Well, if there wasn’t a good enough reason to have a second glass of good, organic wine, here’s a post about innovative products that use old wine bottles and upcycle them into cool and very functional items for the home.

First up, this chandelier.   This adorable-I-think-I-need-to-have-it chandelier from Pottery Barn.   This is one of those upcycling projects that actually makes a recycled product look sleek, modern and cool.   I’ve seen those flattened wine bottles made into serving trays and never quite understood them; yes, they are recycled, but why on Earth would I want that flattened bottle on my table?    This chandelier is something that I think could look charming in a kitchen.   Or, perhaps, it could be inspiration for my own DIY chandelier project?    Remember that $15 bird cage light fixture I made?   Hmmmm.

This company called Green Glass has been around for a long time.  In fact, in the early days of this whole “green” living craze, they were there with the only recycled glass tumblers around.   I’m really happy to see Green Glass products getting the love they deserve; I remember seeing them for sale at Pottery Barn stores last season and thought, “Yeah for them!!” 

I’m still a fan of these tumblers; they are just wine bottles that are cut, ground, smoothed, sandblasted and decorated simply.   Love.

That said, I did run across this UK company also taking old wine bottles and upcycling them into some beautiful glassware, too.   Here’s a little info on the designers who make these products off the website:

Who’s? Glass is made up of three talented glassmakers, comprising of two generations of experience in this genuine family affair.  Lars Anders Persson is a Swedish Master Glassmaker with over 40 years experience in the glass making industry. Lars has helped create glass and crystal pieces for companies such as Tiffany & Co., Cartier and Wedgwood, amongst many others, and has worked for some of the world’s top glass houses.  Working alongside Lars is his eldest son Anders, who has over 16 years experience in the glass industry and is a keen participant in new technical developments in recycled glass.  The youngest son, Matthew, completes the team.  Matthew is a multi-award winning glass designer who has designed ranges for some of Britain’s top high street stores and last year won the prestigious ‘Gift of the Year’ award – made in the UK category.  As a group they are individual, talented and outstandingly creative and are committed in their quest to establish Who’s? Glass as the UK’s leading producer of innovative recycled glassware products.

So, cheers to all the artists and companies—big and small—recycling wine bottles into things of beauty.  I think there are a few things here that will be great holiday gifts.  And possibly a few Daily Danny giveaways, too?   I’m sure most of you would toast to that.

Tags: upcycling, wine bottles

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 1:25 am and is filed under shopping. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.