My love for wine should be apparent after reviewing products such as Fontenay Wood’s Vintage Wine Barrel Flooring and Recycled Wine Cork Tile by Jelinek Cork. My love only grows stronger as the remnants of wine production and consumption turn out to make beautiful sustainable products. Adding another contender to the list today, we welcome the Wine Barrel Folding Chair and Bench by Whit McLeod.

Wine Barrel Folding Chair and Bench. Designed by Whit McLeod.

“Reminiscent of a steamer deck chair, our folding barrel stave chair is made from salvaged 70-gallon oak wine barrels.” If you (like me) aren’t 100% sure what a steamer deck chair is, it is what it sounds like, but what a lovely mental image of relaxing on a vintage cruise liner with a glass of wine in a chair shaped like this one. The wood for the chair is 100% white oak, salvaged from wine barrels discarded by California wineries, an effort recognized by the California Integrated Waste Management Board. As portable as it is sustainable, when folded, the slats nest alongside one another, making the chair “as flat as a comma: you can take it anywhere.” Like a great bottle of wine, each chair is individually numbered with the name of the winery branded under the seat. The bench variety is for social drinkers who are generous enough to share their bottle of vino. Not that one must be a wine drinker to appreciate this creative reuse piece, but it does make you appreciate your Chardonnay that much more.

Whit Mcleod is a Northern California based company that prides itself in the use of sustainable, reclaimed and salvaged woods. They design in the Arts and Crafts style which is appropriate as the moment was inspired by honest design.

“We believe in the importance of a reverence toward our natural resources and strive to use the materials in a way that preserves and enhances the original workmanship of each piece.”