Upcycling

Upcycling is all about taking unwanted, unloved products and making them useful, functional and beautiful again. By upcycling old furniture, the footprint of these pieces is much smaller than buying something new. It’s better for the environment, and better for you too.

At Malenka Originals, one of the key elements that drives and motivates us is the realization that by reusing old furniture – and helping others refresh their old furniture – the impact on the planet and resources is much less.

We believe that every piece of furniture – no matter how battered and bruised it once was – can become a thing of beauty.

We love nothing more than hearing from our customers about roadside furniture rescues or that an old piece of Grandma’s furniture has been retrieved from the attic and is now being used and loved again.

Most new furniture on the market will have likely come from far away, uses irresponsibly logged wood, and is sprayed with a very eco-unfriendly chemical finish. On top of all this, it’s probably not made very well, and won’t last you very long.

In contrast, a lot of older furniture is made with solid wood, and usually with expensive hardwoods such as mahogany, oak and maple.

We’re continually blown-away by the incredible construction of older furniture, such as intricate detailing, dovetailing, and tongue-in-groove drawers. It’s hard to find these things today, unless you’re willing to pay into the thousands of dollars.

On top of that, much of the older furniture found in local antique, thrift stores, (or even by the side of the road!) was actually made in Ontario or Quebec. We all love a little ‘Made in Canada’.

Please help spread the word about upcycling by encouraging your friends and family to refresh their old furniture rather than throwing it away, or by choosing to buy a used piece instead of a new one.

And thank you to those of you who have already done so much to reduce waste by reloving and refreshing!