Join the Fight Against Fast Furniture
- Jo
- Apr 14
- 3 min read
On our social media pages I bang on about sustainable luxury and turning trash into treasure pretty often, so I thought I'd use this week's blog to share a little more about why we try to reuse, recycle, upcycle, reclaim, rework (whichever verb you prefer) in our fight against fast furniture, and why it's such an important part of our business.
Pardon the cliche, but we really do live in a throwaway society and the planet is sagging under the weight of our rampant consumerism; ever changing fashions and trends have led to literal mountains of unwanted fabrics and textiles piled up so high in the desert of Chile that it can be seen from space.
Unfortunately these fashions and trends extend into furniture too. If you've never heard of it before, 'fast-furniture' is just the term used to describe the mass production of cheaply produced furniture, furniture that is not designed to last. This furniture doesn't just find it's way to landfill far too soon, but is one of the main drivers in deforestation which in turn is one of the main drivers of global warming.
This constant need for new things is having untold and, now, irreversible impacts on our planet, and the ramifications of this are coming closer and closer to home. The very recent warm weather in Scotland led Scottish Fire and Rescue to issue an EXTREME wildfire warning on the 11 April 2025. I don't know how to emphasise this strongly enough but let me try...WILD FIRES...IN SCOTLAND...IN APRIL!
we are slow, not fast furniture
Sean and I genuinely love old things and we tend to be able to see the potential in things that other folks might not which is one of the reasons 53 Interiors became a thing in the first place. We don't want to contribute to the growing problem of fast furniture, we want to mitigate against it, in our small way, in our wee business in Glasgow.
So to guide us in 'doing our bit' we have three principles that underpin what we do:
Build on what has already been created.
Reimagine and repurpose, circumventing the need for 'new'.
Use verified sustainable and eco-conscious fabrics, materials and sundries.
Check out the Furniture items in our shop, you'll see a selection of pieces that have already proven their worth and their value - every piece is at least 60 years old and if looked after, is sure to last another 60 - so why buy something that you'd get a few years out of if you're lucky?
Secondhand doesn't mean less valuable
Potential clients and customers really only see the finished piece, or at most a before and after shot or an infinitely sped up Instagram Reel, but behind this, there's hours of work in each piece.
Each piece is stripped back to bare bones, existing paint or varnish removed, repairs carried out if needed, cleaned and sanded, and that's just the preparation process! Restoring, reworking or upcycling is a multi-stepped process and to do it well takes knowledge, skill and rather a lot of time.
Just because it's secondhand doesn't mean it's less valuable, for us the reverse is true and so you can be confident that anything you purchase from us will have enjoyed more more time, care and attention to detail than anything in a flat pack that you could buy new from a big tin shed - either IRL or online.
BUY LESS, BUY WELL
As my role model, Vivienne Westwood, said it's quite simple to do your bit, just 'buy less, choose well, make it last' and you can start by joining the fight against fast furniture. In return you get:
To feel amazing because you're doing your bit for sustainability;
To shop with pride knowing that you are supporting independent creatives and artists; AND
Something totally unique, a true one off that brings joy to you and your home.
We aren't the only small business in this space, simply search hashtags like 'reworkedfurniture', 'furnitureart', 'uniquefurniture', 'reupholstery' to find others like us!
If you'd like to chat about anything in this wee blog, or if you have any questions about the one of one pieces of furniture we've got available, get in touch, we'd love to hear from you.
Opmerkingen