INDUSTRIAL - The Hot Design Trend That's Here To Stay

How did we come to appreciate the rough ragged beauty of reclaimed industrial furniture?

Interieurs is the trailblazing New York showroom that introduced the blend of modern furniture with non conventional found industrial pieces. I remember when we displayed (in our original Wooster Street store) an old steel bench with wheat grass laid out on the seat. This whimsical combination of funky furniture and simple greenery earned us the the opening full-page story in the New York Times Home & Garden section in November 1994 just weeks after Interieurs first opened.

From Cote Sud Magazine, March 2008

I have always found beauty in dark corners of nature and the least expected environments; here below, a junkyard where odd pieces, machine parts and other industrial refuse lay rusting away....

Once while skiing in Utah, I found sudden inspiration for a client's ski house when, in search of ultimate champagne powder, I came upon the rusting skeletal remains of an abandoned coal mine.

Here, I'm like a kid in a candy store

It takes imagination to find the beauty in these long abandoned objects. I find it truly enriching to uncover the history of a given piece that catches my eye, for instance a 19th century mine cart from eastern Europe and to read up on the horridly difficult life of the miners during the industrial revolution. When the mines finally closed all the equipment became instantaneously obsolete and layed abandoned in place to the elements.

It is such a thrill to look for and find that special perfect piece and transform it - with lots of love and labor - to its new purpose.

I can already envision the end product

This piece will need more than a little TLC...

and, when finished, will make a great cocktail table

Potential base for a dining table.

Below are some very recently snapped shots of my New York showroom demonstrating the easy blend of conventional and reclaimed industrial furniture

Two old military parachute cabinets sit behind a table of reclaimed parts. The table
consists of cast-iron industrial machine bases topped with a refinished antique oak plank.

Soft touch meets harsh world

The cocktail table and buffet cabinet in this image were
once equipment in a European coal mine

This three tiered Jose Esteves "Brocante" Chandelier is the perfect
complement to your kitchen, breakfast nook or loft space dining room.

From "Maison Francaise" Magazine, Jan 2009

Breakfast anyone?

From Cote Sud Magazine, March 2008

An Interieurs advertising campaign photo that shows the easy grace
of mixing reclaimed industrial furniture with more modern comfort.