Back in December, I blogged about a cardboard desk. Today, we’re looking at furniture that’s made of even less expensive material – old newspapers. There are a couple of different designers playing with this reusable material. Yasmin Sethi combines the strength of layers with the strength of cylinders to make tables and chairs from rolled newspapers. Her Newspaper Furniture is simple to make and reportedly sturdy enough for actual use.

Another eco-friendly innovator, Mieke Meijer, is taking things one step further by turning old newspaper into pieces of faux lumber. The newspaper is compressed and bonded into blocks of solid material pulp. The ink between the layers creates an effect that actually looks like wood grain. The “logs” can be handled a lot like real wood as far as cutting, sanding, and finishing goes. Various artists are using this wood substitute for furniture ranging from desks and storage units to seating.