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
Thoreau wrote in Walden that “Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in,” which reminds us that life is short and nature fills it beautifully. What are you looking for that can’t be found during an afternoon in nature?
Earth911 inspirations. Post them, share your desire to help people think of the planet first, every day. Click the poster to get a larger image.
The post Earth911 Inspiration: Time Is but the Stream appeared first on Earth911.
https://earth911.com/inspire/earth911-inspiration-time-is-but-the-stream/
Green Living
Classic Sustainability In Your Ear: The Ocean River Institute’s Natural Lawn Challenge for Climate Action
Turn back the clock with this classic interview that will get you ready for Spring yard care planning. A lawn may be beautiful but it can take a heavy toll on the environment, accounting for between 30% and 60% of residential water use in the United States. Rob Moir, Ph.D., is president and executive director of the Ocean River Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ORI works with residential lawn owners to heal damaged ecosystems by restoring coastal areas to lessen the destructive impacts of climate change. The benefits of a natural lawn reach far beyond reduced local water pollution, eliminating chemicals that can contribute to cancers, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and other cellular diseases. Natural lawns are also better for local pollinators and store much more carbon than heavily fertilized lawns. If you considered removing your lawn to play a part in the battle against climate change, this interview may change your mind — a healthy lawn is a powerful carbon sink.
The Ocean River Institute is recruiting Massachusetts communities, town by town, to take a pledge to follow natural lawn practices in the Healthy Soils for Climate Restoration Challenge. You don’t need to live in Massachusetts to participate and learn about the alternatives to the traditional, chemical-intensive lawn practices that use Roundup, a source of glyphosates that kills soil-dwelling fungi and local pollinators, and fast-acting nitrogen fertilizers. You can learn more about the Ocean River Institute at www.oceanriver.org.
Rob has contributed many articles about climate change and the history of environmental change since this interview, including:
- Finding a Northwest Passage to the Sea
- Turning the Tide—How Land and Water Shape Our Climate Future
- Learning from Captain Scoresby’s Ten-gallon Fir-Cask
- Earth Savvy?
- Let the Ground Keep Falling Rainwater
- The Sultans of Swag Versus Looking at Clouds from Both Sides Now
- Subscribe to Sustainability in Your Ear on iTunes and Apple Podcasts.
- Follow Sustainability in Your Ear on Spreaker, iHeartRadio, or YouTube
Editor’s Note: This episode originally aired on May 30, 2022.
The post Classic Sustainability In Your Ear: The Ocean River Institute’s Natural Lawn Challenge for Climate Action appeared first on Earth911.
https://earth911.com/podcast/earth911-podcast-the-ocean-river-institutes-natural-lawn-challenge-for-climate-action/
Choosing your perfect gown can be one of the most exciting decisions for your special day, but for the eco fashionista, it can be a challenge to find a dress that fits your values and style — but these brands have exceptional sustainable wedding dresses you’ll swoon over!
Using earth-minded materials like hemp, cruelty-free peace silk, deadstock recycled fabrics and vintage lace, and producing consciously, either in small batches or handcrafting each individual piece made-to-order, the brands below meet high standards for transparency, ecological sustainability, and fair labor.
[For more sustainable wedding dresses, check out this guide to secondhand wedding dress sites!]
Note that the guide contains affiliate links. As always, we only feature brands that meet strict criteria for sustainability we love, that we think you’ll love too!
1. Christy Dawn
Dreamy dress brand Christy Dawn does not disappoint with their romantic bridal collection! Each piece is more swoon-worthy than the next.
Their three sustainable bridal gowns are made from regenerative silk charmeuse —sourced through BOMBYX, an innovative silk producer using best practices — and colored in a beautiful pearl silk with non-toxic dyes. Each dress is ethically cut and sewn by makers in Los Angeles earning living wages, as with the rest of Christy Dawn’s collections.
The Britta Dress and Fitzgerald Dress are 1920s inspired while the Athena Dress is a more modern (but equally romantic) option. All of these dresses are made-to-order with an estimated timeline of 4 weeks.
Conscious Qualities: Regenerative silk and organic non-toxic dyes, ethically made-to-order in Los Angeles
Price Range: $2,500 – $3,000
Size Range: XS – XL
2. Pure Magnolia
Blending the traditional with the modern, Pure Magnolia designs classic-inspired sustainable wedding dresses with contemporary touches. And each dress is made in their Canadian studio by seamstresses earning fair wages from eco-fabrics, such as organic cotton and hemp silk.
The brand sources recycled fabrics whenever possible as well, and recycles their scrap fabric through FABCYCLE.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, locally and fairly made, recycles scrap fabrics
Price Range: $845 – $3,300 CAD
Size Range: 0 – 28
3. Lost in Paris
Lost in Paris crafts each of their creatively designed bohemian-inspired gowns ethically in their Sydney, Australia studio. Unconventional yet undeniably striking, Lost in Paris’ dresses are made from vintage lace and cotton.
Investing in a dress from Lost in Paris is seamless — the brand offers at-home sample try-ons, offers train and sleeve adjustments on several styles, ships their dresses worldwide for free, and even accepts returns. Oh, and, if one of their ready-made sizes doesn’t work for you, you can get a dress designed to your measurements.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, uses vintage lace, locally made
Price Range: $950 – $3900 AUD
Size Range: XXS – XXL + custom sizing options
For More Slow Fashion Content:
4. Wear Your Love
Wear Your Love creates feminine, effortless dresses in their Northern California studio that are — in contrast to the majority of wedding dresses on the market — actually comfortable! The brand’s free-spirited designs are made with soft, earth-minded fabrics like organic cotton and each dress is made to order for each bride to their exact measurements.
There are also customizations available for each eco-friendly wedding dress such as train or no train, skirt or sleeve linings, back coverage, skirt style, and more.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, made-to-order model, locally and transparently made
Price Range: $680 – $1,700
Size Range: N/A; dresses are made to your measurements
5. Larimeloom
Based in Reggio Emilia, Italy, Larimeloom crafts exceptional custom-made dresses by hand in their atelier. The brand creates comfortable minimalist dresses from durable natural fabrics and colors them with natural or non-toxic dyes.
Larimeloom has also implemented zero waste design techniques, cutting their patterns strategically in order to minimize fabric waste.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, zero-waste designs, natural fabrics and dyes
Price Range: 650€ – 2,650€
Size Range: XS – XL
6. Sister Organics
Sourcing quality earth-friendly natural fabrics like organic hemp and cotton, Sister Organics creates classic, eco-friendly wedding dresses for UK-based brides.
Each dress is made to order in England, so you can select a pre-defined size, customize the length of a size, or get an entirely different dress made for your measurements.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, made-to-order model
Price Range: £125 – £390
Size Range: XXS – XXL + custom sizing
7. Indiebride London
Indiebride’s vintage-inspired sustainable wedding dresses are delicate and romantic yet free-spirited, offering a unique collection for the bride that wants to skip the conventional wedding gown and choose a piece that fits their individual style.
The brand’s conscious wedding dresses are handmade in London using majority natural fibers and can be altered or customized to your specifications.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, uses many natural fabrics, locally made
Price Range: £1,200 – £1,700
Size Range: 8 – 16 (UK sizes)
More Resources For Your Eco Wedding:
10 Secondhand Wedding Dress Sites for the Eco Bride
7 Ethical Lab-Grown Diamond Engagement and Wedding Rings
17 Brands with Conscious Dresses (great options for bridesmaid dresses in here!)
The post 7 Best Sustainable Wedding Dresses for Your Special Day appeared first on Conscious Life & Style.
-
Greenhouse Gases7 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
-
Climate Change7 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
-
Greenhouse Gases2 years ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
-
Climate Change2 years ago
Bill Discounting Climate Change in Florida’s Energy Policy Awaits DeSantis’ Approval
-
Climate Change2 years ago
Spanish-language misinformation on renewable energy spreads online, report shows
-
Climate Change2 years ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
-
Climate Change Videos2 years ago
The toxic gas flares fuelling Nigeria’s climate change – BBC News
-
Carbon Footprint2 years agoUS SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rules Spur Renewed Interest in Carbon Credits