You’ll find a lot more than home decor at Toronto’s Green Living Show this weekend (April 24-26), which is one of the reasons craftsman Michael Greenwood is back for his second year in a row. “You’ve got the car people, the alternative energy folks, the furniture and food people, the green cleaning suppliers – people who are genuinely trying to provide good alternatives.”
Greenwood crafts clean-lined, custom furniture and cabinetry from salvaged wood like the heap of scrap piled at the entrance to his co-operative workshop, below. He uses non-toxic finishes and glues, some of which he blends himself “from old Shaker recipes.”
Click through to see what the “wood whisperer” does to waste material like this . . .
The hand-crafted boxes will be for sale at Greenwood’s Green Living booth ($40 - $80), along with the beautifully finished, mixed-wood nesting tables on industrial-style steel frames, below right. The tables are pricey at $1,600 for the set but as Michael points out, they’ll also be around three generations from now, which is something you can’t say about the IKEA equivalent.
The bentwood lounge chair—which is remarkably comfortable just the way it is without cushions or ottoman thanks to Greenwood’s skillful design—is made from strips of laminated barn-board. The lounger is actually Michael’s first chair so he’s sentimentally attached to it and won’t be selling it at the show unless someone makes him an offer he can’t refuse.
One curious fact about working with reclaimed woods is that while the raw material may be cheap, or in some cases even free, getting it to the point where it’s useable takes far more time and effort than working with kiln-dried and dressed lumber.
But sustainability really is at the heart of Greenwood’s work and he’s prepared to walk the Green Living walk: “it’s not just green-washing,” he says. His commitment has as much do to with his own ethical priorities as it does with his role as the father of two young boys, ages 1 and 3. “I want to have something to say for myself when they’re 20 and they ask me, ‘So, Dad, what did you do to make the planet a better place when we were growing up?”
April 24th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Chris - I was excited to read today’s post as I’m familiar with Michael’s work and think he’s fantastic. My partner Dave and I were fortunate to be on an HGTV design show (Pure Design) last fall - this show has a sustainability slant and features local talent. The ‘reveal’ revealed a beautiful walnut harvest-style table made by Michael and let me tell you - it’s the number one design element that people comment on and it’s our favourite too! The table is really great - thanks for the glimpse of his other furniture and cabinetry projects and for highlighting what it takes to create custom pieces with a conscience!
April 26th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
His booth was one of the best at the green living show. His hanging arch lamp caught my eye. You can really see the skillful craftsmanship in his pieces. Beautiful!
Thanks for the article - he wasn’t around when we were there. Not that it changes anything but the chair pictured above was so smooth and soft to the touch, I didn’t realize it was laminated - which now makes sense. I thought it was the bare wood and couldn’t believe it!