– written by Cameron Austin

Tired feet and hundreds of photos of furniture later, Beth Haley Designers survived October High Point, North Carolina Furniture Market inspired for the New Year. One of our goals this year at market was to find for our clients furniture companies with our same mission, to offer truly stimulating and sustainable and green furniture. We were armed with a handful of questions to ask as we entered the showrooms. Is your furniture manufactured and shipped in the United States? Are any of your pieces locally made? Do you use a water-based finish on your furniture pieces? Do you use FSC certified wood? What type foam is used in the production of your cushions? The answers to these questions give us an idea of how sustainable the furniture they produce actually is. Thankfully this year, sustainable and greener furniture was easier to find at market that it has been in the years past. So our furniture companies are hearing the call toward eco-friendly interiors.

One of the most inspiring companies we found was a company based in Highpoint, North Carolina that sells antique furniture as well as reclaimed pieces, such as chandeliers created from old French Oak wine barrels, which create fascinating conversation pieces. The mixture of old and new should not be forgotten. Their use of reclaimed pieces inspired us to utilize the old, reclaim it if can it can be reclaimed and design spaces with an eclectic blend of old and new alike. Design Workshop Incorporated creates naturally aged organic utilitarian furniture pieces. Their pieces do not include paint or solvents, and all of the lumber is taken from sustainable forest land in either North Carolina or Romania. The unfinished furniture’s shades of natural and neutral colors are refreshing and appealing.

Copeland Furniture, a family owned Vermount based company, reflect their environmental values in their furniture. Their lines of furniture are inspired by the timeless design and simple lines of Frank Lloyd Wright. The pieces are made from FSC certified harvested lumber. FSC stands for the The Forest Stewardship Council. The FSC certifies lumber companies that responsibly harvest wood. Copeland’s lumber is harvested within a 100 mile radius of their factory, which means far less carbon dioxide is emitted through transportation.

The stains used are water-based containing no VOC’s, volatile organic compounds, while their varnishes contain low VOC’s. The market is still waiting for a highly durable no-VOC varnish. For those of you without knowledge about VOC’s, if the gases are inhaled it can cause a mild allergic reaction. However, exposure over an extended period of time has been linked to cancer and to the failure of your liver or kidneys, according to the EPA. We appreciate Copeland Furniture’s lead for creating sustainable furniture with exerted effort in design, quality construction and durability that will last through the years.

Lee Industries is in the forefront of the sustainable upholstery industry. Starting from the exterior of the piece; they provide organic fabric choices, the fill in the sofa’s back is made from recycled plastic bottles, the cushions are fashioned from a soy-based polyurethane free foam, the frame is comprised of engineered-laminate panels bonded with soy-based resin, and water based finishes are available for the legs or arms of the furniture piece.
In combination with the soy based foam core, the seat cushions are wrapped with a fiber wrapping. The soy based cushion replaces 20% of the petroleum-based ingredients and 80% of the fibers are regenerated. Regenerated fibers consist of virgin fibers and waste fibers that are combined with binder fiber, which in turn reduces the amount of waste that is sent to the landfills during the production process.

The back pillows are made from 100% recycled fibers. These recycled fibers are comprised from clear and white plastic bottles. Standard practices involve using finishes with a polyurethane finish, which emit VOC’s. However, Lee Industries uses water based finishes for the legs and arms which eliminate the VOC’s from the finish process. Engineered laminate and soy based resins are used in the frames. Even the springs in the frame can be produced from recycled metal.

A healthier piece of furniture emits fewer VOC’s, is resourced locally with responsibly use of materials and/or takes advantage of recycled available materials. All of these factors from start to finish create a healthier piece of furniture for you, your family and the environment.

Beth Haley Design has chosen to educate, seek, and specify green furniture to assist in healthy living for your families and ours. While there is still work to be done in sustainable furniture offerings, we feel like market this year was a success, with inspiration for us to assist you in creating the comforting, healthy, and functional home of your dreams!