New use for wine corks

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My friend Roberta has a big acrylic box sitting on the floor of her dining room where she deposits all her wine corks. Think of it as a wine meter, counting up the good bottles and the happy meals enjoyed around her table. Some people use their corks to make doormats or bulletin boards. Or string them up to create hanging curtains. Something.

But strolling down Abbot Kinney in Venice after breakfast at 3 Square Cafe, I came across a more compelling DIY idea: the cork armchair. Now, this armchair may have been in the window for years and I never noticed it, I don’t know. It may cost thousands of dollars -- after all, it is in the window of an art gallery, namely Altered Space Gallery at 1221 Abbot Kinney Blvd.

But I know somebody will figure out a way to expand on the idea. A cork sofa, perhaps? A four-poster bed with first-growth Bordeaux wine crates as a headboard? If I were the kind of person who saves corks, I’d even throw them in to jump-start the project. I’m just saying.

-- S. Irene Virbila