Attractive, Accesible Green Furniture (Finally)
Posted
Friday, February 22, 2008 7:36 PM
A few weeks ago I wrote about how rare it is to find eco-friendly furniture that's both attractive AND remotely affordable, but I just learned that Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn, two of the country's most widely available and (relatively) wallet-friendly furniture brands, have started making some green pieces.
Check out Pottery Barn's Botanica sofa, which is made of Forest Stewardship Council-certified hardwood (not nasty fiberboard), upholstered in organic cotton, and contains a mix of recycled and natural stuffing. Although it doesn't sound like the sofa is entirely earth-friendly or chemical-free (the catalog copy says that the cushions have "a foam core constructed using 20-30% soy-based material" which makes me wonder if the other 70-80% is nasty polyurethene foam), it's no doubt a big improvement over furniture that's made of non-sustainable materials and loaded with chemicals. (PB also makes an eco-friendly armchair but it's not as stylish as the sofa).
Crate and Barrel seems to have even more green options. I'm somewhat in love with their Ross sofa, especially those skinny arms (just like the ones on the pricier Q collection sofa I blogged about a few weeks ago) and their Azure sofa is genius because nothing about it says crunchy—it looks like it belongs in an Upper East Side duplex! (Plus it costs less than $2k). For more info on the company's eco-friendly pieces (including links to tables, chairs, and casegoods made of sustainable wood) click here. It's such a relief to know that buying eco-friendly furniture doesn't have to be impossibly hard. Now I just need to decide whether it's better for the planet to hang onto my sofas for a few more years or to replace them with some of these green options . .