While there are plenty of new green furniture resources popping up now, The Wooden Duck is still one of our favorites. The store has been outfitting homes with recycled wood furniture since 1995. Initially, The Wooden Duck specialized in teak from Indonesia, but they've since expanded to include pieces made locally in their Berkeley factory as well as furniture imported from other countries.
According to The Wooden Duck website, their mission is to "offer our customers high quality, simply styled furniture at the lowest prices possible while maintaining our commitment to the environment by using recycled materials as we are dedicated to preserving the world's forest through the exclusive use of reclaimed timber. ... Our styles are inspired by classic American styles like Shaker, Craftsman and Modern as well as Asian designs. All pieces are designed with functionality in mind."
The Wooden Duck has two locations: 2919 Seventh Street in Berkeley and 1848 Fourth street in San Rafael.
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Before you buy any imported hardwood furniture - ask if it was kiln dried.
Teak and other wood from Indonesia that is not properly (kiln) dried, will crack and your money will be wasted. It's not a question of "if", but "when".
view boomer's profile
I have bought furniture from them in the past and have been very happy with the quality.
Their customer service gets a thumbs up too - we stopped by one afternoon after work and bought a piece of furniture and requested that they deliver it. They gave their delivery guy a call and asked if he wouldn't mind coming back to the store for one more delivery. He came back and got it and we had our piece delivered within an hour and a half after purchasing it.
view amy (rustyletter)'s profile
Amy, that's great. Glad to hear it. In Portland there's a store that sells this kind of furniture that isn't kiln dried. They play down the splitting issue but admit it if asked directly.
Glad to hear Wooden Duck is a better breed. Sounds like a good store. :->
view boomer's profile
I've been doing business with the Duck for years, and have steered many a friend there for the semi-annual sales, before they bought something horribly overpriced from Smith & Hawken. The combination of quality and price that they offer is right in my sweet spot.
view realEstateMogul's profile
Finally - after 10 years of wanting and waiting and panting over their selection - I dropped the hammer on three of their pieces during their most recent sale, last week. I haven't received the deliveries yet, but I am SO excited to place these teak items in my home.
I have another piece of theirs, that I bought second-hand from craigslist, and there IS a rather large split in one of the seams on the table top. (The Asia Side Table) Still looks great, but it's a disappointing characteristic of this type of construction. :(
view rick@russianhill's profile
Received my pieces this week; they are spectacular. Thanks, Kom, Amy and Eric!
view rick@russianhill's profile