Trend: Shipping Pallet Furniture

Pallet shelving (Love!) via Remodelista

 The most utilitarian piece of junk has recently stormed the design front in every application from headboard to sofa to wall shelf. The industrial look combined with everybody's favourite price (free) is definitely going to appeal, but there are two things that people may not be aware of. One very, very good, and one potentially very, very bad. Uh-oh.

This is actually wine crates, but same principle... and cooler IMO... via itsdesigned.

Years ago I dated a guy briefly who was figuring out how to build his house. He wanted to put as much re-use into it as possible and the creative genius he showed was waaaay out of the box. One of the things that impressed me the most was his research into things that, at the time, were unheard of.

Pallet pieces cut and placed in a herringbone pattern. Photo from a welltraveledwoman.com

 He decided to create the flooring from lathed pallets as they are found in alleys all the time with signs begging people to take them away. It occurred to him that since these pallets were generally coming from overseas, they would be made from wood that would be considered exotic to us. He took some samples to the woodworking school, and his suspicions were confirmed. Mahogany was everywhere, and many more types were found as well. The process of lathing the pieces down to similar size/thickness was offset by that gorgeous price tag. He was sold. So was I. I have been filing that in the back of my brain for over a decade now, and that is the very, very GOOD thing... exotic hardwood flooring, for FREE. Combined with my desire to reclaim and re-use and generally leave as small a footprint as possible... this is all good, right?

Headboard via desire to inspire

I have used pallets as sofa frames, fencing, and garden plot framing. I am the pallet PR person. It always seems like a good thing to me when you get creative with your sources, and some of these back alley pallets are new wood! The thing that kept me from using too many inside the home was the birth of Thing 1 and Thing 2.

Having kids meant that I started asking questions I would maybe not have otherwise. One year when I was looking for wood for a project, I hauled some pallets to my parent's place to use my stepfather's saws. He asked me if I was aware of the amount of toxins that were sprayed on the pallets before they were shipped overseas to keep any bugs or spores or what-have-you from traveling with them. Enter very, very BAD scenario. The things I was making were intended for the kids room, so I did some research, and what I found was not very happy.

Painting them out seemed like a good option. I really liked the wood look and feel though. And I am still unclear as to how bad the toxins are if they are painted over. Does it seal them in? Or are we taking chemical reaction on instead? Ugh. I am not here to scare the bejeezus out of anyone, but as I am seeing these everywhere (and loving the look) I thought somebody might want to bring it up. So far I haven't seen the subject of toxins raised anyplace else on the design blog front.

Like any worthy question, this one raises more questions... we all know that many of the furniture and finishing products in our houses conventionally are filled with toxins already, so if we are the type to just go and buy a whatever sofa, then wouldn't it be fine to jump on this trend? Absolutely. Many of the chemical treatments are the same (formaldehyde etc.) as a sofa from Target or Crate & Barrel or wherever, and this is far better for the environment in the sense that it is keeping these pallets out of a landfill. Could you varnish or somehow seal the wood first? Sure, if the woman down at "Colour Your World" is correct, any treatment of that type will seal in the toxins and you don't have to worry.

There is also the option of the greener pallet. They do exist, and if you are using pallets that were used to ship domestically (within your own country) there is a much greater chance that toxins were not used. There are also companies that use a heating process to treat their pallets instead of toxins. If you take the time to ask a few questions, not only will you find (hopefully) some answers, but you will have the added benefit of raising awareness with the companies using toxic shipping meathods. The demand for less toxins and environmentally damaging processes in the world from a consumer perspective always starts with asking questions!

Coffee table from upcycled pallet via Tina's Apt.

All in all, this is a trend that I LOVE. I really want to see more of this inventiveness and out of the box thinking during the time of economic crisis and the need of the common folk have always been the catalyst of such. I can't wait to see what's next!

Industrial Resoloution

I like old stuff. I mean I really like old stuff. It's kinda ridiculous really. I finally had to stop dragging home junk from junk shops because I don't have space for things I don't even understand, let alone use. There is a junk shop in town that is owned by this family who are old time Nelsonites. They are probably part of a lineage from the days when there was silver here, and most of the stuff in their shop is probably left overs from that rush. They also own half of Nelson's real estate and every time somebody moves out of one of their rentals whatever is left behind gets stored in the basement of the house, so there is literally a ton of houses in this town with a ton of junk that gets eventually put in this store to be sifted through. An ongoing garage sale. Ten per cent of it is really worth something, but the  part I like is the ninety per cent  that is dusty and missing a few pieces and it is questionable as to what it actually for. I know, ridiculous.

 Part of my brain, the smart part, understands that it is much MUCH easier to simply find the right thing for the job online. For those of you who live in a city, any city really, I am sure you have access to places where it is simple enough to find old industrial things, or at least knock off industrial pieces these days since the look of the last few years has had a definite industrial edge. I find something infinitely funny about companies knocking off old stuff. That is one of those things that the aliens are going to label us with when they find us: "Manufactures new items that resemble to a great degree, artifacts from many earth years previous for the collections of other humans to place randomly throughout their living areas for no apparent reason". Yup, that's us. If I could get there though, these beauties from Urban Outfitters would be coming home with me. You know, so I could "organize" my office and living room areas.

Also, that chair that was meant to be reupholstered not so long ago... yeah, turns out that wasn't as easy a fix as they make it look on TV. Granted, it was a few years ago that I watched those shows now... like, ten. But if I can sew something somebody wants to get married in, why shouldn't I be able to sew a fairly straightforward slipcover? Even if it IS out of ten smallish and odd shaped pieces of fabric that were unearthed in a FREE bin. I want my chair to look like THIS:

...and the gorgeous setee and pouf can come along for the ride. If I could have a house chock full of vintage chairs and sofas, I would be a happy camper. Why it is that my family doesn't see the gloriousness in every single chair with good lines in the thrift store is beyond me. Sigh.

Oh well, I am still on the hunt for some amazing industrial type pieces for my place, but I prefer the real stuff. I guess it's a good thing I can't just run to Urban Outfitters and pick up a piece on a whim. (Their prices are ridiculously low and they actually do ship some stuff to Canada.) If there was anything in my bank account and I could visualize not having a coronary over the shipping, I would be all over anything from the Justin Real shop on Etsy.

Some of these pieces found by my friend Jenn over at The Chicks blog would be very happy in my space. Anything with metal wheels is my friend. She has such an amazing eye and talent for thrifting, but also knows so many fabulous places to score a unique find in and around Vancouver. I think I may just have to get her to bring me a funky wheelie thing or two when she comes to visit me.

Of course, when I moseyed over there to grab the photo and URL I found so many more things to gawk at, so you may want to head over for a gander. I love their style :)

So basically I am spending this time procrastinating and mentally redecorating instead of figuring out my tax stuff, the hydro bill, Liam's medical card scenario... all the stuff I should be doing right now. Back at it I guess... or maybe to the thrift store to see if there are any chairs that need a new home! Hmmm...