Recycled Furnishings from Oak Barrel Company

(Piano Table, courtesy of The Oak Barrel Company)Janet Ramin - Did you ever experience the furniture blahs? It happens when you look at a lot of furniture and they all start looking alike – the same old shapes, the same types of wood, the same old ideas regurgitated in a different color. If you’re looking for something truly unique – a one-of-a-kind piece – that you know you won’t stumble over in your friend’s living room or your aunt’s home, then you should visit the American Craft Show, recently held at the Jacob Javits in NYC this past weekend.

The American Craft Show is only in its second year of existence but there are already outstanding exhibitors. We saw some very unique and attention-grabbing pieces including the following from the Oak Barrel Company.

The Oak Barrel Company’s mission is to reclaim, reuse, and recreate quality furniture. Designer Chris Deffenbaugh takes pieces that are slated for the landfill, such as oak barrels, and creates furniture and accessories from them. The Candela centerpiece below is made from a single oak stave of a retired wine barrel. In our first photo above and displayed at the American Craft Show, we have a piano table. Deffenbaugh rescued the guts of the inside of a piano and used them as the base of a coffee table, resulting in a very lyrical and distinctive piece. 

(Candela Centerpiece, courtesy of The Oak Barrel Company)

This article was reprinted by permission of the Sheffield School in New York. Check out the newly launched Jewelry Design Course offered at the Sheffield School. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any other school in the world.

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