May 2008

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Organic prints are popular these days, showing up everywhere from bedding to stationery, clothing and wallpaper. Lighting is no exception. And in my opinion, it’s even better when those organic patterns stick to their natural roots and come attached to green products. Thankfully, the Onionpods Pendant lamp by Paper Cloud fits the bill in all respects.

There are lots of reasons I love interior decorating and design, but one of the most prominent is the fact that I get to hunt for new and undiscovered (at least to me) treasures every day. Every time I find a beautiful new piece of eco-friendly furniture, wall art or some other type of decor, it literally makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. This modern, minimal Sedge Lounge Chair from the pure Collection by Ami McKay does more than just that: it makes me want to curl up in it on a rainy day with my daughter curled in my lap reading Cinderella for the millionth time. It makes me want to live in it.

Who can argue with a pillow that is beautiful and recycled, not to mention handmade? It’s tough to do, isn’t it? This gorgeous graphic octagonal pattern would be a striking addition to your decor. It is made completely from recycled wool sweaters washed and dried until the texture feels like super-soft felt.  The fabric is then hand-cut and sewn together to create a unique tile pattern in a modern color scheme of white, yellow and gray. The pillow the perfect size to accent your bedding, chair or sofa at 18″ x 18″. It doesn’t come with a pillow insert, but that can be seen as a positive: it gives you an opportunity to give an existing pillow new life and avoid the production of a new pillow insert.  And I’m sure your old throw pillows would appreciate having a new look as gorgeous as this one.

I’ve been really into wallpaper lately. In fact, a beautiful damask inspired the background of the GYD header and the gray page background. It has a way of creating drama in a space that can’t be matched by many other products or treatments. A lot of people think it went out with the 70’s — and they’re right. That gaudy, floral, monstrosity covering the walls of your grandmother’s bathroom has long been out of style. But when you have manufacturers like Graham & Brown creating beauties like this Alice Wallpaper, you have to stop and take notice.

Since the Amia chair is helping us glam up our workspaces, I figured we have to find an equally appealling, equally green desk to finish off the office. The Delta Desk by Brave Space Design has a striking, unique form in a natural wood finish that reminds you of it’s eco-friendly qualities.

We all know how cramped and cluttered desktops can get. Thankfully, this one is designed to allow you to utilize some of the space under the main work surface. It has winged shelves that allow you to use to store peripherals that normally would take up valuable work space.

For those of us who spend hours on end sitting in a chair in front of our computers, finding one that is comfortable is of utmost importance. Add to that requirement the desire to have it be green, and the pickings get very, very slim. Thank goodness for Steelcase, a company that makes environmentally friendly office furniture available in dozens of configurations, and their line of desk chairs is both eco-friendly and varied. My personal pick is their Amia chair.

The idea of a grid is one that will never go out of style. And in bookshelf form, it is a clean, simple, functional place to store books and display decorative items and creates a unique focal point. This great Eco Wood Grid Shelf from Viva Terra is made from a variety of recycled wood remnants, so it has more than a little character. It stylishly shows off the varied grains of several different types of wood. It also is covered in an eco-friendly, clear semigloss finish. By no means is it large — it is the right size for CDs or small trinkets — but it is big on style.

I like to think of my walls as a blank canvas on which to express my personality. And sometimes, personality can mean more than gorgeous shade of zero-VOC paint or non-toxic wallpaper. Sometimes personality needs to be expressed in a much bigger, bolder, in-your-face way. MyDigitalPrints has created an avenue to let you do that.

For many decorators, being eco-friendly means making everything by hand: window treatments, upholstery, bedding, etc. By their very nature, handmade products are easy on the Earth. But if you can go a step further and use eco-friendly materials for your projects, all the better.

These gorgeous fabrics from Live Textiles are all made of natural materials: organic cotton, organic linen, hemp and bamboo. The beautiful prints and solids are perfect for interior decor projects, including drapes, roman shades, pillows and light upholstery. The fabrics are grown and processed without pesticides, chlorine bleach or formaldehyde and printed with water-based inks. No chemical solvents are in their production, and no wastewater is produced.

I recently promised my sister that I’d make her a headboard and bench for the foot of her bed (more on the bench later). This was quite a tall promise since I’ve never done either before. Since then, I’ve been on the hunt for something unique and innovative to use as a headboard. She prefers neutral colors so she can change the decor of the room without having to replace the headboard, so I had to add that to the list of requirements. And since I’m also trying to convince her to be more eco-friendly as she decorates her home, I had to make sure that I didn’t put my foot in my mouth on that one.