Blog

This has been a year like few others. New issues and opportunities have catapulted to the center. Old truths have persisted. We asked a handful of furniture-makers around the world to weigh in.  We're experimenting with a new series called In this Moment: Lighting Interviews. You'll gain a window into the lives and insights of creators who fashion stunning furniture out of otherwise discarded materials.  In our inaugural interview series we hope you gain inspiration from furniture-makers around the globe: Victor Valencia right in our backyard in Brooklyn, New York, Hamed Ouattara in Burkina Faso, and Craig Bamford in England.    ...

What will it take to drive far greater sustainability -- and produce vastly less waste -- among New York City’s expanse of furniture and design industries and consumers?   During this year’s ReFashion Week NYC (2/26 - 3/5/21), mebl | Transforming Furniture curated a first-time ReDesign Day. This virtual programming challenged New Yorkers to imagine a world in which all products --  including furniture and furnishings -- are made, consumed, shared and remade sustainably.  ReDesign Day featured two in-depth panel discussions, a game show, and a marketplace, and was reinforced by concepts of transformation to a more circular economy.  Here are...

By L. Christina Cobb, Guest Contributor. The fashion industry’s harmful social and environmental impact drove consumers, concerned brands, and nonprofits to spawn the sustainable fashion movement. While the movement still has a ways to go to shift the whole industry, its influence is growing. From improvements in working conditions to raw materials, to pollution and waste, the sustainable fashion movement is making real change.  So far, while furniture also carries significant social and environmental impacts, it hasn’t galvanized the public like fashion. While much more nascent, the sustainable furniture movement is arguably on the cusp of a breakthrough.  ...let’s learn...

"My dream is that sustainability is the driving force behind all design in 10 years. We are facing a climate crisis right now that will have a profound impact on our earth, weather, animals and communities," shares mebl's Chief Operating and Sustainability Officer, Mona Chun in her recent interview with ASPIRE Design and Home.

In August, mebl | Transforming Furniture interviewed Malene Barnett.  In 2018, Malene founded the Black Artists + Designers Guild (BADG) to “combat the lack of representation of Black talent and culture in the design industry,” including furniture-making.  A Brooklyn-based artist, Malene is an authority on cultural traditions of art in the African diaspora and how it translates into the modern black experience.

In this election season, mebl | Transforming Furniture is extending its platform into beds.  Help elect your top candidates! What these beds all have in common is reclaimed wood and high-quality craftsmanship. Where they differ in design, style, comfort, functionality and origin of the reclaimed materials.