Video by Nolan Dean | Music by Philip Stackhouse | Photography & Design by Thrive
As residents of Helena, Arkansas, we’ve seen an abundance of damaged, burnt out, and disintegrating homes in our community, around Phillips County, and in the larger Delta region. But where others see only blight and destruction, we see opportunity. Inspired by the idea of creating something new and beautiful from these old materials, we set out in late 2014 to create 100% reclaimed solid wood furniture that honors the culture and history of the Delta while mixing it with modern design.
Once a thriving center of industry, Helena has endured massive population loss (50% since 1960) along with rising poverty and unemployment rates. Still, Helena is our home, and it’s important to us that our work not only respects the Delta’s heritage but also actively makes it a better place to live. We take pride in finding and collecting all of our building materials ourselves, and we’re even more proud that it means we’re cleaning up abandoned properties in the process—making dangerous and unattractive areas in the Delta safer and cleaner. On top of that, we’re also creating skilled jobs in our workshop—currently, we have two full-time employees and hope to add more as our business grows.
Scope
Our reclaimed solid wood furniture represents authenticity, history and quality, with all of our materials coming from the Delta. Much like the wood it’s created with, each piece of Reclaimed Helena furniture is unique. We incorporate luxury details like our signature mother of pearl accents—sourced by us from the Mississippi River—to add interest and texture. Our custom-made strong hinges make legs foldable and easy to move. Sturdy, top-of-the-line screws hold it all together, so you'll never have to worry about the lifespan of your furniture. Every piece of our furniture comes pre-assembled and flat-packed to ensure safety and durability during shipping. Plus, free shipping is included on all orders.
Design
Every single piece of Reclaimed Helena furniture tells a story – bold, multifunctional design mixes sleek, modern lines with texture of old, rich wood.
We use only solid wood pieces. Long, straight lines evoke simple elegance, and our signature mother-of-pearl accents help to build on our local Delta story and heritage.
- Functional design for multipurpose use
- Illusion of delicate design is backed up with sturdy hardware and joinery
- Crisp edges and exact angles that echo throughout the design of different pieces
- Unorthodox mixing of wood species (oak, cypress, pine, cottonwood, sycamore, hickory)
- Authentic aged character and finish marks
All of our products have custom hand-waxed finishes and are assembled with top-of-the-line sturdy screws. Additionally, each piece is designed with folding legs that make moving & rearranging easy, extending the life of your valuable furniture—no more banging up corners, legs, or walls while trying to move it! Plus, our pieces are less dense than traditional furniture—making it possible for us to offer free shipping on all orders.
Project Budget
We’re not using our Kickstarter campaign to make a profit. If we hit our minimum funding goal and no more, all the funds generated will go back into the manufacturing, freight, and delivery of our furniture and rewards. However, our ultimate goal for this campaign is to generate enough funds to make Reclaimed Helena a sustainable business endeavor—allowing us to create a living out of making a difference in our hometown, supported by great backers from the start that can help us grow.
- $30,000 will allow us to design and manufacture our custom hinge as well as buy all the materials (screws, sandpaper, blades, wax etc.) needed to manufacture the furniture. We also want to commit to taking on several full-time employees beyond a short-term commitment.
- We accounted for the 5% Kickstarter fee and, and 3% Stripe fee.
Rewards
Risks and challenges
Some of the challenges we will face if the project succeeds are the following:
We hope to deliver according to the timeline set forth on every item. That said, the amount of time required to get our specific custom hinge manufactured and delivered to us is hard to gauge. We are prepared to make the furniture as soon as all of our bulk supplies are delivered.
This project is special to us, and we want to complete every step of the process with the utmost attention to detail and craftsmanship. Most of these steps, including design, reclaiming materials, woodworking, and finishing are within our expertise. However, other things like custom-making special parts and packaging are new to us, so we have done a ton of research in these areas, talked to experts, and established a great advisory group of people ready to support us in this project. We are confident that we will execute this project with excellence!
Please email us with any questions at:
jan.feldman@reclaimedhelena.com
Questions about this project? Check out the FAQ
Support
Funding period
- (32 days)