Published: May 14, 2008 09:54 am      

UCO interior design students fashion furniture from trash

EDMOND — University of Central Oklahoma interior design students currently are displaying benches, tables and chairs they created from trash for their custom furniture class in the basement of Evans Hall on the UCO campus.

Students were required to work in teams and were allowed to use any discarded materials they could find to construct their piece. They picked through construction sites, garages and even employer’s trash bins to find suitable materials creating such unique pieces as a patio table made from roof flashing and discarded wine bottles to an upholstered bench built from downed tree limbs and scrap wood.

“We give this assignment each year in this class as a way to familiarize students with the concepts of green design and sustainability,” said UCO design professor Amy Jacobson-Peters.

“We need students to think about the materials they use and have an awareness of how they impact the environment.”

Sophomore Jamie Foster said her inspiration came from observing how many wine bottles were thrown away each week by her employer, Kang’s Asian Bistro.

“There were literally hundreds of them, so our team took some of them, broke them into smaller pieces and covered them with resin to form the top of a table,” Foster said.

“Then we used discarded wood for the legs. The owners of the restaurant loved it so much they bought it to use in their entryway.”

Custom furniture design company Troy Wesnidge Inc. of Newcastle, donated gift certificates from Hobby Lobby to those student teams judged as having the best overall design and use of innovative materials.

For more information, call Jacobson-Peters at 974-5211.