For the past two decades, recycling has become an important focus as we strive to reduce waste, conserve valuable resources, and replenish the natural world. Paper, cardboard, glass, metal, and plastic are all broken down in order to create new products to replace the old rather than making new products from fresh resources.

The application of reclaimed wood in furniture and millwork is a form of recycling, but instead of recreating a new product from the old, reclaimed lumber is featured as a beautiful antiquated product reused in a new way. The recycling of reclaimed wood becomes an art form itself as pieces are taken from former barns and homes of past times, cleaned, shaped, finished and incorporated into furniture and millwork both structurally and aesthetically.

Reclaimed wood offers warmth and a natural grain texture to home and office interiors where clients wish for a modernized rustic theme.

The addition of reclaimed wood can add character to a room and exude a feeling of earthiness, tradition, and natural authenticity. Whether being used for the headboard of a bed, the trim, doors, or tops of cabinetry, or as furniture itself, reclaimed wood has an aesthetic value that cannot be replicated in commercial manufacturing.

ZCI Woodworks has made use of reclaimed wood from various remodeling projects. In one instance, we rescued fir from the remodeling of a barn built in the 1800s located in Huntington, NY. This wood was reused to provide ceiling beams, fireplace mantels, and even furniture such as benches and farm-style tables.

The most amazing thing about reclaimed wood is that it finds itself in both rustic and modern interior design. In rustic interiors, reclaimed wood benches, chairs, and wall paneling are elements that give the room that natural, old country look. In modern interiors, reclaimed wood furniture and millwork act as a contrast in the room that both enriches the modern design while turning the reclaimed wood elements into a stand-alone piece of art.