How to Green this Window Seat?

We've been dealing with a bit of Cure Drama ourselves. We're in serious need of a couch, or some other place to lounge. We're trying our best to stay away from the temptation of IKEA; we've tried hard to have a productive relationship with craigslist, but so far we've failed; we've been keeping a keen eye at the thrift store we walk by every week, but nothing.

So this DIY window seat -- posted by betsabillabong over at our Green Cure Flickr group -- was most intriguing.

We're wondering how it could be made more green. We're thinking that the particle board could easily be switched for either a formaldehyde free plywood or MDF sheet, or, even better, recycled or repurposed waste wood... perhaps a cast off hollow core door.

But we're a bit lost on what do to about the foam: swap it to latex, perhaps? Or should we be extravagant and sew huge feather cushions?

AT: Green Home readers, how would you tackle this one?

Comments (7)

Perhaps some kind of combination of stuffing made from recyclables? Is there something that's generally not considered recyclable which running it through a paper shredder could render it into a form that could make good stuffing without ruining the shredder? Something to think about.

what about organic wool or cotton batting?

Sounds a bit crazy, but my mother used to stuff pillows and fabric dolls with old pantyhose. Probably too lumpy and inconsistent for the seat itself, but would work nicely for the throw pillows.

Has anyone tried using that recycled-jean looking cotton insulation for this sort of thing?

Use an old futon cusion or batting from an old comforter (you can have them remade too to fluff it back up). Or if you live near the water and hence near boat stores, custom upholstery stores for boats might have left over materials you could have free or cheap- furniture ones might as well.

I made something very similar using an old feather bed for the seat cushion. I covered it in a thrift-store table-cloth.

Not so green on the wood, though. I used MDF (but it was from the scrap bin!)

I've posted it at www.maydecemberhome.blogspot.com/2007/09/build-your-own-banquette.html

Thanks, Jonathan, for letting me post the link!