Guide to Reclaimed Wood Furniture

JUNE 20, 2025

In a world of mass-produced furniture and wasteful fleeting trends, pieces made from reclaimed materials offer a much-needed breath of fresh air.

Embracing reclaimed furniture encourages a more sustainable approach to interior design, allowing you to repurpose high-quality, characterful materials and make good use of things that had been previously forgotten!

What is Reclaimed Wood Furniture?

Reclaimed wood furniture utilises a form of recycling, whereby old wooden items with varying original purposes are remade into unique pieces of furniture. The original wood may be salvaged from old beams, architraves, doors, other architectural elements and more. It is all about taking something old and making it new.

Reclaimed wood is often used in antique reproductions, as the previously used materials provide a sense of history and a ‘lived-in’ quality that is inherent to genuine antiques.

Reclaimed pieces are also beloved within industrial and rustic design styles, as here, there tends to be a focus on unique, intentionally flawed pieces.

What is Reclaimed Wood Furniture Made Out Of?

Most of our reclaimed wood furniture comes from India or China and is made from teak or elm. Lots of Indian reclaimed furniture is made of salvaged teak from old buildings that had fallen into disrepair.

Reclaimed furniture can be made out of a diverse range of things, from structural beams, floorboards, and pallets to ships, old barrels and windows. It is made from timber that has been removed from its original context, so things like reclaimed tables and cabinets can be created from a wide variety of items. Old timber may be collected from derelict warehouses, factories, barns and other industrial buildings being demolished to reduce waste.

Aside from teak and elm, other woods commonly used in reclaimed pieces from around the world include pine, oak, rosewood, cedar, walnut and mahogany.

The Benefits of Reclaimed Furniture

We love reclaimed wood furniture for a few reasons – it’s no real surprise that it’s becoming more and more popular.

Sustainable Qualities

Reclaimed furniture offers several sustainable benefits. For one, when you reuse old, unloved materials, it ensures they don’t go to waste and end up deteriorating in landfill.

Additionally, it helps cut down on the demand for new timber to be harvested. This means fewer natural resources are being destroyed, and important environmental spaces and habitats can be conserved.

Full of Character & Uniqueness

Reclaimed wood has lived a whole other life before it is transformed into furniture. This means each piece is imbued with a unique, largely one-of-a-kind character – quite the departure from identical, mass-made products!

Furniture made from reclaimed materials often features small imperfections that hint at the story of its past, providing a sense of natural personality and a richness you don’t get with contemporary materials.

Durability

Old timber is made from old-growth wood, which comes from trees that have been allowed to fully mature, making for strong, durable wood.

New-growth wood, which is what contemporary timber tends to be made from, is harvested from trees that are still growing and have had less time to develop. This kind of wood is not as dense or robust.

If you want the durability and strength of old-growth wood, you will have to purchase reclaimed timber/furniture, as ancient trees and forests are now protected and no longer felled.

Is Reclaimed Wood Furniture Good Quality?

Just because reclaimed wood is (in a way) second-hand does not mean it is of inferior quality to brand-new materials. In fact, you’ll often find that it’s quite the opposite.

As mentioned above, reclaimed wood furniture tends to have better strength because of the mature quality of the wood it’s made from. This creates long-lasting pieces that’ll look spectacular in your home for years to come.

Because the wood has already been somewhat weathered and exposed to the elements, it is at less risk of warping or splitting – plus the overall look of the more rugged, aged wood will mean that any new defects won’t be particularly pronounced.

The craftsmanship required to turn reclaimed material into something totally different also means that each piece has a better guarantee of being constructed with an extra level of care and detail than other modern pieces, leading to some incredibly impressive, high-quality furniture.

How to Care For Reclaimed Wood Furniture?

Reclaimed furniture is hardy, but it's still worth being mindful about taking good care of it so you can continue to maintain its quality in the long run.

When caring for your reclaimed wood furniture, you can generally follow the same kind of rules you would when maintaining antique pieces and any other high-end furniture.

This means semi-regular dusting with a soft cloth, immediately cleaning up any spills and the occasional waxing to keep the wood looking its best.

To find out more, see our guide on how to clean antique furniture.

Want to incorporate some beautiful reclaimed pieces into your interiors? Here at Indigo Antiques, we stock an array of reclaimed wood furniture from India and China, with diverse styles to suit all kinds of design requirements and preferences. Browse our selection today!