Studio Renier Winkelaar’s Convertible Wooden Windmill Table

Furniture that lasts.

Furniture that is constructed entirely without nails or screws!

Inspired by the lasting design of traditional Dutch windmills,  Renier Winkelaar designed an adjustable table that is held together with windmill-style gears.  Not only practical but it looks sensational.

Renier comments: 'With this concept I have designed a table named “craft 2.0”. In the design I had two rules of thumb. I wanted to use only one material and no modern techniques like for example screws. The table of 230 – 270 cm is made of oak and is only to put together by old connections. To slide out the table I have used gears and tooth hills. These gears operate by some kind of a ratchet, made from oak wood. And finally, the table looks really very cool!'

NEW IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER

I just took a step back from the hurly burly of a busy interior designer's life and pondered.

New is definitely not always better. So WHY is it so ingrained in our culture that when we decorate and build we source new items.  I am probably doing a disservice to our website www.designereco.com which actively encourages purchase of items to support local artisans and eco friendly manufacturers. However our ethos is transparency and balanced decisions and honest evaluation is what we do.

It is just occurring to me - for those beautiful heirloom antique pieces that age well- why is there not a better market for buying them? Sure there is ebay, and sure designer items might make it one day to 1st Dibs but why is there not a better market for reselling furniture that no longer fits your home but is still beautifully designed and has more life to give.

I can raid Mum and Grannie's homes, trawl estate sales and I can source new products online.. but where do we go for a wide selection of solid beautiful, transgenerational furniture??