Artists repurpose furniture to raise money for a local ReStore
Bend Area Habitat for Humanity ReStore recently launched their first annual reuse event. With goals to raise awareness for repurposing, fun in the community and money for Bend Area Habitat for Humanity, the Furniture Flip Design Challenge was born.
Ten local artists and designers answered the call to make high designs from discarded and rundown materials. Their creativity blew everyone away! When all of the pieces sell, more than 5,000 will be raised to build homes in Bend, Oregon. Design categories included People’s Choice, Central Oregon Centric, Creatively Repurposed, Trashy to Classy and Judge’s Choice.
People’s Choice award winners
Corie Ball and Larry Heath stole the show with their designs. The surface of their coffee table is made from torn up paper grocery bags and epoxy! This is such a pretty and unexpected way to refinish a table. It was so unexpected that it won the Ugly Duckling Transformation award, which was one of the three design themes. They made a bench from a piece of wood and bases from two lamps. Their jaw dropper was their beer and wine hall tree, made from a door, a few bike wheels and splattered paint. It even has a cooler in the bottom. This team thought of everything and only spent 11.84 on new materials.
Central Oregon Centric and Creatively Repurposed award winners
Connell Hull Company won two of the three top design awards: the top Central Oregon Centric and the top Creatively Repurposed designs. Their Central Oregon Centric entry was this wooden rocker, which was made from an old chair and reclaimed wood from a local mill. Can you guess what their succulent potter was before? It was a rusted out grill!
Trashy to Classy award winners
Sally and Jeffrey Smith transformed an old electrical spool into a chair that is both fun and comfy to sit in. They also created a beautiful room divider from bifold doors with the history of Bend added with scenes from the town’s past. Also in their collection is a one-of-a-kind wood slab table made from a piece of redwood that had been sitting out by a barn for a decade. They only spent 15.44 on new materials to upcycle their works!
Judge’s Choice award winners
Stemach Design and Architecture won the Judge’s Choice award, or best in show, for their arrangement of a woven climbing rope chair, some silly ski leg lamps and a wooden coffee table assembled from random slices of wood. They managed to only spend 23.03 on new materials.
For pictures of the rest of the entries, visit the Facebook album.
For more information about the designers and sponsors, visit ReStoresFurnitureFlip.com.