Trend Guide: Rustic furniture made from reclaimed elm and other salvaged woods

I was in the warehouse the other day looking over some pieces when I was reminded how much reclaimed, recycled and/or renewable materials are definitely a growing trend. A quick Google turns up a range of articles from Reclaimed furniture: Give trees a chance to buzz on various designer blogs. Even Furniture Industry trade publications are recognizing this trend which really started to take off last year. Furniture Today wrote an article entitled “Several sources introduce lines with reclaimed wood.” Another from FurnitureStyle Magazine is called “Las Vegas Furniture Market: Beyond Distressed.”

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Reclaimed & salvaged materials are environmentally friendly in that there are no new trees cut down to make the piece. Sources of wood may be old railroad ties, beams from old houses that have been demolished or even old doors. Old elm tends to be a favorite as Elm in fairly common in China. Pine is also an option as well. Other woods are also used like cypress, walnut or beech though these woods are much less common and not available in large quantities.

common reclaimed wood types.thumbnail Trend Guide: Rustic furniture made from reclaimed elm and other salvaged woods reclaimed elm table s6001591.thumbnail Trend Guide: Rustic furniture made from reclaimed elm and other salvaged woods Trend Guide: Rustic furniture made from reclaimed elm and other salvaged woods

Since the material has been aged it tends to be more stable then new wood (which must otherwise be kiln dried and chemically treated before it can be made to be stable). In essence, pieces created from salvaged materials are antique in a very unusual way – as the materials themselves have their own story, rather then the finished piece. Finishes are less of an issue to as rather then spend time carefully creating the right distressed finish, the focus is on the already distressed natural appearance of the wood. Construction is typically using the traditional methods of tongue/groove and Chinese joinery.Reclaimed wood furniture tends to fall within either one of following three classifications: Read the rest of this entry »

Hot Seller: Porcelain Garden Stools, everyone loves them!

garden stool from gumps.thumbnail Hot Seller: Porcelain Garden Stools, everyone loves them!

Porcelain garden stools continue to remain extremely popular. They seem to add a nice touch to either the living room or the garden which makes them quite versatile. And there is quite a lot of variety in styles. Which may explain why they are selling so well out on the web. They were even featured in Elle Decor. There is also quite a lot of buzz on the design blogs on this topic as well including one amusing post entitled Are we over garden stools ? on a witty blog which describes itself as porn for decor addicts (love it!). On commenter on the post has the following to say about garden stools:

Garden stools are like bentwood dining chairs, Oriental rugs, tansu chests, club chairs, those plain swing-arm lamps Billy Baldwin loved, and large mirrors over fireplaces. They can be abused, and they can go through phases of being overly much in one’s face — but they’re never truly OUT.

A common question amongst buyers is how to distinguish between the various offerings out there on different websites. Stools break down into three categories:

  •  Antique/Vintage
  • Hand made (new)
  • Mass produced (New)

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Hot Seller: Chinese Calligraphy Brushes

green 500.thumbnail Hot Seller: Chinese Calligraphy Brushes

 Chinese horse hair calligraphy brushes seem to be a hot seller recently. Actually, they have been doing well for quite some time now. We get quite a number of requests for them, particularly from smaller shops, boutiques and designers. They make great accessory items which fit with a range of decorating styles – and depending on how they are displayed, can be seen either as “exotic,” “world traveler,” or simply “oriental.” They are small enough to ship express and inexpensive enough to be impulse buys (while thinking about larger purchases). Whats not to like about them? They come in a range of materials from carved green jade, carved stone, pearl, bone handle, bamboo, glass beads or Cloisonne.

Sidenote: Have a quick look at this video of Chinese water graffiti which I found on Reuben Miller’s blog. Pretty cool actually and yes, some of the larger brushes do get used for this in fact. Every time I go to Jing Shan park in Beijing there is always someone doing this.

Like these brushes? Head over to our Home decor reference catalog for wholesalers to get some for yourself.

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A true work of art – The making of a Chinese lacquered room divider/chinoiserie screen

 

Chinoiserie screens are always a favorite with interior designers and today, we give you a detailed glimpse into the workshop of an artist craftsmen and let you see the many steps required to create a perfect lacquer painting.

2243528513 7a5a05205d A true work of art The making of a Chinese lacquered room divider/chinoiserie screen

Note: The large versions of these photos are online: http://www.flickr.com/photos/acf-china/2243528705/

The art of lacquer painting is a ancient one, originating in China thousands of  years ago.  In the Neolithic age (about 7,000 years ago), while cutting down trees, the precursors to Chinese people realized that the sap of the lacquer trees could be applied to walls, furniture and other objects, thus giving birth to primitive lacquer art. Painting with lacquer is a meticulous and time-consuming process which most people fail to realize or appreciate. It is a very meticulous labor of love to create a lacquer painting and the process can take at least several weeks or in the case of a series of panels, more then several months to complete. Lacquer paintings & screen panels are traditionally created in three styles which correlate to the color of the paintings background:

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What Chinese Style Furniture is hot this year?

There is a great little blog apartmenttherapy.com which covers New York, San Francisco, Chicago & New York. Its really less of a blog, and rather more of a series of columns written and posted by interior designers.

We love the look of antiques or imports mixed with more modern furniture. One piece that almost always fits right into a modern setting is the Chinese console table. Originally used as altar tables in homes and temples, their proportions make them the perfect console. Styles vary widely, from plain and simple to extremely ornate. We like to see one beautifully carved elaborate piece in a minimalist home, or you could go the other direction and keep it simple with a spare wooden console.

Definitely worth taking a look at to see what the popular looks are at any given moment. By the way, the searches and content vary depending on each city – great to see the differences in say Chicago vs New York. Anyways, I did a search on Chinese to see what comes up. Here is a sampling of what people seem to be interested in this year:

12 6 07console1.thumbnail What Chinese Style Furniture is hot this year?

Chinese Console Tables 2007 year end round-up

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Chinese Table with 3 Drawers, at Golden Triangle

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Vintage Cabinet from Jayson Home & Garden, $1,395

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The specialists guide to Chinese antiques is Stephen Fry proof thanks to caching by WP Super Cache