Falling in love with wood…
My journey with reclaimed wood started a couple of years back when I had to do up my husband’s clinic on a limited budget. This was a Psychiatric clinic and the idea was to design a space which brought in some calmness and a sense of belonging as soon as a person entered the space. I decided to refurbish some old chairs and use some recycled wood in order to economise. I sourced some chairs from an old Post office that was about to be demolished. The run-down place seemed like a never-ending treasure trove. Rummaging through the dirt finding the clunkiest and heaviest safes, huge ceiling fans, old wooden furniture, wall clad with ceramic tiles from Japan, tiny little interesting looking postal equipment and a lot more was an amazing experience.
Picked up these old teak chairs and decided to turn them into our waiting area chairs. Started working on them with some doubt but once we started sanding the wood, I was in love with the old broken down pieces!
The transformation was beautiful. This is the part I enjoy the most where you get to see the old worn down surfaces come to life slowly as the wood grains start emerging. It is always a satisfying experience to watch the wood come to life. Once polished, it is as good as new or even better!
The design of these old wooden chairs is something that everybody can relate to, they bring back memories of school or of furniture that our grandparents used, thus bringing a sense of familiarity to a space, making one feel at ease and comfortable as soon as they step in.
The original teak colour was maintained as it fits in well with the existing space. We decided to add some cushions to soften it.
Take a look at some of my other upcycling projects here https://www.cornerwindow.in/upcycling/