Bringing Home a Piece of New York

Do you have today off of work?  Me too!  Ok, not really since my work tends to blend with the rest of my life, but all the tasks on my list for today are fun, fun, fun.  They'll have me running all over New York with my partner in crime, er design, which happens to be one of my favorite ways to spend a day.

Even after living here almost seven years, I still love exploring the city.  I know I share that sentiment with a whole lot of New Yorkers (as well as many of you who are New Yorkers at heart), so I can't be the only one who loves the idea of being able to take home a piece of the city's vibrancy.  These industrial designers/artists have tapped into that concept by repurposing pieces of New York.

Armchair and Dining Table with Stools by Made of New York

How can you not admire Made of New York?  It's a collaboration between three incredibly talented individuals: John-Michael Ekeblad, design strategist and creative director of Daytime Projects, Inc, formerly creative director of IKEA Sweden; Jonathan Locke, a furniture designer for Timehri Studios; and Brian Kane, a timber sourcing and construction effort from Gotham Forest Projects.  Together, they salvage timber from all over the city, build each piece by hand, and only use environmentally friendly production processes in an effort to sustain the wood's "naturally worn out beauty and charm."  Not only do I want to take home a number of pieces from this collection (can we just talk about this catch-all organizer for a minute?), but it has me completely inspired to take up woodworking.  Seriously.

Hooker & Co. coffee table with cash register drawer

Hooker & Co. also uses reclaimed materials from throughout the city, but has a different aesthetic. While Jesse Hooker's custom pieces still pay tribute to their origins, they tend toward clean and modern, rather than raw and unfinished.

Buying a piece of furniture made from reclaimed or repurposed materials is one way to connect with your city, but it reminded me of the yet another way of putting rejected materials to good use.  It's as simple as keeping your eyes open while walking down the street and the best part is it's free. Yes, I'm talking about bringing home your neighbors' (and I use that term loosely since I've definitely lugged things home from well outside what could reasonably be referred to as my neighborhood) cast offs.  To avoid bed bugs and the heebie-jeebies, I'd definitely avoid anything with upholstery, but solid wood items are fair game.  In fact, our office recently benefited from the addition of two beautiful wooden ladder shelving units rejected by someone in my building (I'll have to owe you a photo since I'm writing this from my dining room table instead of the office).

If you're not so sure about picking up perfectly good furniture off the street, consider this: you know those amazing end tables you saw at the flea market yesterday for 75 bucks a pop?  The guy selling them picked them up while trolling the upper east side on garbage day.  Really, it's true.  Found furniture also makes a great excuse to go to the gym.  You'd hate to pass up the perfect console table due to weak biceps.

Happy President's Day!