Eco-Friendly Custom Furniture – How to be Green with your furniture

Commissioning eco-friendly custom furniture can be a wonderful way to help the environment and decorate your home beautifully all at the same time.

But what does “eco-friendly” mean when you are commissioning custom furniture?  Guest blogger Douglas Bialor, owner of The Hat Factory Furniture Co./Hudson Cabinetry and Design, discusses what being green meant in the past and what it means today.

We’ve tried to be green even before it was called “being green.” Back then, if we had a choice between two glues or finishes for a project and one was less toxic, well, we just went with that one.  Who wants to work all day exposed to nasty carcinogens and fumes when you don’t have to?

Recently, we’ve begun to actively educate our clients on the benefits of going green.  We’ve developed green solutions that bring together our exceptional design and craftsmanship with the benefits of eco-friendly construction materials, techniques, and finishes.  Clarifying what it means to be eco-friendly when commissioning custom furniture and cabinets is a key component of this education.  In practice, there are two separate but related issues to consider: sustainability and health.

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Sustainability means selecting materials harvested and/or manufactured in an environmentally responsible way. This means using lumber from forests managed according to Forest Stewardship Council guidelines and panels made with recycled content and renewable materials such as natural grasses and bamboo.

Creating a healthy environment in our workplace and our clients’ homes and offices involves using materials that limit the release of harmful fumes and emissions.  Low VOC finishes and formaldehyde-free adhesives play a key role here.

The Hat Factory Furniture Co./Hudson Cabinetry and Design, located in Peekskill, NY, is one of the premiere cabinetmakers serving clients in Westchester and New York City.  We are committed to providing our clients with exceptional, eco-friendly, custom furniture and cabinetry.