Translucent Icy Pastel Furniture Made from Recycled Plastic

Kim Markel Glow Collection

Kim Markel’s Glow collection of wall mirrors, vases and chairs look good enough to eat. The unusual icy-looking translucent pastel colored pieces are handcrafted from reclaimed plastics bonded with resin.

Kim Markel Glow Collection

After a career in environmental policy, the NY-based Markel worked at a foundry making large sculptures for artists such as Jeff Koons. There, she started making her own work, and developing a process and material that would allow her to use existing materials in the objects she created, to truly have a lighter impact on the world.

Kim in her studio with one of her Glow chairs

Using previously discarded items such as soda bottles, lunch trays, and eyeglasses, Kim created these pretty, deceptively delicate-looking furnishings.

recycled furniture

Although likened to candy, these are not ‘novelty’ pieces like those by Jellio. These are attractive, functional pieces that have an ethereal quality and can work in even the most sophisticated environments.

Kim even made these fun ‘popsicles’ to send out as color samples:
translucent candy colors

Kim’s uniquely molded chairs have caught the eye of the furniture design industry and garnered her the Rado Star Prize for Innovation, The NYCxDESIGN Award for Seating by ICFF & Interior Design Magazine and The Best of Year Award by Interior Design Magazine – some impressive honors.

modern recycled furniture
above image of Kim’s booth of goods at the Architectural Digest Design Show, courtesy of Inhabitat.

Glow Chairs:
Glow chairs

Translucent and whimsical, these chairs have been described as looking like candy, ice pops, gummy bears, and ice. They’re handcrafted from reclaimed plastics, one by one, and are quite hefty.

glow recycled furniture collection

Glow Mirrors:
Glow wall mirrors cool wall mirrors

Glowing, reclaimed plastic surrounds each round mirror. With a depth of around 2″ from the wall, the frame is just large enough to capture light.

Glow Vases
recycled vases

Tall, whimsical, and colorful- these watertight vases appear to emanate a glow from within. Translucent colors and striations of colors and reclaimed plastic create a fantastically interesting vessel.

GLOW vases

Glow Pedestal Tables:
translucent pedestal tables

In addition to the soft diffused look of the above products, Kim also created her handmade “Hard Candy” pedestal tables in Aqua Fresh, Earl Grey or Lemon Drop.

hard candy tables

These were available for purchase through artisan site AHA but are now sold out.

Shop the  GLOW collection here

kim markel glow collection
Kim Markel