I am in a unique situation that I am moving into a cheaper place and have some extra cash that I can use to furnish it. Yay! I need a sectional sofa and I have a pretty specific design in mind, but I am having a really hard time finding a place to buy one. I live in Brooklyn, the land of green artists! Can anyone help me locate a site or even better - a store - where I may be able to have some say in what I want and purchase an eco-friendly sectional?
Thanks!
Greeny
Interests: Indie Crafting, Art, Astronomy, Physics, History, Eco-Friendly, Computer Graphics, Sewing, Knitting, Drawing, Macrame, Painting, Spinning,Book Binding, Screenprinting, Electronics Tinkering, Web Design, Books about my interests, Coffee, Travel, Black Tea, Cooking, Corduroy, Wool Felt, Ribbons, Vintage Patches, Collecting Sanrio paraphernalia, Boondoggle, Zines
Inspiration: Carl Sagan, Jim Henson, and Tori Amos.
How cool. Just reading your post gets me dreaming about that day in the hopefully-not-so-distant future when I move into my eco-palace and outfit it from top to bottom in gorgeous green-ery. I am on the west coast, so unfortunately can't tip you off to local spots, but I can give you a host of web-based suggestions.
First things first. Not to be a kill-joy, but we should stick to the golden rule of buying green: Reduce, reuse, reycle. The absolute eco-friendliest sectional would be one that doesn't require all new materials... i.e. one you buy second-hand. Have you checked craigslist.com in your area? It's not all dumpy old junk... The bay area craigslist is full of fabulous finds. My downstairs neighbor, for one, just sold her light tan suede super mod sectional that was close to brand new on craigslist for way cheaper than she bought it just cause she's your classic fickle interior designer type and decided it wasn't fitting her vibe. Sure the couches you find in vintage furniture shops or on the big C aren't necessarily going to include eco-friendly materials, but they've already off-gassed all they're going to in someone else's livingroom. Incidentially, here's the full low-down on furniture off-gassing from Healthy Child, Healthy World
If craigslist proves futile, here are some of my fave eco-friendly furniture purveyors:
Cisco Home - super style-y, cute colors and styles
http://www.ciscobrothers.com/
Bean Products - Organic hemp furniture in pretty colors...
http://www.beanproducts.com/
Greener Lifestyles: adorable. I know this one not a sectional, but I'm digging the cleo
http://greenerlifestyles.com/
I know there have to be plenty of cool eco-furniture dealers right in your hood... here's what I found with a few choice google key words:
http://www.vivavi.com
http://www.greenmodernkits.com/eco-furniture.htm
ooo, this one looks good:
http://www.bazaardelapaz.com/
Happy hunting!