nuts + bolts exhibition in NY shows hardware supplies as furniture

DIY furniture inside nuts + bolts exhibition in NY

NUTS + BOLTS exhibition in Tivoli, NY, by Available Items showcases hardware store supplies as DIY chairs, tables, and lamps. Running until October 5th, 2025, the second edition of the exhibition focuses on design made from hardware store materials by 24 designers, including Fort Standard, Christian Borger, Office of Tangible Space, and outgoing. Each of them was asked to make a piece of furniture or home decor using only items that can be sourced from a local hardware store, and the brief allowed only a small amount of lumber without any use of 3D printing or parts bought from online industrial suppliers.

The result is a collection of chairs, tables, and lamps with utilitarian use, on view at the NUTS + BOLTS exhibition in NY. On-site, the materials used include PVC pipes, gutter parts, soil tampers, clamps, nuts, bolts, street brooms, chain link fence gates, tarps, and aluminum thresholds. By using these materials, the designers show how utilitarian products can be repurposed into finished furniture and objects. The project is organized by Available Items co-founder Chad Phillips, who explains that the aim is to explore design thinking as well as the use of everyday materials. The show is located at 64 Broadway, Tivoli, NY, and remains there until October 5th, 2025.

all images courtesy of Available Items

Lamp made of tube clamps and fishing net

Repurposed finished furniture takes the center stage inside the NUTS + BOLTS exhibition in NY. The design store and gallery presents the modular floor lamp by Christian Borger that uses ceiling louvers, which are usually flat panels placed in ceiling grids. It shares the same space with the Office of Tangible Space’s Street Broom Stool, a seat that uses wooden broom handles for the legs and frame, while the broom bristles provide the main seating space.

Then, there’s the Catch & Release by Fort Standard, a floor lamp that combines three parts: a soil tamper, tube clamps, and a fishing net. The soil tamper forms the base, tube clamps hold the vertical rod, and a fishing net is used to hold the light bulb in place. The work uses off-the-shelf materials from different categories like gardening, plumbing, and fishing and brings them together into one functional object.

NUTS + BOLTS exhibition in NY by Available Items showcases hardware store supplies as furniture

prefabricated chain link fence becomes a chair

The studio we are happy people inc also presents Tensioned Tarp Semi-Sling Seat (Beware of Dog), a seat that uses prefabricated chain link fence gates and a tensioned tarp, where the gates form the outer frame and the tarp is stretched across to hold the sitter. In the same exhibition, outgoing’s The Part, a series of cyanotype prints, is also on view, which showcases the printing process that uses photosensitive chemicals to create images in blue and white. In this case, the hardware-store brief comes through the small items like screws, brackets, and clamps.

There’s also the Trophy (for walking through a door) by Jed Heuer, and this sculptural table light is made from a bent Frost King aluminum doorway threshold and a ½-inch beam clamp, holding the threshold and supporting the light source. The 24 designers include Aaron Getman-Pickering, Audrey Louise Reynolds, Chad Phillips, Christian Borger, Fort Standard, Glue Obelisk, Huy Bui, Isaac Gamboa, Jake Coan, Jed Heuer, Jaime Viñas, Kieran Kinsella, Kump Studio, Lauren Hirsch, Neal Hollinger, Nick Ceglia, Office of Tangible Space, outgoing, Overt Cove, Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, Skiff Creative Studio, Tristan Fitch, True Bend Studio, and we are happy people inc. The NUTS + BOLTS exhibition by Available Items is on view at 64 Broadway, Tivoli, NY, until October 5th, 2025.

the brief is to make a piece of furniture using only items that can be sourced from a local hardware store

only a small amount of lumber can be used without 3D printing or parts bought from online industrial suppliers

view of Skiff Creative Studio’s PVC Chair

view of Office of Tangible Space’s Street Broom Stool

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Jed Heuer's Trophy (for walking through a door)

Kump Studio's Free Range Coat Rack

Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman's Flow Side Table

project info:

name: NUTS + BOLTS

gallery: Available Items | @available_items

designers: Aaron Getman-Pickering, Audrey Louise Reynolds, Chad Phillips, Christian Borger, Fort Standard, Glue Obelisk, Huy Bui, Isaac Gamboa, Jake Coan, Jed Heuer, Jaime Viñas, Kieran Kinsella, Kump Studio, Lauren Hirsch, Neal Hollinger, Nick Ceglia, Office of Tangible Space, outgoing, Overt Cove, Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, Skiff Creative Studio, Tristan Fitch, True Bend Studio, and we are happy people inc.

location: 64 Broadway, Tivoli, NY

dates: August 29th to October 5th, 2025