Styling and Salvage: Objects for Use : a few interior details and materials used / my products

Monday 5 December 2011

Objects for Use : a few interior details and materials used / my products

one of my new furniture designs from my cardboard box collection

i've collected cardboard boxes for years; this framework of high density osb board (a recycled and sustainable product) houses my Heinz and Campbell's canned goods boxes. i have never found the same box twice. dating from the 1950s-70s they have been found in car boot sales and junk shops across the uk. people often use these boxes to store toys, valuables or christmas decorations before sticking them up in the attic and forgetting about them until years later during a clear-out or house clearance. on average i've found one of these boxes every few months so in theory it's taken upwards of 3 years to make this piece. each box is warm, worn, aged brown cardboard with a vibrant single colour graphic print. traces of their past lives are evident and their memories live on while this collection stands proudly on display. this piece is for sale now at Objects for Use.

in the front corner of the shop sits a victorian chemists shop display cabinet, refinished and lined with green chipboard. most designers and makers prefer to stay as far away from chipboard as they can, it's had a bad name for many years but i intend to celebrate this much under valued recycled, sustainable product.

detail inside cabinet: momoko's amazing ceremonial candles from japan - better than the eames turned stools?

above and below: my very industrial heavy duty hanging rail, great for coats, pots, pans, chairs, people. made in bethnal green, it comes in a black steel finish or galvanised steel - i make them 3 hooks long to 60 foot long. now in stock 5ft lengths of ten hooks at Objects for Use.

all of the materials used are simple and honest. green-finish chipboard on diy-chic metal wall shelving brackets. reclaimed wooden cladding used in the shop corner.

the back wall is made of sections of 1920s office screen divider. i have been longing to use these panels for the last ten years when i discovered them in a salvage yard in east london. the owner of the salvage yard said they came from a factory office near bond street. they were salvaged over twenty years ago but no one had a use for them until now, although they did look completely different before i got hold of them. they now work as doors to my studio (more on that later)