Trash to Treasure: The Work of Paul Mirocha

Eco-friendly furniture is becoming more widely available now that big box retailers like Crate & Barrel are taking the initiative to create green options. But I once heard someone say if you really want to green, you have to build it yourself. I don’t know about you, but I’m not quite handy enough to turn pieces of scrap wood or bamboo plywood into beautiful pieces of furniture.

Paul Mirocha is that talented, and he’s sharing his artistry with the world. Mirocha is a self-taught artist and woodworker out of Oakland, CA, who makes astonishingly beautiful furniture and lighting from salvaged, certified, reclaimed, reused, and otherwise discarded wood and other materials. He shared this with me about a piece he recently created, “The Poor Mans Writing Desk,” which was made from a pile of old-growth Douglas Fir he found in front of a house being remodeled in Berkeley, CA.

The owners said “Take as much as you want. Just don’t make a mess.” I thought to myself “you don’t know what your throwing away.”

That is the kind of forward thinking that I believe will usher in a new wave of sustainable design. I would love to have a piece like the green “Emerald City” chest shown above in my home. And the “144″ lamp below it is nothing short of a modern marvel. All of Mirocha’s furniture is crafted on a commission-only basis and are one-of-a-kind, though you can purchase his lighting in single or larger orders.

Why It’s Green:

• All pieces are handmade and many are one-of-a-kind
• Everything is made from salvaged, certified, reclaimed, reused, and otherwise discarded wood and other materials, all which are locally sourced
• Pieces are finished with low-VOC, eco-friendly paints and finishes

Price: Ranges from about $800-8000 depending on the piece. All furniture is built on a commission-only basis.