Grow Your Own Furniture? Our Top Three...
We’re always keen to check out the latest furniture designs, and we think we’ve find the most bizarre product - and it helps if you’re greenfingered!
The greenest furniture ever?
Our team recently attended Clerkenwell Design Week and really enjoyed seeing the very creative fixtures and furnishings on show. An exhibit that really stood out was one that took a little of the outside in, with flowers planted in old tyres - the finished result looked really contemporary. We found another way interiors are making the most of the great outdoors… introducing tables and chairs you can cultivate in your garden!
1. How does your chair grow
Recent reports feature designer Munro who spends lots of time turning live trees into items of furniture, like chairs. It’s believed the practice of evolving seating from living flora has gone on for many years, especially in China, but modern times gives practitioners of this hobby more tools to ‘train’ trees!
It takes Munro many years to produce a finished product as he guides branches to grow in different directions according to the ‘blueprint’ of the item he wants. He uses plastic frames to coax branches into different shapes, and once this is completed he cuts out the ‘chair’ and sands it down to take away the rough edges - seating is expected to go on sale in 2017!
Resource: http://www.gizmag.com/full-grown-tree-furniture-munro/37709/
2. Feel serene in green
Not all living furniture - as it’s often referred to - takes several years of hard work to create. In fact you could even have your own grassy armchair in several weeks. Many of us like to lie around on the sunbaked grass when the long-awaited Summer arrives, but it’s not always as comfortable as it looks, throw in some insects and the odd damp patch from the last shower and we’re reaching for the picnic blankets quicksmart.
The Terra Grass Armchair goes someway in solving some of these issues. It’s basically a cardboard frame that is filled with soil and seeds, resulting in an armchair made from grass, you may get a few insects along for the ride, but you’ll probably be a bit more comfortable.
Resource: http://www.firebox.com/product/854/Terra-Grass-Armchair
3. A bench with a view
If reclining on grass isn’t to your liking, then you might prefer taking some time out to watch the world go by on a living bench instead! No grass is included in this particular design, but you do get a beautiful green canopy to sit under. Roots entwine downwards around the seating areas eventually trailing under it. Created by TreeNovation, the company uses similar techniques to Munro, guiding branches into templates where they harden enough to support sitters.
We think these methods of producing furniture are very ecologically friendly, and who knows, if the process can one day be quickened up, you might be able to hire chairs from us that we grew in our warehouse!
Resource: http://www.mnn.com/your-home/remodeling-design/photos/7-examples-of-living-furniture/living-bench