Chroma Lab Recycles Brightness into Your Day

Certainly purchasing antiques is a great way to furnish your life sustainably – but what if you’re tired of mahogany and dark umber, don’t like modern and metal, and aren't brave enough for 1950s kitsch?    Chroma Lab, a small but innovative furniture company in Boston, is the answer. Their first successful product was an incredible array of geometric and wildly colored clocks, but partners Alicia Cornwell and Tony Bevilacqua have now generated a line of chromatically stunning painted furniture and unique floor coverings.

Taking classic bureaus, shelves, and end tables to a new level, Chroma Lab furniture is made with an eye for detail and depth. Colors pop out from all segments of the piece, from every angle of a drawer to each side of an end table. “Color is our favourite thing,” said Cornwell. “If a piece has a nice shape and we think we can modernize it with color, then that’s what we do.” The team begins with a high quality antique and re-envisions it in a new environment as a one-of-a-kind piece. If you like the furniture, you might also consider using Tony and Alicia as environmental consultants for your office, living room, or yoga studio (check out the floor coverings). Chroma Lab is also beginning its own line of lamps, which are available on a limited basis immediately.    The Deep Sea Dresser, with undulating blue waves inside and out, has been featured in magazines and at the recent 2009 Interior Design Show in Toronto but if it’s sold by the time you get in touch, remember that Chroma Lab will design something specifically for you with an equally unique flair.

What's Your Bag?

Whether you're looking for a great recycled gift or a cruelty-free purse or bag for yourself, check out the stylish offerings at English Retreads. Company founder Heather English got the idea for her line of products while she was floating on an inner tube and thinking about the scarcity of vegetarian handbags. Since then, she's been expanding the enterprise with new products and talented collaborators. Today, English Retreads offers a variety of purses, messenger bags, and other accessories, all made from used inner tubes collected at truck stops. Each product is totally unique, hand-crafted, and comes with a generous maintenance guarantee. The company is also committed to sustainability in other areas, such as offsetting its carbon emissions. English Retreads' contributions in this area have been recognized as part of Co-op America's Green Business Network.