Rattan furniture is making a major comeback! The material has been used for a wide range of purposes for centuries, including as a furniture material.
The latest resurgence of rattan furniture was the second half of the mid-century modern era, the 1950s through the 70s. Given the popularity of MCM furniture today, it’s no surprise that rattan furniture is coming back too.
A quick note before we dive in: this guide includes affiliate links which means we might earn a small commission if you choose to purchase via some of the links below. As always all companies featured meet strict standards for sustainability and are brands we love, that we think you’ll love too!
Is Rattan Furniture Sustainable?
I’m typically not a fan of unequivocally calling a material “sustainable” because there are so many nuances to consider, but rattan if grown in its native habitat, harvested responsibly, and treated with minimal non-toxic finishes can certainly be a more sustainable option for furniture materials.
Rattan grows in tropical forests in places like Southeast Asia and grows like a climbing palm. So as with any other material sourced from rainforests, it is particularly crucial to ensure that sourcing it does not lead to deforestation and significant disruption of ecosystems.
Is There a Certification for More Responsibly-Sourced Rattan?
Yes! While imperfect, the Forest Stewardship Council is a certification body certifying more responsibly sourced wood, wood byproducts, and other forest products, including rattan.
Though while there are some case studies of rattan forests being FSC-certified, I have not come across rattan furniture that has the FSC certification. If you know of or run a brand with FSC-certified rattan furniture, do let me know!
Where to Find Vintage Rattan Furniture
As I mentioned, rattan furniture was popular in the latter half of the MCM era (1950s-70s). So you might just be able to find an authentic mid-century modern rattan piece! Here’s where I’d look:
- Local Estate Sales: I found a gorgeous set of wicker furniture at a local estate sale for an unbeatable price. Typically, in-demand mid-century modern furniture goes for obscene prices (it’s heartbreaking as an MCM lover on a budget!) but I have seen retro rattan and wicker furniture still available at a good discount when I go towards the end of an estate sale. Check estatesales.net to find estate sales near you.
- Chairish: If you’re looking for a more curated selection, Chairish is a great bet. Search for terms like rattan chair or rattan storage to find the gems you’ve been trying to hunt down. (And tell me about your finds so I can live vicariously through you!)
- Friends & Family: Check if your parents or grandparents have any rattan furniture laying around. Sometimes people don’t know what they have is valuable and they might be tempted to leave their older furniture at the curb.
You might also find vintage rattan furniture at a garage sale or resale shop, but it will probably be challenging to determine if it’s truly vintage or a secondhand modern-day rendition.
Our Top Picks for Rattan Furniture Companies
If you prefer to find new rattan furniture, perhaps with a more modern aesthetic, I have plenty of recommendations for that too. Check out these cozy finds!
1. Mojo Boutique @ Made Trade
Categories: Storage & Shelves, Accent Tables, Dining & Lounge Chairs
Price Range: $220 – $980
Ethically handcrafted by artisans in Bali and rural Indonesia, the woman-owned brand has unique Japandi and boho-inspired pieces to add warmth and elegance to any room. It’s impossible to pick a favorite, but I do have a weakness for stylish functional furniture like Mojo Boutique’s Japandi Rattan Shoe Storage and Bench. And their Iconic Rattan Lounge Chair takes my breath away.
2. The Citizenry
Categories: Lounge & Dining Chairs, Headboards, Benches & Stools
Price Range: $199 – $899
The Citizenry collaborates with artisan partners to bring customers handcrafted home goods made in a fair trade process guaranteed by the World Fair Trade Organization. Their rattan furniture is handcrafted in Indonesia in a workshop called Artisans of Cirebon using locally sourced Manau Rattan. Some of the pieces are also made with cane, which complements rattan beautifully.
3. Rattan Art Angels
Categories: Chairs & Swings, Sofas, Coffee Tables, Room Dividers
Price Range: $249 – $1299
The perfect addition to a laid-back living room, balcony or backyard oasis, Rattan Art Angels has rattan and cane swing chairs, sofas, tables, and chairs suitable for outdoor and indoor use. Rattan Art Angels also offers rattan sofas, headboards, lounge chairs, and coffee tables to bring in that natural cozy aesthetic in any part of your home.
4. King Cases Store
Categories: Shelves & Bookcases
Price Range: $65 – $260
For affordable rattan storage furniture, King Cases Store has you covered. The Etsy Shop’s arched wicker rattan shelves would be a dream for books, plants, or decor items for a living room, office, bedroom, or reading area. One reviewer even photographed their rattan shelf in their bathroom, using it as towel storage.
5. West Elm
Categories: Dresser & Media Console, Side Tables, Dining Chairs
Price Range: $229 – $2299
Furniture retailer West Elm has a strong selection of elegantly designed contemporary rattan furniture. Most of the pieces incorporate several materials like wood (including reclaimed mango wood and some FSC-certified wood options), cane, or even glass. This makes West Elm a great option if you’re looking for that boho touch but don’t want to commit to full-on rattan.
6. The Rattan Studio
Categories: Chairs & Daybeds, Coffee Tables, Headboards
Price Range: $225 – $2,000+
Based in Australia, The Rattan Studio creates made-to-order custom rattan pieces.
The pieces are intricate and incredibly detailed — they come with a higher price accordingly but if you’re looking for a special heirloom rattan piece, The Rattan Studio might just be the place for you.
7. Healthier Homes
Categories: Chairs & Stools, Swings
Price Range: $370 – $1100
Healthier Homes is a site bringing you all-things non-toxic home from furniture and decor to paint and wallpaper. They have a few rattan pieces like their sunset hanging chair and Koi counter stool made with rattan frames and in the stool’s case, rattan wicker as well.
More Conscious Furniture Guides
21 Sustainable Furniture Brands for an Eco Home
The Best Sustainable Outdoor Furniture Brands for Your Backyard Oasis
Eco-Friendly Chairs to Take a Sustainable Seat In
The post 7 Beautiful Brands With Rattan Furniture to Bring a Touch of Boho appeared first on Conscious Life & Style.
7 Beautiful Brands With Rattan Furniture to Bring a Touch of Boho
Just like fashion has been overrun by fast fashion, home goods and furniture have similarly seen a rapid decline in quality. Rugs are no exception.
And similar to fashion, these cheap goods come at a high cost — namely, to the planet and to people. In fact carpet and rug production is rampant with exploitation.
On the other hand, fair trade rugs present the best of what a rug can bring to your home: artistry, craftsmanship, and heritage.
The brands featured in this guide are partnering with (and fairly paying!) skilled artisans who are using generations-old — and sometimes even centuries-old — techniques. These artisans are sustaining long lines of crafts, preserving their cultural diversity, and celebrating the richness of their time-honored crafts.
There’s simply no replacement for a timeless, quality artisan-made rug — they’re like pieces of art you can lay out on your floor or hang on your walls.
So, enjoy browsing through this guide to sustainable rug brands listed out below and best of luck on your search for the right fair trade rug!
Where to Find Ethical and Fair Trade Rugs
Note that this guide includes affiliates and partners. As always, brands must meet high standards for ethics and sustainability to be featured and all opinions are my own.
1. Obakki
Best for: warm-hued handwoven wool rugs
Categories: Area Rugs, Runners, Accent Rugs
Obakki partners with artisan weavers primarily in Oaxaca, Mexico — including individual makers like José — who hand-dyes and weaves rugs on a traditional pedal loom using locally sourced sheep’s wool and natural dyes derived from native plants. The brand also works with Rrres Design Studio, a Latin American studio dedicated to preserving traditional Oaxacan weaving techniques, and sources handwoven textiles from artisan communities beyond Mexico as well, including Morocco.
Each rug is made from 100% wool with no synthetic dyes or backing. Most pieces are made-to-order with a 4-8 week production window, shipped directly from the artisan partners.
Price Range: $460 – $4,159
Conscious Qualities: Natural Fibers, Natural Dyes, Craft Preservation
2. Kiliim
Best for: modern wool kilim rugs
Categories: Area Rugs, Accent Rugs
If you’re well-versed in rug terminology, you may recognize that this brand’s name looks similar to the word kilim.
Kiliim’s rug are made using authentic kilim rug craftsmanship by artisans in Egypt coming from generations of kilim artisans. To ensure ethical production and to support the preservation of this heritage craft, Kiliim pays living wages to all artisans.
Price Range: $95 – $4,812
Conscious Qualities: Ethical Production, Heritage Craft Preservation, Natural Fibers
3. Urban Natural
Best for: browsing fair trade rugs in lots of styles and sizes
Categories: Outdoor, Area Rugs, and Accent Rugs
This natural home and lifestyle retailer has a beautifully curated selection of sustainably-made rugs crafted with materials like jute, sisal, wool, and cotton.
Several brands on Urban Natural are also ethically hand-loomed or hand-knotted, such as Loloi — a GoodWeave partner — and Jaipur Living — a brand that partners with thousands of local artisans to sustain heritage crafts.
Price Range: $259 – $9,755
Conscious Qualities: Eco-Conscious Materials
4. LOOMY
Best for: pet-friendly and performance rugs
Categories: Area Rugs, Accent Rugs, Runners, Outdoor Rugs
Founded by a weaver, LOOMY is dedicated to crafting beautiful artisan-made rugs that will last for decades to come.
LOOMY partners with highly-skilled artisan weavers who craft quality rugs made from eco-minded materials like banana silk, jute, and recycled cotton, plus performance options made from 100% recycled polyester built to withstand whatever life brings you.
Price Range: $298 – $8,298
Conscious Qualities: Natural Fibers, Craft Preservation, Vintage Options
5. West Elm
Best for: fair trade rugs in on-trend mainstream styles
Categories: Area Rugs, Accent Rugs
West Elm is bringing ethical rugs to a broader market with their collection of Fair Trade Certified
wool and cotton rugs. While I recommend browsing the smaller shops listed above first, West Elm is supporting the movement to responsibly-made, fair trade rugs.
Price Range: $$$
Conscious Qualities: Fair Trade production, Majority Natural Materials
6. Jubi
Best for: Modern rugs in vibrant prints
Categories: Accent Rugs, Circle Rugs, Runners
Jubi is a Brooklyn studio founded by textile designer Cassie Dagostino. Every rug is handmade from New Zealand wool by fourth-generation weaving families in Bhadohi, India using traditional techniques. Each rug is made-to-order, meaning no excess stock. Since everything is made to order, expect between 3 and 7 weeks for your rug, depending on the technique used.
Conscious Qualities: Pays Above Market Rates, 100% Wool, Made-to-Order
Price Range: $228 – $668
Shipping: Free worldwide shipping
7. Rejuvenation
Best for: Classic rug styles made in Fair Trade factories
Categories: Accent Rugs, Runners, Area Rugs
Home retailer Rejuvenation has a selection of rugs made in Fair Trade Certified factories. Their collection includes undyed hand-loomed rugs to geometric flatwoven wool rugs. And while I’d typically avoid synthetics, it tends to be unavoidable for outdoor rugs — so Rejuvenation’s Fair Trade 100% recycled poly rug is a good option.
Conscious Qualities: Fair Trade Certified, Mostly Natural Materials
Price Range: $79 – $1,649
Shipping: Contiguous U.S. shipping for 10% of product price (add $20 for HI, AK, and US. territorries)
Liked this guide to ethical rugs? You might also enjoy:
Ethical Home Decor Brands to Curate a Beautiful, Conscious Space
Eco-Friendly Furniture to Furnish Your Home Sustainably
Fair Trade and Eco-Friendly Blankets to Cozy Up With
The post 5 Best Ethical Fair Trade Rugs to Elevate Your Space appeared first on Conscious Life & Style.
As a longtime book lover, I may be biased, but I think a full bookshelf is one of the most beautiful additions to a space. There’s nothing better than seeing a showcase of your favorite reads alongside a TBR list.
A bookcase, though, can of course be used for all sorts of purposes from placing your favorite photos of family and friends to showcasing treasured vintage finds.
Whatever the case, this guide will help you find the right sustainable bookshelf for your living room, office, or wherever you like to cozy up with a good read!
So what make a bookcase more sustainable? What makes a bookshelf non-toxic?
First of all: sustainable and non-toxic are two overlapping — but distinct — criteria. And both of those terms can come with a lot of opinions and varying definitions.
When it comes to sustainable bookcases, I look for:
- Responsibly Sourced Materials: most bookshelves are made primarily with wood. While natural, unsustainable wood sourcing can be a cause of deforestation, so we want to see that the wood was from responsibly managed forests or made from reclaimed or repurposed wood. Some bookshelves may feature metal, in which case recycled materials here are important.
- High Quality Construction: sustainability includes longevity — how long will you be able to use that furniture piece before it goes to the landfill and gets replaced? Look for transparency around craftsmanship and woodworking processes. Another sign of quality is the length of warranty a company has for its products.
- Ethically Made: this one is straightforward in theory — were the people making it paid fairly and working in safe conditions? — but is unfortunately not always easy to find information. In this category, I look for transparency in practices, what relationship the brand has with the manufacturer (some produce in-house which is the best case scenario for transparency!), where it was made, and how well the makers were paid.
Ideally a sustainable bookshelf would also be non-toxic — as toxic chemical fumes aren’t exactly sustainable! But this isn’t always the case. For example, if a company prioritizes upcycled materials, they don’t necessarily have control over what inputs were part of the original materials. And sometimes a company focuses more on ethical artisan partnerships an