Recycled Mattress Chairs

Most of us would not be able to guess the origin of these plump stools, pouffes and chair for the designer, Dutch born Frank Willems has truly given old mattresses an extreme makeover. His idea came about after a project on material life. He noticed almost all unwanted waste material could be recycled except mattresses. They were destined for the landfills simply because they could not be shredded - they would get stuck in the machines.

What he does is to fold them up in different ways and then lashes the voluminous seat on top of the legs of varying styles of antique chairs. The whole thing is made hygienic by a spray-on water resistant foam coating. He then paints it in vibrant colours. The stool was his first creation but he has since gone on to add chairs and pouffes to the endearingly named Madam Rubens Collection. His stool is currently being displayed in an exhibition on seating entitled “Please do not Sit” in the Tooles Gallery in France.