Barnwood Desk and Cradenza
I possess a few family antiques, the cedar chest that my grandfather made for my grandmother and various other pieces handed down. What I did not possess was a headboard and frame for my bed, a desk arrangement that would fit a very specific space and need, something to put my collection of DVDs into, dressers for my clothes, and bookcases (lots of bookcases!).
Now up until this point my decorating style could best be described as early geek meets treehugger. As long as my laptop was not going to fall on the floor I was pretty good with that. As long as the chair or couch was comfortable enough for me and the dog to stay ensconced for extended sessions of gaming that was fine. But starting out on a totally new life after a divorce makes one reconsider odd things. In my case, furniture.
I decided I wanted my new furniture to match the few good antique pieces I had, but I couldn’t afford more antiques. I decided I wanted pieces that were consistent with my goal of living a 3Rs lifestyle, but the pieces needed to fit in precise spaces in my new home. So how do you find furniture that looks old, adheres to the renew/reuse/recycle lifestyle and fits in specific spaces and stays within a modest budget? My solution was to have custom furniture made using recycled barnwood. Now the thought of custom made furniture usually means you are going to part with large sums of money, but I found a place where you can custom design your furniture for size, look and function AND it was less or the same price as the particleboard/laminate stuff at the local furniture stores. Additionally, each piece is solid wood that is hundreds of years old. New antiques.
This amazing place is called Cherry Acres Furniture in Lititz, PA. I happened to be visiting friends who live in Lititz when we went into the Cherry Acres store on Main Street. At first I just thought it was cool that all their beautiful furniture was made from recycled wood. Then I started asking a lot of questions and soon I was placing an order. Besides their store, they also have a website you can google, but the website doesn’t do justice to the furniture in their store or the magic they can work if you have an idea about what you want.
I didn’t even have to pay to have the furniture shipped. I picked up my furniture when the owners were attending a furniture show here in Massachusetts! If you are trying to lead a green lifestyle and are considering new furniture you ought to check them out. I really loved it when the guys I hired to unload the furniture said, “We will be really careful with these, they are obviously antiques.” If I need more furniture in the future I will definitely go to these guys.
Barnwood Stackable Book Boxes
Reporduction Barnwood Headboard
Barnwood Stackable Book Boxes
In the early 1990s I was a part of a project for NASA called EOS. EOS stands for Earth Observing System. Unlike the Hubble project, whose goal was to look out as far as possible into space and map that distance, EOS was tasked with gathering as much data on the state of this little blue marble that we call home. EOS was, and still is, a coordinated series of polar orbiting and low inclination satellites for long term observations of our planet. EOS monitors and records the state of land surface, the biosphere, the atmosphere and the oceans 24/7.