Many homes and businesses are choosing to use recycled materials for interior design. It’s no longer just a piece of furniture or flooring. It’s now a piece of history . It’s a part of a story that’s going into your architecture.
Recycled Timber
This trend began in the 1980s. Timber is now being restructured and re-appreciated in many different ways. It’s only old growth timbers that display unique qualities that are sought after by many interior designers.
Being mainly used for structural purposes, the beauty and individual effects of timber has often been overlooked. Now we observe the varying colours and grains and so they become recycled interior design or dress timber.
There are two main types of recycled timber, salvaged and re-milled.
Salvaged comes from old buildings that have been torn down or are falling apart. It can be quite strenuous and time consuming to lay as flooring. There can be gaps or noticeable grooves. But many prefer this ‘earthy’ style. It’s seen as warm and comforting. This type of recycled interior design really shows it’s history.
Try to contact your supplier and make sure it has been inspected. If not, it may have grooves close to cracking, some areas may be sanded too thin or it may even have nails still sticking out of it.
Using re-milled timber for recycled interior design is the more ‘dressed out’ option. It is sourced from second hand materials. Once found, it is sanded, polished, and re-milled to look brand new. Re-milled timber will fit neatly together as flooring, and will display its colour and grain as a feature.
When considering recycled interior design in any manner, it’s important to make enquiries as to how the materials were stored – for instance perhaps if it was stored undercover or if it was rained on during demolition.
Salvaged wood can be given to you dirty. It can be extremely hard to lay if this is the case. If you’re sourcing salvaged wood for recycled interior design, enquire as to if it has been cleaned or not.
Recycled interior design is doing wonders for the environment. Being eco-friendly and a beautiful addition to any room, recycled interior design provides a myriad of benefits.
However, because of the long process requires to attain recycled timber, it is more expensive. Your supplier needs to have it removed from the building, milled, cleaned and made into new flooring. It’s a costly process, but recycled interior design is a beautiful and unique way to add history to your home.
Recycled timber is structurally sounder, even though it is more expensive. The timber has already had time to acclimatise, there is less movement in the wood and the moisture content would have dropped significantly. All this makes it perfect for creating furniture or recycled interior design.
But its not just timber making its way into the heart of recycled interior design, there are many examples of people using wine bottles as pots for plants, and old binders as a headboard.
Many artists are now turning to the trash heaps to find their next treasure. Recycled interior design is a growing trend all over the world and many architects are trying to find ways to recycle whole buildings.
From shipping containers to old bicycle wheels, anything can be used to create new and inventive pieces to use in recycled interior design. You’re not only doing your bit for the environment but you get a charming piece of art or history to transform any living space!
