Second Chances: Urban Wood Furniture by Alabama Sawyer

If a tree falls in Birmingham, Alabama, is it sent off to a landfill? Not if Alabama Sawyer gets there first. The furniture and decor company takes a sustainable “field to studio” approach, collecting unwanted trees from the Birmingham metropolitan area and giving them second lives as tables, seating, shelving, and kitchen accessories.

When a tree falls naturally or needs to be removed, Alabama Sawyer’s team salvages the wood—which ranges from regional species like sweet gum, pecan, and hackberry to national favorites like walnut, white oak, and cherry—then prepares it for reuse, cutting it into slabs and lumber and drying it out for six months or more. Since the urban wood isn’t farmed, each piece has unique organic variations, which Alabama Sawyer’s craftspeople work into each finished product. The result is a collection of elegant, handcrafted furniture and home accessories.

Take a look at some of our favorites.

Above: Thick wood logs are transformed into minimalist Wood Beam Benches. They can have a clear finish to show off the wood’s natural color, or they can be finished with the Japanese shou sugi ban technique in which the surface is charred (shown here).

Above: Alabama Sawyer’s midcentury-inspired Modern Wooden Ice Bucket is made from walnut, lined with stainless steel, and accented with an American steel handle. Beneath it is the Hyo Table, which is also made from walnut but has a more rustic style.

Above: This Wooden Incense Holder has a cast bronze cradle that can be used with stick incense, cone incense, or even a sage smudge stick. Choose from walnut, elm, or gulf sand wood for the base and a bright or antique finish for the bronze.

Above: An ode to midcentury-modern furniture, the Round Pedestal Base Dining Table is made with an “Amicalola” base that’s hand cast at local foundries in Alabama. The top can be made with a variety of woods, from white oak to rainbow poplar, and Alabama Sawyer will also be introducing a new bronze base to this table and the Legacy Base Pedestal Table.

Above: The Beach Avenue Table is a modern, versatile piece that nods to Alabama Sawyer’s former wood shop on Beach Avenue in Venice, California. The tables can be used alone, in pairs as end tables or nightstands, or clustered to create a modular coffee table.

Above: Hand-finished with oil, the elegant walnut Wooden Bread Box is completely food safe and ideal for storing bread—whether home-baked or bought from a local bakery.

Above: Forget unsightly plastic compost bins. Alabama Sawyer’s Noaway Countertop Compost Bin is so refined you might not even know it’s for food scraps. The wooden box has a stainless-steel interior and lid that are removable for easy cleaning.

Above: Bronze details by Birmingham metal artists accent the surface of the Winston Coffee Table. They’re designed to look like wood inlays, but being made of bronze, they provide a lovely textural and chromatic contrast to the white oak tabletop.

For much more, head to Alabama Sawyer.