Toton’s new upcycling furniture project revives old chairs

Focusing on furniture recycling, “Toton” offers a space where people can experience various resource recycling as a lifestyle proposition. Toton has teamed up with product designers and painting craftsmen to launch an upcycling project called “C±C CHAIR&COLOR,” which revitalizes old chairs through design-oriented painting, calling it “Color Arithmetic.”

The background of the “C±C” project stems from the fact that many old furniture pieces are brought to Toton’s warehouse daily from customers. Disposing of these items costs a significant amount of money annually, so Toton has been considering ways to clean and upcycle usable furniture and reintroduce it into people’s lives.

As the first initiative, Toton collaborated with product designers and painting craftsmen to develop an original design called “C±C” from the perspective of upcycling, utilizing a unique spray-painting technique. They breathed new life into old furniture with this innovative “design painting” approach applied to various materials, including wood, metal, and leather.

It is common to add color to chairs through painting. However, in this exhibit, they decided to paint the original chairs white and subtract color from them to make the old-looking chairs usable again, naming the design-oriented painting as “Color Arithmetic.”

By leaving some parts unpainted, the original color of the chair is preserved, and under the concept of “Color Arithmetic,” Toton devised a unique painting method that is true to their brand. This sustainable project reduces waste by giving new life to old furniture, thus contributing to a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.

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