Why Should I Invest in Reclaimed Teak Furniture?

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If you are an eco-conscious home designer, you've probably asked yourself this simple question: Why should I invest in reclaimed teak furniture?

In this day and age, many of us are eager to do our part to protect our endangered resources and our beleaguered environment. The problem is, not very many of us are willing to practice good stewardship and promote eco consciousness when it is inconvenient for us. Sustainable furniture, for example, is a great investment for any “green” home, but it comes with a deterring price tag. But while “sustainable” furniture suggests a plantation process in which forests are replanted as quickly as they are cut down, you should know that there are other ways to be “eco friendly” even if it’s not sustainable. One way to minimize your carbon footprint while maximizing the comfort of your furniture is to check out reclaimed wood furniture.

You can find all sorts of “reclaimed wood,” but the definition of “reclaimed” often varies. Sometimes, it means that the wood you are purchasing is a composite material made of many different wood types, scrap pieces, that are ground and adhered together again. Like particle board or MDF, this wood is “green” in the sense that it is re-using waste products for brand new applications. Sometimes, though, “reclaimed” wood is not a composite. As is the case with most reclaimed teak and reclaimed rosewood, the wood product is merely taken from one application and re-implemented in another. For example, reclaimed teak furniture is often built from wood products removed from old or dilapidated homes slated for destruction.

Whole reclaimed wood is not only the easiest way to get your eco friendly furniture, it is also the best-looking. Because it is solid wood, reclaimed teak furniture retains its natural beauty in any capacity. Reclaimed teak also tends to be less expensive than freshly cut teak lumber or sustainable plantation wood (the cost of which covers, in part, administrative costs of cutting and regrowing forests).

This is why reclaimed teak furniture is such a great investment. With it, you can have some gorgeous furniture in your home (and as we know, teak has its very own unique aesthetic that makes it very desirable for home designs), without having to worry about your impact on our worldwide environment (as some of us know, teak is a very rare wood that really only grows in Indonesia, Australia, and parts of Africa – a finite resource indeed).

So go ahead and invest in some stunning green furniture using reclaimed wood. You will be doing your part to protect our environment, even as you decorate your home!