Like fast fashion, furniture has become one of the latest recipients of the “fast” moniker, forcing us to consider the wider consequences of our buying decisions.
This article outlines what you can do to ensure your choices have a positive impact on the planet and society in general.
Let’s jump on this “fast food”, “fast fashion”, “fast furniture” bandwagon for a moment and explore the term beyond pop culture and its tendency to shock and manipulate.
I’m passionate about building furniture sustainably. Living in Melbourne, we had access to IKEA, and in my early music days, we were a young family looking for cheap ways to furnish our home. We’d return from the busy highway drive from Richmond with these flat pack pieces, only to find they’d fall apart within months.
The family tip run was a regular occurrence. I remember those chipboard panels swelling up like Weet-Bix in the rain, only to be tossed into various skip bins labelled “wood.”
After learning the hard way, I’d had enough. There had to be a better way. And there is.
Let’s talk about how you can move beyond disposable design and make choices that are better for the planet, your wallet, and your home.
I’ll focus on what I know best: manufacturing methods, materials, repairability, the secondhand market, and meaning.
1. Choose Secondhand, Choose Solid
Once we said no more crap, the big question became: where do we find the good stuff?
The answer? Secondhand solid timber furniture.
The bottom line is, if it is solid timber, it can be repaired and/or refinished. In addition to that, timber has inherent worth and could be considered an investment. Let’s consider for a moment a 2 metre Rimu dining table, bought secondhand on Trademe for $1000. If I was to buy rough sawn Rimu boards from a timber supplier (with a bit of a trade discount), I could be looking at $1200-$1500 just for the timber.
Ask yourself, could that secondhand table be turned into a couple of bespoke side tables down the track, when you’re ready to invest in a custom piece?
- If you can’t afford a handmade piece, start your furniture and interiors journey with solid timber, secondhand products. Learn to use a random orbital sander and then give me a ring when you’re ready to oil your restored piece.
Here are some pieces in our home, a Blackwood cabinet for our turntable and a Kauri chest of drawers. Secondhand and solid timber while we wait for replacement Lloyd Brooke Furniture pieces! When the time comes, we will either sell these on or convert into other bespoke pieces.
2. Understand the Craft: Materials, Methods & Repairability
When facing sustainability questions, I find it useful to go to the extreme, then make what I call justified compromises.
How would the extreme sustabinable furniture maker operate?
Well, he would be growing the trees in his backyard, cutting them down with a handsaw, seasoning them outside for a couple of years, building them in his home workshop using only handtools (and natural light!), gluing them with animal glue and then finishing them with in beeswax from the hive at the bottom of the paddock. All this before loading up on his horse and cart to take them to his neighbour down the road!
I would like to think I’m not too far off that, with a few concessions made so that I can feed my family (and I do love my bandsaw!)
I don’t grow trees in my backyard but source the majority of my material from my good friend Brian.
I work from home, using minimal energy to run my small but well tuned machines.
Where the piece benefits, I always reach for a hand tool.
All my joinery is glued with reversible and sustainable animal glue.
Non toxic linseed oil forms the majority of my finishing product which is repairable and maintainable.
And I sell to New Zealanders.
If the the piece is in solid timber, the finish is repairable, and it utilises traditional joinery methods then you are on to a winner. This is a repairable piece of furniture which could be revived every generation and passed down through the family.
- When purchasing a new piece of furniture, ask the retailer or maker where they source their timber from and what finish they use on their pieces.
3. Choose with Meaning
Fast furniture lacks meaning because it is designed to “fit” a large collective sense of aesthetic (the world of fashion) which you may have no personal connection with.
What is fashion and more importantly, what looks good to your eye? I’m continually questioning myself, does this actually look and feel good, or is it that these images are somehow tied to status and what is portrayed as success in magazines and tv shows.
I find the best way to get around this is to view the piece and pay close attention to how you emotionally react to it. Art is subtle so when discovering art for yourself, put yourself in a quiet and responsive state.
- Before clicking buy, feel for resonance. Look for ways you can attach a significant emotion to the piece. For example, it is hard to part with a piece like: “This was Quinn’s first cot. We lay him in it after returning from the hospital”, or “My grandfather made this when I was a boy” .
The Bottom Line
You don’t have to be a purist. You just have to be conscious.
Start with secondhand. Learn the basics of furniture care. Choose pieces that are built to last with materials and methods that honour craftsmanship and sustainability. And above all, surround yourself with things that mean something.
Your home deserves more than fast furniture.
Make it a space that tells your story.