New York

From "reduce/reuse/recycle" to Celebrity Rehab, finding innovative uses for discarded trash is an American tradition. Deck your home in detritus-cum-unique-furnishings, with Counter Evolution.

CE's a sturdy line of tables made from reclaimed bowling alley wood, designed by a Brooklyn musician turned woodsmith -- a career change spurred by his crowd-pleasing rendition of "If I were a Carpenter". Reinforced with steel panels (w/ some models sporting 2x4 steel beam legs), each table's constructed from 100% pine or maple sourced from pre-1980 lanes -- post-1980 lanes being made of synthetic fibers, the only material capable of withstanding daily bombardment from lasers, fog, and the Electric Light Orchestra. Models cover a full range of uses, from the bar-high circle-topped Love Tap, to the coffee table Tumbler, to a long bench called The Gutter Ball, which, appropriately enough, doesn't come with bumpers to keep you from falling off.

CE also offers bespoke tables, benches, and countertops made to your size and material specifications, i.e., "a long farm table carved from maple and ossified bits of Brigitte Nielsen".