becky — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:46:20 +0000

Today’s flickr fave comes from our industrious and creative pal, furniture designer Thomas Wold. Thomas collects and reassembles cabinetry and other furniture and creates spectacular assemblages. I’m especially loving the mix of colors and shapes in this one, and the fact that I can squint at the picture and get a peek at what else is going on in Thomas’s studio and try to guess what’s coming next!