Old fishing boats from Indonesia have found new homes in Australia – as furniture.
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The rustic-style furniture recycled from fishing boats is popular in the United States and now Dungog is one of the few places in Australia to stock it.
Jenny Lewis from Dungog Country Antiques said the pieces were attracting a lot of attention.
“Interest has been fabulous,” she said.
“It’s environmentally friendly by recycling an old product and a lot of people really like that painted, rustic look,” she said.
“It re-uses the timber and it gives a lot of people in Bali and Indonesia work.”
The boats have the original patina of age having been repainted year after year before being finally retired from service and being converted to furniture.
“The furniture is all hand made from teak and hardwood and should last a lifetime,” she said.
After seeing the product online Ms Lewis said the stock took six months to arrive.
“I looked at the freight to get a sample and decided the only way to do it would be to get a whole container.
”Some of the pieces were already made and some pieces have been especially built for me,” she said.
“It turned out it was going to be just as expensive to get the shipment from Sydney to Dungog as it was to get it from Indonesia to Sydney.
“Thankfully Steve from Country Elegance helped transport it here.”
The pieces include benches, stools, tables, sideboards and smaller occasional pieces.