Green movement encourages people in 'adaptive reuse'

Homeowners who want to decorate or redecorate a room today are more likely to "go shopping" in their own attic or basement - or possible that of or a family member's - before they head off to a store.

Three factors are involved in these decisions.

•The green movement encourages people to keep items out of their local landfills by finding creative ways to reuse them.

•Those worried about the troubled economy are trying not to spend money.

•And the nostalgic among us don't want to part with Grandma's dresser or Grandpa's old cabinet hi-fi.

It is a perfect storm that makes "adaptive reuse" of items all the rage.

American Society of Interior Designers members Linda Navara of LMR Designs in Arlington Heights (lmrdesignsllc.com) and Andrea Vollf of Andrea Vollf Interiors in Schaumburg (andreavollf.com) both said they have recently seen an increased demand from clients for creative ways to reuse items they already own, or which have been in their families for years.

"People don't want to spend lots of money today so they are asking me to think more outside the box," Vollf said. "The economy is forcing designers and homeowners to come up with new ways to use old things."

Navara recently decorated a home in Rosemont by almost entirely using items the family already owned.

"My client bought an older ranch home, gutted it and added a second floor. She loves modern, clean lines," Navara said. "For sentimental reasons, she wanted to use her parents' first sofa that they bought together in the 1970s, which was upholstered in the original lime green fabric.

"We selected an updated chocolate wide-striped fabric to keep it contemporary. Also, we found an old stereo at her parents' home that we refinished in a more modern, darker espresso finish and now it makes a nice buffet piece," she said.

"In addition, my client's aunt passed away and everyone in the family was invited to go look through the house and take what they wanted," Navara related. "We found her grandparents' old cedar chest that is at least 50 years old in a corner of the basement and she also took some antique oval-framed photos of her grandfather and great-grandparents.

"We refinished the cedar chest in a darker color to go with her modern furniture and now she uses it as a storage piece placed behind a sofa in her great room. We kept the photos in their antique convex frames because they are in good shape and mixed them with her modern décor," Navara continued.

Another client had her install mirrors in an old window salvaged from her father's house and they then used the mirrored window as an accent piece on a wall inside her home. At yet another home Navara transformed a wooden nail keg left behind by construction workers into an outdoor planter.

"I have always done a lot of reupholstering of furniture with my clients because people often have a piece of furniture that they really like and which is really comfortable, but it is just looking worn," she said.

With reupholstering, Navara said, homeowners get to pick the exact fabric they want from an almost infinite number of choices. But it can be very expensive, she cautioned, so only invest the money in a well-made, high-end piece.

Vollf has seen a big change in her clients' wishes over the past few years.

"In the early 2000s everyone wanted everything new," she said. "But when the economy started to do poorly in 2008, they stopped going out as much. They are entertaining more at home and now they want to show off their family things more."

And they are more interested in saving the earth and not wasting things, Vollf added.

"I have taken old quilts and turned them into accent pillows and smaller throws and for one client I took a set of curtains that were good in only some places and used the good parts as an accent border for new curtains," she said.

Ninety percent of the clients who ask Vollf to decorate using vintage pieces have gotten them from family members, she said. Only 10 percent have purchased the items from thrift stores and garage sales.

In her own home Vollf displays a lovely silver candleholder that began life as a fruit platter in one of her ancestors' homes. The upper platter broke, so rather than throwing it away, Vollf purchased a glass cup and transformed the base into a truly striking candleholder.

She has also used the fabric from old curtains and bedspreads to recover dining room chair seats and has refinished old oak furniture, transforming it into a modern popular antique white.

"Older furniture is usually constructed better than it is today," Vollf said, "so why send it to the landfill when you can just refinish or reupholster it and at the same time preserve your memories?"

<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Attic treasures can shine again</b></p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">When my grown son recently moved to the city, taking all of his furniture with him, I was left with an empty bedroom. I went through my attic and basement, searching for stored items which would make the room a comfortable place for guests.</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">In the end, I only purchased a large silk tree for the corner. Everything else had been tucked away in storage: my grandmother's chest of drawers, chair and Oriental rug; my husband's grandmother's mirror; my mother's lamps and nesting tables; and the bed my son slept in when he was growing up.</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">The adaptive reuse idea of which I am most proud, however, is the cathedral window with a painting behind it that graced the wall of my living room for many years. For the past decade or so it had been hiding in my attic.</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">Now it is the headboard of the bed in my new guest room. And I love it all over again.</p>

<p class="factboxtext12col">- Jean Murphy</p>