The specialists guide to Chinese antiques

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.”

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.

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 »

More on Asian-inspired interior design…

A while back in our post “Are Asian design influences here to stay?” we were discussing the longevity and staying power of Asian Design Influences and Asian Decorating Style. I must say, that when poking around in the interior designer blog community this really seems to be the case. Asian style furniture is really here to stay and as the world continues to become a melting pot due to the internet and global travel I think this will become even more so. Today I stumbled upon another excellent Interior Design Blog by Los Angeles-based celebrity designer, Mark Cutler who has a good post on the “ Asian-inspired” look. Some of the looks are difficult unless you are on the west coast or in say, New York but nevertheless its great stuff.

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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:

Chinese Console Tables 2007 year end round-up

Chinese Table with 3 Drawers, at Golden Triangle

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

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Integrating Tibetan furniture into the home

Chinese furniture is becoming more and more popular, surely about 50% of the decorated homes have an item one or the other Asian style. Before the 90’s Asian furniture used in western interiors was often of a abstract, cold, zen style. Mono-colored cabinets, without any curls. Often plain red or black lacquered. But in the past 10 years there has been a change, and the ‘new’ antique styles became ;more popular. It is a trend in general that since the start of the millennium fashion became less sober, minimalism is over it’s top. Now, colors, ornate carvings, flower scenes, … became possible again.

Mongolian and Tibetan styles are the newest fashion. It are items where colors are very vivid and contrasting. At first glance people often are shocked by the used of yellow with green and red, saying that could never integrate into their classic living room. But that is a false idea. Instead, it will apart from adding color, life and variety to your room. Placed correctly they can be an anchor between 2 places with different color and style.

Interior designers and stylists can again use their skill for combining the right colors. The picture here shows a perfect integration of a Tibetan antique sideboard with strong contrasting colors into a classic country style western dining room. The piece is not screaming out for attention, but subtly adds movement to the space.