Coffin and Casket Furniture
Casket and Coffin Furniture
For some people, using a coffin or coffin-shaped item for anything except burial is disrespectful for the deceased. After all, death is no laughing matter, and to make sport of other people’s grief can be a slap in the face during an already difficult time.
However, for other people, turning caskets and coffins into everyday items is a kind of art form. By normalizing death and the accoutrements of burial, they are not only making a statement, but also helping people to come to terms with the idea that we will all eventually move on.
Although you might not want to decorate your personal home with these coffin and casket pieces of furniture, they do provide an interesting look at the ways burial items can be reworked for everyday use.
- Coffin Couches make elegant sofas out of both the interior and exterior of traditional caskets. Because it is illegal to reuse caskets in any way, these have to be crafted from new caskets (and come with the price tag to match). Other versions of coffin couches on Etsy also provide alternative ways to fuse seating space and death décor.
- Coffin bookcases are all the rage these days (the version at Vermont Coffins is particularly pretty), whether you buy them or make them yourself. By re-purposing a coffin before you use it, you can get your money’s worth during your lifetime and save your family the burden of buying a new one once you pass on.
- Coffin planters allow you to add a touch of beauty to your outdoor space while also getting some use out of a coffin prior to burial. If you intend to reuse your coffin planter again someday, you’ll need to ensure that it has the proper lining so that it won’t decay too early and will be stable enough for re-use.
- Casket-shaped items can be used virtually anywhere in your house. Beds, coffee tables, end tables, and even kitchen cabinets can be made with a spooky coffin shape or casket look. Unlike the other items listed above, however, most of these are novelty items and have no connection to actual burial items.
For most of us, casket furniture is a neat item that catches our interest and raises eyebrows, but would never work in our real day-to-day existence. However, these items do have the benefit of opening the doors to discussion about death and dying—and what our own wishes regarding burial are. If you haven’t yet talked to your family about your wishes, these types of things might provide an interesting way to introduce the topic.
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