Amy Butler Color

 

A little Amy goes a long way and can brighten any space instantly.

For a quick at-home pick-me-up, try infusing a healthy dose of Amy Butler’s colorful organic prints into your home. With a plethora of styles in organic bedding, towels and fabric, there are poppy color options for any color palette.  Get inspired to dance around the bedroom with this turquoise and lime paisley pattern, or keep calm and sleep on with the “dream daisy and dream poppy” graceful blue-hued palette.

For a bathroom that’s as cheery as you only hope to be, try adding Amy’s colorful organic bath towels. Or head for the sun and surf in a plush, oversized beach towel that’s sure to draw some attention.

And for a softer touch of color underfoot, take a look at the incredibly luxurious hand-tufted rugs, made of 100% New Zealand wool. The designs are literally hand carved by masters using special scissors!

As posted by EcoFabulous

Glass Greenhouse

Ever since I planted my little seedlings outdoors in my raised garden bed I have been dreaming about an enclosed glass greenhouse.  A traditional looking structure made of iron so it could rust and tempered glass (for safety), I would love to house my little darlings in a safe controlled environment where I don't have to worry about a sudden cold front coming in unexpectedly at night.

One day....

Bone Simple Design

Chad Jacobs launched his lighting company, Bone Simple Design, in 1993. A Texas native, Jacobs received a degree in architecture from the University of Texas and moved to New York City in 1988 to practice architecture. After several years, Jacobs decided to start his own line of lighting based on his interest in handcrafted design and his love of texture, unusual materials and the transformative power of light.

At his Chelsea studio, Jacobs works with a team of craftspeople who construct the fixtures by hand, each custom designed to suit the needs of the client. The contemporary style of his designs is well suited to both modern and traditional interiors.

Easy Eco-Friendly Party Idea

Summertime is friends, food, sun, and parties!  I'm always looking for environmentally friendly ways to entertain and this has to be one of the easiest solutions around.

Wine Bottle Vases
The lean, elegant silhouette of a wine bottle lends itself to a second life as a bud vase. It’s shaped to hold a well of liquid and its narrow neck makes it a superior vessel for long-stemmed flowers and foliage. Fill the bottles with shoots of ivy; these hardy plants are easy to root and, once established, make a natural sun shade. Bonus: homes with well-placed shrubs and leafy vine cover enjoy reduced energy costs simply by being shaded! It pays to go green.


Materials
3 used wine bottles
Bottle brush
Adhesive solvent
Water
3 10-inch ivy shoots
Directions
1. Clean used wine bottles with bottle brush. Use adhesive solvent to remove any label remants.
2. Fill each bottle halfway with water. Remove several leaves from the end of the ivy stems to easily insert into the bottles. Be sure at least 2 inches of the root end of the stem is submerged in water.

Josie Maran's Green Living Tips

 Don't live green just because I say so.  Do it because adorable Josie Maran and her little family makes it look so appealing.  Here are her tips:


Eco-activist, model and creator of her own eponymous cosmetics line, Josie Maran fits a lot into her day. Add partner (to long-time love Ali Alborzi), and mom (to nearly four-year-old Rumi Joon), and we’re talkin’ packed calendar. Still, Maran carved out a few minutes to talk to TheNest.com. She shared tips on "greening up" every area of your home, and dished on how being so eco-conscious has factored into her six year (and counting) relationship.

Life in the green zone

In the beginning of our relationship, I definitely wore the eco pants in the fam. but now Ali is just as into it as I am. He loves to rummage and find cool, old stuff. So when he discovered that being green was fun and creative, he got into it. When we remodeled/redecorated our house he was very into finding alternative, one-of-a-kind materials to make our house unique.

How to green-up the kitchen

When your fridge starts to look old (or maybe you’re just sick of the color), you can revamp it by painting the exterior with three coats of chalkboard paint. You’ll end up with a very cool slate-colored fridge! Write the contents of the refrigerator on the front in chalk, crossing items off as you eat them. This will make you more conscious about not letting fresh fruits and veggies go to waste, which will also save you money.

How to green-up the bedroom

Green hasn’t meant granola for a long time. These days, it's very chic. In fact, some of the most luxurious sheets out there are also the most eco conscious. My favorites are made by a company called Legna. Take my word for it, a set of these will inspire great sex and great sleep!

How to green-up the bathroom

Always try to use healthy beauty products. Read your labels and educate yourself. Of course, I recommend Josie Maran 100% organic Argan Oil. I really believe that it’s the best multi use moisturizer in the world! Finding healthy products with multiple uses will cut down on clutter and keep toxic ingredients off of your skin.

How to green-up the living room

Buy vintage furniture instead of new whenever possible. It’s so much fun to scour flea markets and resale shops.

How to green-up the home office

Save energy and wear and tear on your hardware by shutting down your computer at night. You'll save an average of $90 on electricity a year.

How to green-up the garage

Drive a hybrid or ride a bike where ever you can. Besides being great for the environment, biking makes your butt look cute!

How to green up the yard

Composting is really easy. Simply throw your kitchen scraps into a bucket and then transfer them to a compost heap or container in your yard. The result is great, homemade soil that you can use to grow delicious veggies and flowers.

-- Hallie Goodman

Rooftop Beauty

When I lived in San Francisco I dreamed of a retreat like this.  Up above the city streets, somewhere to rest and get away from it all. 

Dwell Weekender Bags

I'm not a parent but if I was I would have no problem toting around these adorable bags for me and the kiddos.  Leave it to Dwell to make "stuff" look fashionable.

Wall Texture Re-Do

A friend of mine recently had enough with her existing wall texture in her "new" "old" home.  Her first attempt to rid her home of the wave like wall patterns was with sand paper.  It proved more effective for a soar wrist then any change in her walls appearance. 

Contacting a professional she found that the price to have someone else give her walls a face lift was outside of her budget capabilities.  Knowing that my husband and I had re-finished our entire homes interior walls she called me to learn what she could do about her walls on her own.

We set her up with palette knives, trays, and topping material advice.  She envisioned herself frosting a cake and seemed very content with her process.  

Here are some before pictures:

And after:

Fabulous work Brett!  I hope you are happy with your hardwork and new walls :)

Shovel Birdhouse

Check out this "Shovel Birdhouse" from Jan Habraken at Design Public.  I like the design but not sure how practical it is for your backyard. 

I think I would stick the shovel head in the ground so the birdhouse could be supported from below.  Would be tricky to get it level though.  Probably better on a city roof install like this.

Newspaper Arm Chair

Another great recycled piece from Viva Terra, the "Newspaper Arm Chair" is made of tightly woven and corded newspapers to make a durable new reading chair in your home or office.  Maybe with all the new technoglogical ways to read the newspaper today (yes, I want an iPad too) we can reuse some of the old papers we have for this new furnishing purpose.

V & A pattern release

Last year, the Victoria and Albert Museum dug into its archives of decorative textile patterns and published its first set of pattern books. Next week, the London museum will release the second set in the series: V&A Pattern Series II. Like the first box set—which included four books arranged by theme and titled William Morris, Indian Florals, Digital Pioneers, and The Fifties—the second series features four books available individually or as a group: Owen Jones, Novelty Patterns, Kimonos, and Garden Florals.

Fibra furnishing fabric. Printed linen. US, 1953

 

Wallpaper. Owen Jones. Block-printed paper. UK, c. 1860 (V&A: 8337). From V&A Pattern Series II: Owen Jones published by V&A Publishing and Abrams Books. 

Wallpaper. Owen Jones. Block-printed paper. UK, c. 1860 (V&A: 8337). From V&A Pattern Series II: Owen Jones published by V&A Publishing and Abrams Books. 

From Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra, plate 29. Owen Jones. Lithograph. UK, 1845 (V&A: 110.P.37). From V&A Pattern Series II: Owen Jones published by V&A Publishing and Abrams Books.

Read more at Dwell.  

Griffith Bronze Iron Floor Lamp

There is a lot of products out there re-using newspapers lately.  The Griffith Bronze Iron Floor Lamp from Arteriors Home is another great example of how to use this abundant source.  The shade is made of woven recycled newsprint and has a cream cotton lining.
A beautiful and whimsical piece!

Butaca Chair

I love the recycled coffee bag upholstery on one of my all time favorite pieces, the Barcelona Chair.  It makes me want to furnish an entire room around them.  

You can find them at Viva Terra for $1295.

Combine Textures

This combination, fur and chenille, is a quick and easy way to achieve an elegant, sophisticated look.

Stack up attractive coffee-table books (top with the smallest ones) and place them next to a sofa to serve as an unexpected side table.

Chic Cheap Art

To score professional-looking art for pennies, scan images from books or magazines (at 200 percent for optimum printing) and print them out on photo paper.
Group together a series of similar images.

The more wall you cover the greater the impact.
To make a room look more spacious, pull away your sofa a foot or so from the wall. This creates visual depth.

Pop Light

I love how creative lighting fixtures can be, really the designs are limitless!  I often encourage people to expand their horizons when thinking of what they would like to see hanging from their ceiling.  Next time your thinking of lighting your space maybe that soda pop could be your inspiration :)

Zaugg Painting

A client asked me to do a custom art piece for their new penthouse.  Ya, in my former life I thought I was going to grow up and be a starving artist. Well, maybe 'starving' could still apply to my career.

For this painting the client insisted on no blues or greens to coordinate with his very European minimalist taste.  Inspiration was from a photo Zach took of the Sawtooth mountains in Idaho.

78" x 48", acrylic

Adler Jute Rug

Just hearing the word 'macrame' might evoke visions of groovy hemp wall decor and tasseled hanging plant holders, but not all knotty work is rooted in retro kitsch. Home decor ace Jonathan Adler has sophisticated the craft, and his jute rug is handwoven in an organic pattern that would add a nice bit of texture to a hardwood floor. 

Designed by: Jonathan Adler

Price: $495.00

Dimensions: H 52" x W 72"

The Airstream Life

As posted in Dwell Magazine.

• By: Andreas Stavropoulos
• Photos by: Mark Compton

• Project Name: Stavropoulos Residence
• Architects: Andreas Stavropoulos

• Published on: 10/09/2009

First came the idea. Then came the late nights of Craigslist searching. And then it happened quickly: a trip to a derelict horse ranch in the Salinas Valley, an exchange of cash in an old barn, and a harrowing towing adventure up Highway 101 netted me my current abode—a 1959 Airstream travel trailer.

view in slideshow

The metamorphosis, which occurred in a generously allocated space at a friend's Stanford sculpture studio, was an archeological study in all things Americana. Tucked under couch cushions and linoleum panels, I found artifacts—mix tapes, scrawled recipes, and wrinkled photographs—that chronicled the lives of those who had dwelt within the Airstream since some stranger first purchased it in 1959 from Pacific Railroad Sales in Salinas, California. I was participating in American history by unearthing and updating one of its most iconic symbols in order to make it relevant to my age and time.

The renovation was necessarily an exercise in restraint and creativity. With just 150 square feet to work with, I jettisoned the 1950s colors of flesh tone paint and wall-to-wall linoleum, and moved in with cork flooring, track lighting, fresh colorful paint, and custom designed cabinets and furniture to fit the sinuous interior topography. I revealed the beautiful workmanship of the riveted aluminum end caps, and removed sewage facilities completely. I performed the work myself, trying to keep the design in my head one step ahead of the building process of my hands.  

The materials palette that I chose is light in color with a few splashes of color. This lightness holds the space open and gives it a contemporary feel.

The Airstream now resides in the garden of a co-op in North Berkeley, a few steps from the Cheeseboard and Chez Panisse.  

My obsession with mobility, modularity, and affordability began long before the Airstream and has since extended beyond. As a recently self employed (read: laid off) landscape architect, I have been able to address several of the problems that I see in my field.  Namely, the lack of connection between the LAND and the ARCHITECT. Whereas landscape architects once spent significant time ±on the site, the profession now finds some of the most creative minds shoehorned into cubicles. This seemed like a loss to me, and I wondered how it might be possible to create a space for real understanding within the profession—the kind of understanding that occurs from seeing a day of shadows move across a place, or listening to and observing people in a space. 

I was intent on keeping the original stove, incorporating it into the cabinetry. I created a backsplash using inexpensive aluminum flashing that I texturized with a ball-peen hammer.

With this in mind, and the knowledge that I gained by designing and building the Airstream, I set about creating a mobile studio that could travel to the site and where I could work during the early and critical stages of concept design. The studio had to allow me to be productive, but also put me squarely in the environment.  It also had to be a showcase of my design sensibilities.  

The interior is lit by several medium sized windows and an off-the-shelf track lighting system. With the door open, diffuse light makes the space glow.

Read more: http://www.dwell.com/articles/the-airstream-life.html#ixzz0osSje7W0

Color Conspiracy

"When you answer the phone with 'Hello, Funquilts,' you can't take yourself too seriously." Bill Kerr and his wife are the owners of Fun Quilts in Oak Park, Illinois.  Their optimistic attitude is created into quilts, blankets, and fabrics. Their one-of-a-kind pieces combine traditional techniques and designs with new, non-repetitive block patterns, and they also work with developmentally disabled adults to make the Many Hands blankies, embroidered with animals and perfect for a kids' room.

Deuces Wild

Being from Reno I definitely can appreciate a furniture designer that manages to utilize some of the thousands of playing cards destroyed everyday in a casino.  The Deuces Wild chair is made from 350 decks of cards.

Each day thousands of playing cards are used in the endless games of Black Jack and Poker that take place in Las Vegas & Reno casinos — and these cards are often quickly laid to rest to make way for fresh new packs. Inspired by this often overlooked material, BRC Designs recently stepped in to give 350 decks of these retired cards a new lease of life with the creation of their Deuces Wild Chair.

Although first bets were placed on whether this elaborate card tower could stay standing under a persons weight, BRC Designs clearly won the hand with their recycled lounge chair that is comfortable and features a strongly-packed structure. Designer Benjamin Rollins Cadwell says that they like “materials to speak for themselves and stay as true as possible” which is readily apparent in their design. The Deuces Wild Chair clearly takes inspiration from the cards themselves and the shapes created when dealing cards, although you don’t need to be a fan of card games to appreciate this unique chair.

Posted by Inhabitat

Measuring Tape Pendant Lamp

Check out this lamp shade from Model Citizens cleverly constructed out of measuring tape that comes in both metric and standard measurements. Hardly the sort of lighting choice you’d find at grandma’s sewing station, Measuring Light is made from coiled measuring tape and transforms the ticks of a functional tool into an eye catching modern design with a compelling graphic pattern.

A product of the Brooklyn-based studio Design Since, each pendant lamp is handmade using a spool holder and a large electric-powered bobbin winder (think giant sewing machine). The bobbin which tops off the lamp functions as both a structural element and a source of ventilation, and continues the aesthetic from which it’s inspired. Spun from spools of either centimeters or inches, these beautiful lamps are able to communicate a contrasting set of values — practical, visual and otherwise.

From Inhabitat