Vermont Woods Studios - Eco Furniture Blog

Living Planet Report 2012

 

World Wildlife Fund's landmark Living Planet Report underscores our mission of Forest Conservation at Vermont Woods Studios

 

Our friends at the World Wildlife Fund have just published their bi-annual Living Planet Report.  It's a landmark study of our planet in terms of the health of our forests, rivers and oceans.

 

The results aren't pretty.  Here are some of the facts they highlighted about our environment:

 

• We’ve lost 30 to 70 percent of our wildlife since 1970. That's an average.  The tropics have lost 50 percent of their animals over the last 40 years, and tropical freshwater ecosystems have lost about 70 percent. The wild tiger population has suffered a 70 per cent decline in populations

 

• We are living as if we have the resources of an extra planet at our disposal. We’re using 50 percent more resources than the Earth can provide sustainably

 

• The U.S. has the fifth largest ecological footprint in terms of the amount of resources each person annually consumes. We rank only behind Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and Denmark in the global rankings of the Ecological Footprint

 

These are just a few of the statistics noted in the 80 page report.  But the good news is that it's not too late to save wildlife species and reverse unsustainable trends. 

 

Green commerce plays a fundamental role in this as do you and I.  The choices we make about our purchases will determine our planet's future. 

 

Excerpts from World Wildlife Fund's landmark Living Planet Report

 

 

 

Learn more about what Vermont Woods Studios is doing to promote forest conservation and preservation of endangered species like the Sumatran tiger. Join us in our green mission!

 

Cherry and Walnut Wood: Custom 2 Tone Furniture Designs

 

The Copeland Berkeley Furniture Collection features Cherry and Walnut Wood in Custom 2 Tone Designs

Two Tone Wood Furniture

Americans are rediscovering Vermont made furniture.  Maybe the trend is due to recent awareness campaigns by the news media about how buying USA made goods stimulates the American economy. 

 

Or perhaps it's because the organic food movement is migrating into other aspects of our lives.  In addition to thinking about where our food comes from we're now beginning to think about where our furniture comes from.  And where our clothing, computers, appliances (you name it) come from.

Both the American-made and organic movements are reflected in the Vermont furniture brand.

But I think one of the main reasons Vermont made furniture is experiencing a renaissance is that it's customizable.  This Copeland Berkeley Bedroom Set is a good example.  The Berkeley Collection features a 2 tone cherry and walnut wood design that you can customize online with your favorite shade of cherry wood.

Many of our other Vermont made furniture collections offer 2 tone wood combinations, for example the Modern American Collection.  These bedroom, dining and home office furniture sets are shown in cherry and walnut but they can also be customized in any other 2 tone combinations of maple, walnut and cherry wood.

Most Vermont furniture makers embrace the idea of customizing your furniture, be it with two tone wood combinations, specialty sizing or complete custom design from the start.  Learn more about custom furniture options on our website.

The Ultimate in Eco Friendly Furniture

 

Peter Cook grows his own furniture at Pooktre

 

How cool is this?

 

Check out Peter Cooks website, Pooktre.  Peter's tree gardens are in Austrailia where you can learn how to shape your own tree, or commission him to grow and shape a tree for you.  If you choose the latter, it takes about 7 years or so till the tree is shaped and you can transport it to your own garden.

Pretty wild.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vermont Woods Studios Eco Friendly Furniture

 

 

Zen Furniture: Simple, Serene, Organic, Sustainable

 

A customer who purchased this Copeland Astrid bed last week told me she found Vermont Woods Studios Furniture after searching online for "Zen furniture". 

 

Well, I'm no expert on Zen but I can see where the simple, organic forms of Copeland's Astrid Furniture Collection would appeal to someone looking to introduce an element of serenity into their home.

 

 

Astrid features pure, simple, minimalist style.  It's designed to "create an oasis of quiet harmony for the modern urban bedroom".   I guess that is rather zen-like.  The fact that Astrid furniture is handmade right here in Vermont from local, sustainably harvested wood was an important part of Corey's decision too.

 

Copeland's minimalist mid-century modern Astrid furniture has a certain "Zen" quality to it.

 

And speaking of Zen, I love Copeland's new dining room furniture too.  These minimalist, mid century walnut seats are Copeland's Catalina Estelle chairs.   I think they might have some Zen qualities.

Vermont Modern Classics - Solid Wood Furniture with Natural Oil Finish

Three of our most popular Vermont furniture classics are on sale starting today:  

*     Modern American Furniture Collection

*     Contemporary Craftsman Collection 

*     Modern Shaker Furniture Collection

 

The pieces are made in a small workshop in Burlington, VT by a team of about 10 craftsmen.

Each piece is made to order with sustainably harvested solid wood and finished with a hand-rubbed natural oil finish.  The TV-Media center shown is made of American Black Walnut wood, which is the only North American wood with a dark chocolate brown color.  Two other American woods are also available:  Black Cherry and Sugar Maple.  The furniture can be customized online in your choice of wood or in 2-tone combinations of available woods. We can also customize the size so the furniture fits exactly into your space.

Many times customers come to us because they are looking for a natural organic, oil and wax finish like the one that's hand-rubbed into these pieces.  It's a traditional finish that requires a lot of sanding, but the process really brings out the natural beauty of the wood.  Craftsmen take special care in selecting and matching wood color and grain for these pieces, so what you get is truly an heirloom that will remain beautiful and useful for generations. 

If you are thinking about this kind of organic, solid wood furniture, be sure to check out our furniture care instructions for natural oil finishes.  An oil finish doesn't take a lot of time to maintain, but if you do oil it several times during the first year or so, you'll get a great return on your investment of time as it ages.  There is nothing quite like natural wood furniture with an oil finish.

HGTV: Got Any Green Home Office Ideas for Earth Day?

 

Home offices aren't necessarily in a separate room anymore.  This one saves space with a large desk that could double as a kitchen table.  Less space means lower carbon footprint.

I am ashamed to say that my home office decor is deplorable.  You can see it in this video taken last year when I had 6 other people working in it with me.

 

So with our Green-up Your Workplace Challenge coming up for Earth Day, I decided to look for green design ideas to spif it up with eco-friendly home office furniture, lighting and accessories.

I started looking for ideas at HGTV and was delighted to find they are showcasing over 125 home office design ideas submitted by homeowners and interior designers. 

They've got modern home offices, eclectic home offices, traditional home offices, contemporary home offices, arts and crafts home offices, cottage home offices, tropical home offices, English country home offices, transitional home offices, mid-century modern and even Mediterranean home offices.

I hope they add a green home office project with all natural, all American made wooden office furniture: desks, file cabinets, credenza, occasional tables and chairs (maybe even using reclaimed, recycled barnwood).  Then add in organic cotton rugs, draperies and upholstery, energy efficient electronics, light bulbs, light fixtures and maybe even FSC certified wood flooring.  That would be a good project to post on Earth Day, HGTV.  Just a suggestion.

Maple Syrup Lovers Unite! In Vermont. This Weekend.

Vermont is America's # 1 producer of pure organic maple syrup

Guest Blogger:  Dennis Shanoff
Vermont Woods Studios Fine Furniture

 

Love Vermont Maple Syrup?  Check out Vermont’s Maple Producers Open House Weekend!

Vermont sure has a whole lot of trees and it is estimated that over 75% of the state is forested. And the biggest percentage of these trees just happens to be of the maple variety.
Well year round these abundant maple trees provide wood and lumber for a variety of products such as wood bowls, cutting boards, wood toys, and of course maple wood furniture.

But come February and March these maple trees are known to produce a very special treat, real Vermont maple syrup! And no wonder with so many sugar maple trees that Vermont is the largest producer of pure organic maple syrup (not a single ingredient added) in the United States. And Vermont’s perfect climate and soil conditions also play a part in our quantity and quality of maple syrup.
 
So with the maple sugar season in full swing, now is the time to plan to visit Vermont and see first hand what this sugaring is all about! And you can’t beat the upcoming Vermont Maple Open House Weekend (held March 24th and 25th) to experience maple syrup production up close. This is a public celebration of the maple syrup season in Vermont and a great opportunity to visit one or more sugarhouses and see just how the clear sap of the maple tree is transformed into a delicious golden syrup.

See you at the Sugar House!

Frank Lloyd Wright: The Architect Behind The Furniture

 

But in addition to designing over 100 buildings and structures, Wright also designed about 1100 pieces of furniture.  His focus was on designing things that were "in harmony with humanity and its environment", a philosophy he called organic architecture.

We're excited to be able to bring Wright's organic furniture to you through our partnership with fellow Vermont company, Copeland Furniture.  Working with archivists at The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona, Copeland Furniture created reproduction furniture that exemplifies Wright's design and aesthetic principles. Each piece has been named for the client and house for which Wright designed it.

Frank Lloyd Wright® American Made Furniture by Copeland is made of solid hardwood and can be customized in several stains on either quartersawn white oak or American black cherry wood.  Each reproduction piece is licensed by the Frank Lloyd Wright®  Foundation and is engraved with Wright's signature and a discreet serial number. It is some of the finest, handmade, collectible luxury furniture you will find.  Check out Wright's Usonian furniture collection and Copeland's reproduction pieces from the Dana Thomas, Boynton, Coonley and Heurtley homes.  Learn more about Frank Lloyd Wright on our pinterest board.

 

Usonian Furniture Collection by Frank Lloyd Wright

Barrel Chairs and Robie House Tabouret Table

 

Vermont's Organic Furniture

 

Speaking of organic, did you know that Vermont is also famous for it's organic furniture?  Last count there were some 2000 small wood furniture makers scattered across Vermont.  Although the styles and methods of craftsmanship are quite varied, these furniture makers have in common a deep respect for the forest where their wood furniture originates.

 

I haven't been able to find a definition for organic furniture yet but I do think Vermont would logically be the place to start.  Vermont woodworkers have a long history of sustainable woodworking, sourcing their wood from our local forests abundant in native hardwoods like maple, oak, ash, cherry and birch.  And we avoid the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in Vermont's sustainable forests, relying instead on Mother Nature to regenerate after careful selective harvesting.

When it comes to applying a finish to Vermont's furniture, you'll be hard-pressed to find harsh chemicals with high levels of VOCs or formaldehyde.  Instead furniture makers use natural linseed oil finishes, clear non-toxic lacquers and even a natural coating made from whey (a recycled byproduct of our dairy industry).

Yesterday I wrote about organic food in terms of where it comes from and how it's grown.  The organic food movement has been around for over a century but has picked up more steam in the last 20 years as people become more aware of where their food comes from.  I think the next step for the organic movement is into the world of organic furniture.  And Vermont will lead the way.

Vermont's Organic Farms

Relly Bub Farm in Wilmington Vermont

Shannon and Kendall have been very consistent at reminding us to buy local, organic food at the Brattleboro Farmers Market and Co-op whenever possible.

I guess we tend to take these opportunities for granted in Vermont because there's such an abundance of local, all-natural food. 

Our good friend Annette has been raising organic, grass-fed beef on her Malhanna farm just down the road for many years.  Some photo-journalists from the Vermont Center for Photography chronicled Annette's farm last weekend and I'm trying to get permission to share some of their photos with you.  In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy this beautiful video about Lilac Ridge, an organic family farm in Brattleboro, Vermont.

It's good to stop and think about where your food comes from.  Check out our Vermont Woods Studios Pinterest board on Vermont's Organic Farms for more photos, info and inspiration.  Bon appetit!

Reclaimed Barnwood Bench Featured in Yankee Magazine

 

Our Reclaimed Barnwood Bench is featured in the March/April 2012 issue of Yankee Magazine<br>

 

Thanks to Photo Editor Heather Marcus, Vermont Woods Studios is featured in the March/April issue of of Yankee Magazine.

We're included in an article by Christie Matheson titled, Home Decor From Reclaimed Items.  Please check it out!  Christie showcased a number of beautiful and creative recycled, re-purposed crafts from around New England including one-of-a-kind birdhouses by Scott Bradford and cozy quilts handcrafted from vintage wool sweaters by Snug As A Bug.

We are honored to be alongside these talented craftspeople in one of New England's oldest and most respected publications.

Furniture Discounts for Designers, Interior Decorators, Architects

 

Installation of Copeland's Frank Lloyd Wright Furniture

 

Are you a professional interior designer, architect, or home decorator sourcing luxury, high end commercial or residential projects?  If so, give Rebecca a call-- she can make your life a whole lot easier.

We offer online and in-store furniture specification services for our clients.  Qualified professionals receive a trade discount on our Vermont made natural, eco-friendly, solid wood furniture.  Many designers have earned LEED credits for their projects through the purchase of our furniture.  It's green, sustainable, organic and American made.  Our clean, non-toxic finishes are low VOC, with many custom options available.

Vermont-made furniture is famous for its quality and durability, as evidenced by innumerable installations in businesses, schools, non-profits and hospitality venues across the country and around the world. 

Give us a call and check it out for your next project!

Planting Trees Makes Vermont Furniture More Sustainable

 

Naturally, as wood furniture makers, we at Vermont Woods Studios Fine Furniture have to be concerned about forest conservation.  It's the foundation of our company's viability.

Although our Green Mountain Forests in Vermont are healthy and sustainable we know that, from a global perspective deforestation is the Number 1 environmental problem on our planet today.  Deforestation is a huge contributor to global warming, climate change, air pollution (carbon and other emissions from slash and burn practices), habitat loss, biodiversity loss, pollution of marine habitats (due to run-off from pesticides and fertilizers used to transform diverse forests into mono-cultured plantations) and more.

So at Vermont Woods Studios, we are working with The Nature Conservancy in support of their Plant A Billion Trees project.  We plant one tree for every order we fulfill and we support many non-profits dedicated to forest conservation.

We appreciate your concern for the environment.  When you buy wood furniture from us, you can rest assured that the forest where your furniture began it's life, will still be around for generations to come.  As will your furniture!

Copeland Bedroom Sets: Best Value in Solid Wood, Vermont Made Furniture

 

Dennis and Manjula have been working on getting a beautiful selection of Copeland Bedroom Furniture Sets up on our website. 

Copeland is our newest line of Vermont made furniture and their styles include traditional, Shaker and modern furniture, such as the:
Berkeley Cherry Bedroom Set (Modern Asian style)

Catalina Walnut Bedroom Set (Modern, minimalist style)

Astrid Cherry Bedroom Set (Ultra modern, Jetson's style)

Soho Walnut & Maple Bedroom (Modern metropolitan style)

Copeland's signature style is kind of a clean, simple elegance that's very popular in the more chic neighborhhods of Manhattan and other cities.  But we love it up here in rural Vernon VT too!

A few logistical details:  the sets are designed to save you on shipping.  We couldn't lower the prices of the furniture in the sets because we already have Copeland furniture priced as low as possible.  In fact we have a low price guarantee on Copeland furniture.  But with the sets, you save on shipping-- which is significant.  Rather than paying $300/piece for white glove delivery, you can order as many pieces as you like and pay just $450 for shipping and white glove delivery of the whole set.

Check out the sets and let us know what you think.  We've tried to make them versatile so you can customize your set online with any combination of pieces you might like, but I'm sure we haven't thought of everything.  Give us a call if you can't find the exact pieces you need for your set.  Rebecca and Shannon will be happy to hear from you!

One more thing.  So far we just have Copeland bedroom sets up but in another month or so we'll have their collection of Frank Lloyd Wright dining sets as well.  If you're looking to purchase before then, just call.

Five Valentine's Gift Suggestions From Vermont

What are you doing for your sweatheart for Valentine's Day?  How about a Vermont Teddy Bear or a romantic weekend getaway in Vermont?

 

For the ultimate in luxury check out Twin Farms, an "an intimate country hideaway set amid 300 acres of meadows and woodlands in an unspoiled valley, 15 minutes north of Woodstock, VT."  Besides all the other superlatives, Twin Farms has one of the best reputations in the Northeast for its natural, local organic cuisine. After dining you can indulge in a luxurious spa treatment before retiring to your own private suite or cottage.  Rates are all-inclusive and start at around $1500/night or $43,000 if you'd like to rent the whole place.

 

If that's a bit over your budget or you're not able to travel out of the city for Valentine's Day, here are a couple other gift suggestions.  How about Vermont Teddy Bear's Big Hunka Love Bear?  It's made right here in Vermont and the company is involved in many charitable initiatives in the local community and beyond.

 

 

 In the organic and fair trade department, we have Lake Champlain Chocolates Organic Chocolate Truffles, fresh all natural chocolates, made in Burlington, Vermont.  And Laughing Moon Chocolates made in Stowe, VT with locally sourced products whenever possible.

 

 

 Now if you REALLY want to show up on Valentine's Day with a truly unforgettable showstopper of a gift then I think you might have to consider commissioning Vermont's premiere luxury furniture artisan, Steve Holman to craft one of his Valentine's Day Heart Chairs for the love of your life.  We'll post the details about this heart-warming conversation piece on Valentine's Day.

 

 

 

Natural, Eco Friendly, Organic Furniture and Global Warming

Our customers usually come to Vermont Woods Studios with a pretty clear understanding of the benefits of natural, organic, eco-friendly furniture.  They're looking to help protect the environment.  They want to know that the wood used in their furniture has been sustainably harvested from forests that are going to be healthy and intact for many more generations.  Customers are also looking to protect their families from toxic substances in furniture finishes that could off-gas and cause respiratory problems.

But did you know that choosing natural, eco-furniture also reduces your carbon footprint and helps reduce global warming?  It's true. Scientists attribute about 20% of global warming to deforestation, particularly that of tropical rainforests, such as the Amazon.

If you're buying imported wood furniture, chances are it was made from illegally harvested wood that was clear cut from the rainforest.  Because there is such widespread counterfeiting of logging documents, consumers are often unwittingly contributing to global warming and the eventual loss of iconic tree species such as mahogany and teak when purchasing imported furniture. 

 

Vermont Woods Studios uses only sustainably harvested American wood in the crafting of our furniture.  Much of it comes from our own Green Mountain Forest.  We support the Forest Stewardship Council, the Nature Conservancy and other non-profits working to preserve the rainforest and stop global warming.  When you purchase organic wood furniture from our store you can rest assured that both your furniture and the forest from where it originates will be around for generations to come.

Natural Organic Finishes for Eco Furniture

For many of our customers, the finish on their wood furniture is the most important aspect.  Beyond aesthetics and ideals, these "finishing touches" can be considered a very real health concern.  Often, one or more members of the family is allergic or sensitive to certain chemical finishes. 

More and more, consumers are being made aware of the adverse effects that even trace amounts of chemical exposure can have on those with fragile health.  Here at Vermont Woods Studios Furniture we offer a number of standard clear, non-toxic finishes including natural linseed oil, poly gel, and low-VOC lacquer.  Customers can also purchase custom "green" finishes, such as the Vermont Natural Coatings Poly Whey finish which is made here in Vermont from dairy products. 

We work with individual customers to understand their specific concerns and needs and to suggest natural, non-toxic furniture finishes that we have researched and tested and found to be effective for protecting our health, our furniture and our planet. 

The Internet, of course, has made it much easier for consumers to do their own research on natural, eco-friendly finishes and to really delve into a product's specifications.  MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) are available online as well as anecdotal stories and opinions written by professionals and consumers. 

Are you looking for help with natural, non-toxic finishes for your organic furniture?  Feel free to give us a call and we'll help you select the natural, organic furniture with a chemical-free finish that's best for your needs.

Eco Friendly Organic Furniture: Why North American Hardwood Is The Best Raw Material

What's the most organic, eco-friendly raw material for furniture?  I guess there are different opinions on this but you have to admit that wood is naturally green.  It's sustainable, biodegradable and renewable.

The National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA) puts out a brochure periodically that reports statistics for the American hardwood industry.  Are we harvesting our hardwoods sustainably in the USA? 

According to NHLA the hardwood inventory in the USA has grown by 98% during the past 5 decades.  I'd say that's pretty sustainable.

Here's another cool fact NHLA cites: Wood represents 47 percent of all raw materials used in the United States but the energy used to produce wood products (including furniture) accounts for just 4 percent of the energy used to make all manufactured materials.  Wow!  It makes sense though when you consider all the hard-core industrial processing that's required to make a piece of metal or plastic furniture, right?

At Vermont Woods Studios Furniture we specialize in organic, eco-friendly solid hardwood furniture that's made from local and regionally harvested wood.  To help keep our forests healthy and sustainable, we're excited to be supporting the Vermont Council on Rural Development and their ambitious Vermont Working Landscape Partnership Program as part of our forest conservation mission. 

I just have to throw in one last random but amazing reason why wood is the greenest raw material for furniture-making:  the EPA estimates that each year our American forests remove the greenhouse gases emitted by 139,000,000 cars!  You gotta love wood.

Vermont Eco-Friendly Furniture Story Syndicated by Creators.com

A few months ago a syndicated columnist, Anica Wong of Creators.com gave us a call at Vermont Woods Studios Furniture to ask, "What's so eco-friendly about your furniture?"  It's a great question especially since there is so much green-washing out there.  It seems that every furniture brand and furniture store is now hitting the "organic, sustainable furniture" theme in their advertisements, regardless of their environmental policies.

So anyway I told Anica that Vermont Woods Studios is not a furniture company that suddenly "went green".  Actually we're a bunch of trehuggers that partnered with some of Vermont's best fine furniture makers to create a company that delivers handcrafted, Vermont-made, eco-friendly furniture to customers all across the USA.  She then asked all about our story and wrote a nice article that is being syndicated in several newspapers like this one, The Calgary Herald.  Check it out.  And many thanks to Anica for including us in her story!

Natural, Organic Walnut Bed Added to Jim Andrews Furniture Collection

We have a natural, organic walnut bed to add to our Vermont Woods Studios Jim Andrews Collection. This was a special design requested by a customer, but we liked it so much, we've decided to offer it as part of our Jim Andrews Collection.  The bed features elegant curves in the posts and complimentary curves in the headboard and footboard.  It's shown here in natural walnut, but can be made in natural cherry, maple or oak as well. 

Have you ever thought of designing your own furniture?  Maybe you have an existing piece or set you would like to supplement.  Or perhaps you have an odd shaped space you need to fit your furniture into.  Or maybe you love the look of one of our natural cherry tables, but the dimensions need to be changed.  Or you're looking for a different wood.

Custom and customized furniture are our specialty at Vermont Woods Studios.  Each piece of our furniture is made to order and can be easily and affordably customized to meet your needs.  Why not give us a call today?  1-888-390-5571.  We look forward to hearing from you!