Writing about Reestore's Trolley Chair this week got us all excited about the potential of upcycling 'junk' and reincarnating everyday objects into sustainable masterpieces for you to sit on. We set out to discover design-led 'thrones' that offer a unique perspective on sustainable living style.

Plastic bags have been big news in recent years, with many of us turning our backs on them in favour of stylish shopping totes. Despite this step in the right direction, plastic bags still choke our environment in their zillions. Ryan Frank, a 'free-range' furniture designer, looks at plastic bags through a different lens: South African, born and bred, Ryan views plastic bags as a resource, as materials are scarce (there's no such thing as 'rubbish'). Ryan shares "In South Africa I became super aware of these type of materials because they hold high value in a third world country. Here in London, where I now live and work, I see lots of skips full of thrown out stuff. In South Africa, it wouldn't last two hours."

Inspired by the chicken ornaments made in the slums of Johannesburg, Ryan Frank's limited edition chair, affectionately named 'inkuku' - Zulu for chicken - is entirely made from recycled plastic bags. And the result is magnificent: Tactile, vibrant and multi layered, the inkuku is a bold, colourful style statement - and one we are coveting at GIN Towers!

Photo courtesy of RyanFrank.net

Ryan Frank's inkuku also has a 'sister' chair, made from fabric off cuts from the fashion industry, called the Dog. To view Ryan Frank's bespoke and product collection and explore his experimental approach further, please visit RyanFrank.net.

Ryan isn't the only talent to recycle fabrics into furniture.  Tejo Remy, a designer at Droog, the 'no-nonsense' design collective from Holland, created the Rag Chair, a clever and colourful amalgamation of old clothes - 15 bags in fact, that were layered together to form a chair. 

The Rag Chair has really got us thinking... While you can buy ready made, Droog offer the option to use your own rags to create your own bespoke chair. So if you have a bundle of old clothes that wouldn't cut the mustard at a swish party, then don't dismay - we've just found the perfect 'home' for your old rags. Why not pop along to Droog to find out more.

Photo courtesy of Droog

Plastic bags and the fashion industry's off cuts are well known 'waste' issues, but what about all those traffic signs that have passed their use by date? Now we'll be honest, it's not an issue we've given much thought to, but Boris Bally, an American metalsmith, has done since 1991 to much acclaim; Boris Bally set out to transcend basic root materials to support recycling, good design and sustainability. And boy, has Boris done so with fascinating style!

Innovative in manufacture, high on the design stakes, and with a successful Transit seat behind him, Boris set out on a new design challenge: To create a more complex chair design maximizing the graphic and material potential of recycled traffic signs - what Boris terms The Broadway Armchair objective. Boris told The GIN Lady "My goal was to create a design which could easily become a luminescent centerpiece of welcome, greeting clients in a Hotel Lobby or restaurant waiting area. I pushed this specific design to minimize scrap generated in its manufacture while honing the numerous technical challenges of working with this un-yielding material. It was my desire to maximize comfort and accessibility and optimize formal design concerns."

Boris's motto - “Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, Do without” - drives this desire and throughout his whole ‘HUMANUFACTURED®’ process... nothing goes to waste. Anything left over is further used in the production of numerous other furnishing designs - think switchplates, mailboxes, house numbers, clocks, picture frames and even key fobs! Not surprisingly, Boris Bally has won much international recognition, and is often witnessed in publications, exhibitions and installations. 

The result? Boris Bally has produced hundreds of these armchairs this year alone, so we're not alone in putting these Broadway Armchairs firmly on our wishlist. Claiming one or two of these armchairs as your own throne won't just add a splash of innovative design to your interior, this move will also save heaps of rubbish from the dump. Boris enthused "I will be able to re-direct over twenty tons of aluminum, re-energize the Sustainable movement and train and employ numerous assistants." Way to go Boris! To grab some design eye candy for yourself, visit BorisBally.com.Photograph courtesy of J.W. Johnson Photography (www.jwjimaging.com)

Another designer extraordinaire is Tom Price. Who'd have thought 10,000 black nylon cable tires, with nothing else added to the mix except heat, could produce such an iconic chair design? The Meltdown Chair by award winning London designer Tom Price is a design we'd like to sink into, with its contrast seat pressed into the woven melted ball of cable ties. Clever, unique... we're balled over! Visit Tom Price to learn more.

Photo courtesy of Tom-Price.com

If you're looking for a sleek British chair, look no further than Blue Marmalade. Based in Edinburgh, Blue Marmalade's designs are deceptively simple and outrageously cerebral in design. Simplicity at its best, this sustainable design house only use one sheet of recycled and recyclable plastic to construct their blue and black iconic i b pop chair. Curvaceous and chic, this minimalist designer chair would make for a stunning contemporary look in your dining room, the outdoors or simply used as an occasional chair.

Before you feast your eyes below to check out this stunner of a chair, you may be wondering why the Scottish contemporary designer team is named Blue Marmalade. Just like marmalade, this design house is traditionally British but blue as this isn't business as normal. Blue Marmalade are proud to be British, but there's nothing traditional or normal about their design approach. Visit Blue Marmalade to discover more about their contemporary approach to sustainable furniture.

Photograph courtesy of Blue Marmalade

If your home is crying out for a natural, calm ambience, you can't go wrong with the Imprint Chair designed by Johannes Foresom and Peter Hiort-Lorenzen from the Swedish design house Lammhults. The Imprint has been constructed from compressed layers of recycled spruce, bark and coconut fibre and the creative result is a one-piece shell that's light and textured, giving its original wood a whole new identity. We're loving the innovation behind this new blended material - and is recycling at its most natural. Visit Lammhults to check this Imprint Chair out for yourself.

Photograph courtesy of Lammhults

While the next in our line up - the Reee Classic Chair by Pli Design - may not be the most desirable choice for a modern home interior, it's worth mentioning as these are now peppered across many an innovative workspace - The Hub in Kings Cross London being a good example - and has now become a much deserved best-seller. Many, like us, love where this chair's material was sourced from... 100% recycled computer games consoles! And each chair saves an impressive 2.4kg of plastic from heading to landfill. In brief, the Reee is comfy to sit in, is relatively inexpensive, designed and made here in the UK (hurrah!) and is eco friendly to boot.

Isn't it time you had a quiet word in your boss's ear so you and your colleagues can sit at your desks in sustainable style? Visit Pli Design to get the lowdown on this British firm's approach to sustainable design.

So there you have it. 7 iconic chair designs that focus on recycled materials. Waste? There's no such thing....!