FORSAKING flowers for furniture, Dutch national Raymond Davids now dedicates himself to working towards creating new and modern furniture lines with reclaimed teak wood. It was tough-going when he first started seven years ago, but with the spotlight now on the world's shrinking natural resources - wood from Asia's forests especially - Mr Davids' d-Bodhi's eco-friendly furniture couldn't be getting its global launch at a better time.

'When I first started back in 2002, everyone was just focused on new teak furniture,' he recalls.

But his uphill struggle to use nothing but reclaimed wood has now borne fruit. He registered d-Bodhi's 'brand' in Singapore in 2007, and has partnered a Singapore entrepreneur, Anita Sam, to open d-Bodhi's first concept store here.

'Singapore was a logical place to headquarter d-Bodhi if I wanted to take the company global,' he explains.

His journey from the flower trade (he used to be a flower wholesaler) to furniture started when he travelled to Indonesia as a backpacker in 2000, with an idea to 'start something'. He was 39 years old then, and the initial idea was to distribute Indonesian furniture to Europe.

When he came across discarded teak wood in 2002, he fell in love with the natural grain and the colour of the wood once it was sanded down. He started working on it himself, sanding down old wood and refashioning it into modern furniture pieces.

By 2005, he had made enough furniture to get the US-based Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) people to come over and see what he was doing.

The council subsequently awarded d-Bodhi its first-ever certificate for furniture made with '100 per cent recycled wood'. 'We created that category, in fact,' says Mr Davids with pride.

It was this eco-friendly nature of the company's products that intrigued Ms Sam, who owns Journey East, a furniture company here which used to be at Dempsey. 'I came across d-Bodhi in a furniture fair in Jakarta in 2004, and started bringing it in here where it's been very well-received by my customers,' she says.

Now, the duo have taken their partnership up to another level with a new 3,200 sq ft concept store in Alexandra Industrial Estate.

d-Bodhi's five new collections will be available for viewing there from this weekend, after they were launched at the International Furniture Fair Singapore earlier this week.

'Fissure' makes reference to the slits and gaps found in reclaimed wood, while 'Trapesium' features slanted lines. The 'Lekk' range has chunkier, solid designs, while the 'Lucy' line features mosaic panels made from wood bits. 'Octa' is the collection of lamps and accessories fashioned out of snarly artistic driftwood and innovations like sawdust combined with resin.

As a gauge of d-Bodhi's upper mid-range prices, they start from $300 for chairs, go above $1,600 for cabinets, while bedroom sets cost over $3,000. Currently, d-Bodhi's furniture pieces are being distributed to Europe, Australia, Hong Kong and Canada.

'Discerning consumers are now seeking out premium furniture lines that reflect their personal values of quality, artistry and environment friendliness,' says Ms Sam.

'It's all about having a forest at home but still being an ecological warrior at the same time,' she quips.

d-Bodhi is located at 12 Kung Chong Road, Tel 6472-4587

This article was first published in The Business Times.