I love those benches! However, I'm more interested in that plant. Anyone know what it is (the long-leafed one)?

an orchid of some sort, i think.

Yeah, the air roots look like orchids to me -- Google image search on "moth orchid plants" and see if they match.

I love the benches, too.

What the world needs (Oh, Apartment Therapy gurus!) is a nice listing source for reclaimed materials manufacturers and salvage yards throughout the country! Not only would I love to know any local resources I haven't yet found but when I travel, it would be fun to seek out the ones I could visit... (Maybe another list for thrift stores and flea markets?)

I wouldn't touch a single piece of furniture by this company with a ten foot pole.

Wood preservatives / fire retardants used in building timbers, especially from the earlier part of the century, are *extraordinarily* toxic - arsenic compounds, , bromides, phenols, coal tar, chromates, the works. Modern wood preservatives aren't really much better. Don't breathe sawdust from reclaimed wood, don't cut it in or near your house, and especially don't bring the final product into your house.

As a general rule, *do not* use any reclaimed wood that was meant to be exposed to the elements in its former life anywhere it will have contact with people and/or pets. Using it for outdoor structures is OK, but don't use it for garden trellises or compost bins.

This means that structural beams, exterior shingles or cladding, window frames, and most other parts of buildings are absolutely off limits and should not be reclaimed for interior use. If you insist on bringing one of these pieces of toxic waste into your house ("It's hip!" "It's green!" "It's trendy!"), coating it with a sealing paint designed for the purpose will work - do *not* just use any old paint as it will not form an adequate barrier against toxin migration and abrasion in use.

On the other hand, cabinetry and most interior fixtures are OK.

I have emailed the company to raise my concerns and will post any reply I get.

I just wish there was affordable reclaimed materials furniture. I love it but it's always so pricey.

Yes, why is furniture made from trash scraps sooo expensive?? If they were doing something amazing with it then maybe it could be justified but it is always so chunky. The idea is being very overdone by furniture makers with little skill. I want to see something salvaged that doesn't necessarily look like something salvaged.

The green plants are certainly moth orchids (phalaenopsis) but they look fake.... The real ones don't have leaves that point upward, they look more like the smaller one.

While I'm not a big fan of these pieces (way too basic construction and design), I do love the fact that there is life and history behind them, a "material" equally important when acquiring furniture.

@when -- where did you get that information? I did a search and can't find anything related.

Here's the reply I got from the company. I retract my concerns above, they really seem on top of what parts of buildings are toxic and stay away from them.

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At Made of New York we feel the best way to guard against possible contamination is know the source of the material and quite a bit about construction and construction methods in New York City.

Fire Retardants for wood were developed for use by the navy in the late 1800's, and not approved for use in New York buildings until 1900. Almost all of our material is reclaimed from building constructed in the late 1800's.
The retardents were rarely used in residential structures, their use was generally confined to open beam structures such as factories.

Factories constructed in New York City of wood were almost exclusively constructed of yellow pine, or "heart pine ' as it is commonly reffered to in the reclaimed wood field. It was selected because of its tremendous strength and high modules of elasticity. it was typically in an open beam structure and it was typically covered with layers of lead based paint. All of these factors combined make it an inappropriate choice and act as a red flag for us due to the known existing lead paint issue and the uncertainty of what activity,using which chemicals in undetermined amounts, the material may have been exposed to during it its life span in the factory setting.

The typical small apartment building or brownstone in New York was almost exclusively constructed of fir or "hem fir", the material we use at Made of New York. The wood in these structures was not treated with a fire retardant, or preservatives. You do see an occasional piece with some waterproofing coal tar ,but these sections are discarded as they would be impossible to properly clean and would foul the machinery.

In a residential setting, that leaves the last two categories of possible toxins you mentioned, pesticides and cleaning products. Our reclaimed wood is from the structural portions of the building and under most conditions are behind plaster etc. The normal topical application of pesticides and other household contaminants would not come in contact with the structural timbers. Also, in the normal concentration you would expect to find in a residential environment most pesticides loose there toxcicty in around 100 days.

In addition to knowing the source and the environment it came from, the material is thouroly cleaned and after each piece is completed it is sealed with with water based urethane. Although it has not been tested i am certain because of the components it is constructed with, it has one of the lowest possibles VOC content ratings of any commercially available furniture.

Thank you for you thoughtful inquiry and i hope have addressed your concerns.

For a Chicago equivalent, there's the American Barn Co. which sells wood planks and makes furniture from destroyed Midwest barns, and the Chicago furniture designers association did a show of furniture made from Ash that was destroyed because of the Emerald Ash Borer.

http://www.americanbarncompany.com/

http://www.risingfromashes.org/