Modern Meets Rustic on the Rise

For the past several years, reclaimed wood has been on the rise. It’s appearing everywhere, from coffee shops to high-end restaurants, as tables, bars, walls, and beds. If it can be built out of wood, someone has probably built it out of reclaimed wood. So why is reclaimed wood so popular all of a sudden, when it’s been around for hundreds of years? Modern meets rustic is on the rise.

Over time, art and design progressively became more and more radical, which is how until recently furniture (and architecture) became more and more simplified, or modern. This led people to design kitchens and dining rooms with only white and black furniture. Some people still like this style, and there’s nothing wrong with that “Scandinavian design.” However, things have definitely changed. 

By looking behind instead of forward, to a time when things lasted and were built by hand instead of mass-produced, reclaimed wood is repurposed. People don’t love the clean, cold look anymore. No longer is mass production a thing to be excited about, and long are the days of wanting a cookie-cutter product. People want something custom, unique, and durable, as well as something that is sustainable and ethically produced. This is where rustic and industrial design come into play. Reclaimed wood fits the bill perfectly for creating furniture and pieces for the home that fit into this old-but-new-era. 

Reclaim, Repurpose, Reuse

Reclaimed wood is to repurpose old material. When we talk about “reclaimed wood” we’re talking about upcycling wood that has been around for the past hundred or two hundred years. It now needs a purpose! Our reclaimed wood at Grain Designs often comes from barns, factories, windmills, and more. Each piece of furniture we create is composed of materials that existed as something else in its previous life. Before a table, it was a granary or before a sliding door, it was a barn floor. The history and story behind each piece allow the story of the underutilized structure to live on in another form. These unique character marks are visual reminders on each of the projects we create. 

Also, the wood that was used to build these old barns grew to maturity. This makes them a lot stronger woods than the new woods that are farmed today for timber. This also makes anything built with reclaimed wood more durable and sturdy.

This is just a glimpse into all the wonderful things about reclaimed wood and materials made from it. Families love having a reclaimed dining table because it’s super strong and you don’t have to sacrifice beauty for quality-something that a lot of us do when we start having kids! You won’t need to worry about your one-year-old putting scratches on your farm table because it’s pretty hard to beat up.

There’s no downside to getting furniture made out of reclaimed wood and we love being a part of the new history that you’re making from something that already has lots of history to it. Modern meets rustic is on the rise, are you on board?

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