Italian designer Tommaso Guerra has an amazing way of transforming everyday practical objects into designs with new meaning and expression. By filling glass jars taken from his grandmother’s pantry with 20 different colors, he has created a colorful and enchanting chandelier that would spark up any ceiling.

+ Tommaso Guerra

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Post tags: colorful jars, colorful light, glass jars, green design, green lighting, recycled light, Recycled Materials, repurposed, sustainable design, tommaso guerra

The Golden Gate Bridge is a vital 1.7 mile transportation link that serves 40 million vehicles a year. Now, thanks to Richard Bulan, this 75-year-old pedestrian-friendly feat of engineering could become a monumental addition to your home decor. Bulan founded the Golden Gate Bridge Furniture Company in 1996, after having purchased 2,557 feet of weathered railing from the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District. He has been designing and crafting limited edition artisan steel furniture from the iconographic San Francisco landmark ever since.

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Post tags: "golden gate furniture company", "green furniture", Custom Furniture, custom made, Desk Lamp, eco-art, golden gate bridge, green business, green design, kitchen table, Recycled Materials, repurposed, richard bulan, San Francisco, sf made, side table, steel furniture

Summer may be coming to an end, but our longing for the sea and sand hit us with full force when we saw this gorgeous collection of Living Sails Furniture by Dvelas. Repurposed by hand from canvas no longer appropriate for use as sails, each piece is designed to evoke the spirit of the boats from whence they came, and the seas they once navigated.

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Post tags: "green furniture", adaptive reuse, bespoke furniture, canvas, Dvelas, eco design, green design, green materials, Living Sails, repurposed, sails, Spain, sustainable design

Spotted at this year’s New Designers exhibition in London, Royal Stool and 46 (table) are a series of furniture pieces inspired by the culture of recovery and reuse. Designed by Lebanese-born Niloufar Afnan, these recycled stools and tables are made from scrap materials, decontextualized objects and found furniture parts that have been assembled together in a new way. After conducting a 4-year-long photography-based research project in Beirut called Inviting Surfaces, the designer was able to express people’s everyday creativity and problem solving through new, functional objects.

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Post tags: "green furniture", Art, beirut, Central St. Martin’s University, DIY, london design, reclaimed furniture, Recycled Materials, repurposed, reuse

Shipping containers are often repurposed as houses, apartments and studios, but Swedish artist Michael Johansson sees them as building blocks for his sculptures. In a new exhibit in Umeå, Sweden, Johansson stacks shipping containers, shipping pallets, trash cans, a volvo, a tractor and an old RV to create art that any hipster would be jealous of. The result is Self Contained, a three dimensional temporary wall that is a fascinating collage of textures, colors and repurposed objects.

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Post tags: "self contained", Art, collage, eco design, eco-art, found objects, green design, michael johansson, pallets, recycled, repurposed, repurposed materials, shipping container art, shipping containers, Sweden, umedalan skulptur 2010, vintage

A group of Danish students have created a super cute phone booth from an old beauty parlor hair dryer. Who knew lookin’ like a grandma could be so cool? The design is genius and seamlessly uses one device’s form and function and molds it into another completely different object. They rewired the thing, added a giant keypad, some microphones and voila you’ve got yourself a telephone.

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Post tags: beauty parlor, comet, hair dryer, mobile, phone booth, public spaces, recycled, repurposed, Technology

Constructed of salvaged piano keys, Designer Andrew Rumpler’s latest project repurposes the ivories to compose – a chair! Named in honor of 1940s stride pianist Arthur Tatum, the lounge marries concept and function to get its name—a play on words derived not only from the “lounge” style chair, but also the Harlem venues Tatum frequented as a pianist.

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Post tags: "green furniture", andrew rumpler, eco design, green design, piano parts, recycled furniture, repurposed, sustainable design, tatum's lounge, upcycled

Israeli designer Yoav Avinoam has developed a handcrafted method for casting unique furniture from repurposed sawdust. His beautiful tables and stools juxtapose various textures and are crafted using a mixture of resin and sawdust from a variety of different woods. Because of its excellence in craftsmanship, his Shavings Table was recently honored in Designboom’s Intelligent Hand competition.

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Post tags: coffee table, furnitue, Israeli, material, molded, process, repurposed, sawdust, shavings

Skateboards these days are amazing examples of graphic design, and some are practically objets d’art – what a shame that they should to go to a landfill after the boards have lost their pop! Thankfully, Pennsylvania-based Deckstools is here to keep art from the trash heap and to add style to your pad with their striking line of furniture made from reclaimed skateboards.

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Post tags: Art, craft, deckstool, green furniture, jason podlaski, philadelphia, reclaimed wood, repurposed, skateboard, skateboarding, skating, stool

Not since the advent of the tin can telephone have we seen such an ingenious use for cast-off cans! Designer and recent graduate of Northumbria University Jack Bresnahan has created a set of nine lids that will turn any ordinary can into an industrial-chic container that looks like it came from a museum store. Made from biodegradable plastic, the sterile-looking white lids will transform a can into a vase, soap dispenser, sugar caster, tea and coffee canisters, toothbrush holder, money box, or desk organizer.

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Post tags: Bresnahan, can, container, graduate student, industrial, ingenuity, lids, New designers 2009, recyclable, repurposed, tin can

If you are looking for a cabinet that is every bit as interesting as the trinkets that it contains, search no further. Open since April 2008, Tel Aviv-based Ori Ben-zvi’s Ubico Studio gives the world a refreshing take on repurpoused objects with his beautiful ready made products. His study of function, material and form is evident with their legged cabinet line – the twist is that the cabinets appear to be constructed from discarded drawers, but instead they are built from scratch from reclaimed timber that has been reworked into cabinet form. The angled back and the addition of legs allows the drawer-cum-cabinet to conform to the wall. This method of production enables Ubico Studio’s designs to be repeatable for larger run production, but also keeps the visual charm of a found object reborn into a second life.

+ Ubico Studio

Photos by Sahar Tamir, illustrations and graphic design by Ellia Nattel

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Post tags: cabinet, drawer, green furniture, Israeli, prototype, repurposed, research, Studio Ubico, study, surrealist

Simple yet clever, we’re raising our glasses to the inventive repurposing behind the Re-Juicer. The Re-Juicer turns an orange into OJ with the twist of a wrist and a plastic water bottle. Another cheeky product from New York designer and founder of Amron Experimental, Scott Amron, the Re-Juicer is made from the bottom part of a Poland Springs water bottle. Because of the bottle’s inherent flexibility, it easily bends to pour your fresh squeezed juice into a glass. Cheers to that!

+ Re-Juicer

+ Amron Experimental

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Post tags: candull, die electric, re juicer, rejuicer, repurposed