INSIDE & OUT : DISCOVERIES : Re-Plates

From broken, chipped dishes, ceramist Julie Sanders is grinding out new patterns for her Cyclamen Studio line.

Believed to be one of the first to use post-consumer ceramics as a part of a new product, Sanders, a Los Angeles native now living in Berkeley, uses ground-up old plates with new pieces to make her re-eco dinnerware, which is white with a speckled finish. The dinnerware also is available with borders in royal, foliage, Chinese red, mango and natural colors.

When adding up the amount of product she has thrown away at her facility alone, Sanders was inspired to find a way to put the waste to use.

“I asked around to see if anyone knew how to use the old plates, but no one knew, so I decided to just go ahead and do it, and I did it,” said Sanders, who started making re-eco dinnerware in May and made her first shipments nationwide to stores such as Henri Bendel’s and Nordstrom in late July. Geary’s in Beverly Hills also carries Sanders’ lines.

Sanders has also worked out a deal with the Northern California Waste Management Board to use them as a source for materials.

Customers are encouraged to participate in Sanders’ recycling program. She will give customers a 10% discount, on a piece for piece basis, for any unwanted dish they turn in.

Prices for the re-eco collection range from about $14 for a large mug to $56 for a pitcher and $82 for a pasta bowl.

For information, call Cyclamen Studio at (510) 843-4691.

Custom Cabinetry

OK, you have the big screen, the speakers, the receiver, the videotapes and no place to put them. You have the computer, the monitor, the printer, the fax machine and no place to set them up. Or you have the sewing machine, the layout table and no place to hang your bobbins.

What to do?

Jan and Bud Tucker’s Sea Design Furniture of San Clemente can solve your problem. Custom entertainment, computer and sewing centers, made of pine and birch, are their specialty.

Using your ideas, and a few of their own, Sea Design can add crown and detailed moldings, lighting and solid maple doors to enhance and accent the pieces.

In addition, they use European hinges, touch latches and pocket doors, and they can install child-proof locks, too.

“We can create the unit of your dreams for a very competitive price,” said Tucker, who has been in the business for more than 12 years. “Our centers are made of wood, not particle board, so they are of better quality.”

All of Sea Design’s pieces are paint- or stain-ready. The company does not do such finish work but can assist you, if necessary.

The average custom unit ranges from $725 to $1,100 and is anywhere from five to 15 feet wide, five to 10 feet high and 16 1/2 to 35 inches deep.

A basic piece is available for $349.

For information, call (714) 498-9107 or visit the factory showroom at 1504 De La Estrella, G, in San Clemente.

Cool Cover

Not that anyone needs an excuse to gather around the water cooler, but Richard Good’s Tropicool cover is sure to spark conversation, especially with its brightly colored fish and reef motif.

Made of a durable, washable canvas, the cover slips over most five-gallon drinking water bottles and helps to protect the drinking water from sunlight, which could lead to algae growth.

Good came up with the idea during a scuba-diving vacation in Australia.

“My partner and I took about 400 pictures underwater of these really neat fish, and I wanted to take those pictures and use them for something,” said Good, who recently left Chevron, where he worked as a financial tax planner for 12 years.

Good, owner of WORLDesigns, which distributes the cover ($11.95 postpaid), is a longtime advocate of marine and wildlife preservation and will donate 20% of the profits from each sale to the Center for Marine Conservation, an organization dedicated to the protection of oceans.

To order, call (800) 822-4459 or mail to WORLDesigns, P.O. Box 3266, Walnut Creek, CA 94596.