Beetle Mania
Some people can find the good in anything, even a pine beetle infestation that is killing trees in Colorado and Wyoming at alarming rates.
Designer Drew Witmer, for example, has designed and built Jiberish, a Denver clothing store, which utilizes the diseased dead wood in very dynamic ways. He constructed the store’s fixtures from locally harvested Colorado Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) lumber, which has a unique blue gray striping left by a non-toxic fungus carried on the beetle’s legs. “The final product,” he notes, “is a fixture that is not only beautiful but also very sustainable. I am making it my mission to promote the use of this resource locally and have several furniture designs in the works.”
The impact of the beetle kill has been so profound that businesses, entrepreneurs, craftspeople of all types and private citizens have joined together to form the Beetle Kill Trade Association. Its goal – to create jobs and tax revenues from the epidemic by turning “the devastation of a state resource into a boon of economic development.”
Really? How does that work? Start by using the dead and dying trees as a raw material for new products. As reported by a local news source, “it’s hard to find beauty in all that destruction, but one business in Breckenridge is trying to do just that by showcasing many of the good things to come out of all the dead lumber."
Interior decorators at Full Circle Design: “have just opened a showroom for the Colorado Beetle Kill Trade Association. Placed throughout the office are products from 20 different vendors that…show how wood from trees killed by bark beetle can be used to decorate a person’s home…desks, tables, doors, frames, floors, even the kitchen sink.”
“…it gives designers a new tool to decorate with wood that they say is as sturdy as similar types of wood…the best part is that all the work uses recycled dead trees, which is turning red, dead forest into something truly green.”
Pretty cool.
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Guadalupe commented:
I would definitely recemmond priming it. you should use a latex primer sealer designed to stick to glossy surfaces. then paint with a latex interior paint in the finish of your choice. i would suggest a semi-gloss to give you a better/more durable finish. i would not suggest using an oil, as they are getting to be very expensive, and a lot a regions will be forced by the EPA to stop selling in the next couple years. also, try to get a premixed black. don't let the paint store tint it black. if the store you go to doesn't have black already on the shelf, go to another store. if they mix it, the paint wont do as well. i would apply a couple coats of paint and not coat with a lacquer/varnish. these types of product WILL YELLOW over time. they get more yellow, and cloudy as time goes by. if you MUST clear coat, use a latex polyurethane. it will stay completely clear.I would suggest:Primer:Benjamin Moore Fresh start All purpose primer 023-00finish: Benjamin Moore Ironclad Latex Metal & Wood Enamel 363-80Clear(if you must):Benjamin Moore Stays Clear LAtex Polyurethane
Jessie@rubbermaid kitchen drawer organizers commented:
Ecomanta is truly right. I've seen a lot of interior designs nowadays that's utilizing reclaimed wood. And it's perfectly unique and pleasing to the eyes.www.amazines.com/article_detail.cfm/2960700?articleid=2960700
Ecomanta commented:
