As spring begins, more color starts popping up in yards, but you also can find an array of colorful furniture and home decor items made of recycled, reclaimed and natural materials.
Here are five items, for inside or outside the home, from exhibitors at the Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market in January at AmericasMart Atlanta.
Dryads Dancing, a Chamblee company, takes salvaged wood, bead board, metal and ceiling tins to create mirrors, furniture, frames, clocks, garden stakes, folk art, and other decor for the home. The multi-colored reclaimed creations often have farm-style, nautical and antique looks, and new additions include furniture with contemporary styles. Prices vary, depending on the item, but range online from $34 for garden stakes to over $2,000 for furniture. dryadsdancing.com
Recycled cardboard is laser cut into busts of animals (such as deer, moose, bear, elephant, lion, giraffe and even unicorn), skulls and aquatic species by Cardboard Safari, based in Virginia. The creative, eye-catching busts can be used on the walls of different spaces, from nurseries to condos to offices and craft rooms, and beyond. The creations come in prints such as flannel, floral and vintage map, and colors such as blue and orange, as well as brown, white and black. Sizes vary, but busts typically start at $30. cardboardsafari.com
Pieces of retired fishing boats from Bali are made into unique furniture for indoors or outside by Warehouse 2120, a North Carolina company with a permanent showroom at AmericasMart. The recycled wood, often teak, maintains its original paint and becomes chairs, benches, stools, sideboards, desks, tables, mirrors and even small bars. Prices vary, depending on the item and size, but a bench with a back and arms has a retail price of about $900. warehouse2120.com
Old Coca-Cola bottles are recycled into round glass sculptures by Phillips Collection, which is based in North Carolina and has a permanent showroom on the new 15th floor of AmericasMart. The "Lifesaver" sculptures, which vary in size, range from $2,000-$3,000 through online retailers such as FurnitureLandSouth.com. phillipscollection.com
Preppy pillows, placemats and other items are made by Ecoaccents, which uses natural fiber fibers such as burlap and recycled plastic fiber for the fill inserts. Prints include paisley, pinecones, aquatic themes and pineapples. The North Carolina-based company also sells Jute area rugs with designs such as lattice, greek key and chevron that are bordered in pink, green, blue and other colors. Prices vary but pillows start at $45.95, rugs begin at $42 and placemats begin at $38 at ecoaccents.com; also sold in Atlanta boutiques (ecoaccents.com/find-retailer).
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