Natural Beauty Shaped, Welded & Woven Into Room & Board’s New 2012 Collection!

U STREET -- To call Room & Board simply a “furniture store” is to ignore the army of woodworkers, weavers, metalworkers, and printmakers that contribute to the thousands of home items sold each day by the much admired retailer.

And the results of such fine American craftsmanship (more than 90% of Room & Board’s product assortment is made domestically) is on full display in the company's latest annual collection, which was previewed to members of the local media on Tuesday evening.

Tables crafted from Vermont and Pennsylvania furniture-makers boast a timeless quality thanks to the abundant use of the similarly enduring natural materials from which they were constructed: wood, steel, granite, etc.

Sustainability goes to the heart of the company’s culture, with Room & Board using wood sourced only from responsibly harvested forests, reclaimed wood, and recycled natural steel and high-density plastics.

Indeed, owing much to the company’s culture of preservation, even the sawdust that is leftover from each production is recycled back into the community by manufacturers, in form of animal bedding donated to nearby farmers.

Such a commitment to “old world” materials, however, isn’t to imply that cutting edge design has taken a backseat. The company’s new collection is chocked full of contemporary trends, including the addition of a series of ventless EcoSmart fireplaces that use bioethanol to create a smoke-free, cozy flame that can be safely used indoors.

We could ramble for hours about our favorite Room & Board pieces for the New Year, but it wouldn’t do them justice. To get a true feel for the collection, pickup a copy of the store’s hefty 380-page catalog or consider popping into the District’s sprawling 14th Street location.