Pretty Little Green Things

Archive for October, 2010

Now that it’s officially fall and Daylight Savings time right around the corner, I can tell it’s starting to get much darker much earlier.  So to brighten your day (and night!) I’ve put together a collection of a few of my favorite eco-friendly pendant lights and lamps.  They’re all green in some way, but if you want more info on exactly how, just pop on over to the manufacturer’s website.  Enjoy!

1. Cluster Chandelier from Andre Joyau 2. Shade Pendel Lamp sold through Branch 3. Cola 30 from Sarah Turner 4. Medium Corona Chandelier from Candastiks on Etsy 5. Glass Series No. 10 from whyrHymer 6. Tibetan Milk Jug Hanging Lamp from Wildflower Organics 7. Courtney Pendant from Stray Dog Designs 8. Oval Cylinder Lamp from Cisco Brothers 9. City Map Lamp from Umbu on Etsy 10. Brann Lighting Series from Pickett Furniture

1. Burma Table Lamp from Wildflower Organics 2. Whitewash Trophy Lamp from VivaTerra 3. Lucinda Lamp from Vivavi 4. Metro Series No. 6 from whyrHymer 5. Katie Lamp from Stray Dog Designs 6. El Monte Lamp from Lawson Fenning 7. Glass Series No. 4 from whyrHymer 8. Ren Series from Andre Joyau 9. Lamp Ashevak from Bleu Nature 10. Curly Lamps sold through Branch

Manufacturers are finally understanding that there is a demand for eco-friendly products.  And lately I’ve been seeing a profusion of organic bedding.  It makes sense though – you spend most of your life in bed so you should be sleeping in the cleanest possible environment.  But if you’re a consumer looking for new sheets or a duvet, you may be a bit overwhelmed by your choices.  Fortunately if you like fun patterns and bright colors, I have just the company for you – Plover Organic.  In short, they use organic cotton, eco-friendly dyes, hand printing methods and fair-trade practices to manufacture.  If you’re interested in reading more about their eco-creds, you can visit their website here.  If you’re interested in seeing some of their fun and colorful patterns, well, here you go!

You can see that Plover Organic has a complete range of duvets, quilts, sheets, pillowcases, shams and throw pillows.  Just the thing to put together an entire bed-scape!  They also have a line of tabletop linens and fabric by the yard to round out the collection.

I think this bed might be my favorite.  The mix of gray with the brighter green and teal is just gorgeous – a little serious and a little fun just like me!

And as you can see here, Plover Organic also does crib bedding too.

Photos from Plover Organic

I’ve been searching high and low for just the right antique door hardware for my apartment.  It’s harder than you think to find old doorknobs that match (or at least look good together) and with all the right pieces to make them work.  I’ve decided to wait until the doors are completely in before figuring it out.  But if I was to start from scratch with new hardware, I would definitely be using these drool-worthy doorknobs from SA Baxter.  I’ve always known the company as a go-to source to for luxury door hardware, but recently discovered they’re also very eco-conscious.

Normally when you think of metal foundries, you think of a hot and dirty smelting factory.  But SA Baxter’s foundry is super clean with new machines and dramatically less toxic waste.  On top of that, all hardware is made in the US (Chester, NY to be exact), they use lead free metals, and much of the materials they use are recycled.  Plus they produce no wastewater and almost no atmospheric emissions.  Eco-friendly and beautiful hardware?  Sign me up!

I’ve compiled a few of my favorite pieces from SA Baxter.  I can tell from seeing these puppies in person that they’re an amazing quality.  They’re super heavy solid pieces and the craftsmanship is beyond excellent.  Just think of them as a little jewelry for your home.  Enjoy!

I love this pattern.  It’s modern yet doesn’t feel too sleek at all.

Gorgeous, no?

Photos from SA Baxter

Okay, this is your last sneak peek of our apartment construction before the full on beautiful After pictures.  I’ve spent today cleaning, mopping, moving furniture and putting cabinet doors back on.  As you can guess, I’m exhausted so you’re getting a bit of an abbreviated sneak peek today.   But on the good news side, we’re in the home stretch of the project.  There are a few things for the contractor to come back and fix but that will have to wait until we get back from our trip.  Hopefully the gold wallpaper will blind guests to any millwork mistakes until then.

Quick view of our living room.  The photo doesn’t really do it justice, but the crown molding against the brick looks great.

I started putting the kitchen cabinet doors back on.  They’re not totally done, but I can already tell that the glossy white paint was a perfect choice.  The kitchen feels so much larger and fresher now.  I think the kitchen is now my favorite room in the house.  Good thing, because I spend tons of time in it!

What’s wrong with this picture?  Oh yeah, we’re missing a few cabinet pieces.  Our new dishwasher is a bit larger than the old one (great for dishes, bad for the drawer next to dishwasher).  When I figure out what I’m going to do there, I’ll put the drawer front back on.  Until then, we’ll have to open the drawer the manual way.  I also didn’t paint the kick toe yet, because I figured they would end up coated in dust.  That will be the next cabinet painting step.

More kitchen doors on!  You can see I need to fix a little door hinge issue.  Our pantry food is peeking out to say hi!  Maybe it’s been feeling neglected by the lack of cooking the last couple weeks.  But all of the white doors lined up in a row does look clean and fresh.

Remember the closet door that needed to be fixed?  Well, it’s back!  You can see that’s it’s not perfect and needs a few coats of paint, but at least the handle is in the right spot and a got a small credit from the contractor for the screw up.  Bright side.

Remember that weird triangular space that was in our bathroom?  There’s a fully functional (or almost) cabinet there now!  It’s totally not done and hasn’t been painted (hence the dirty fingerprints all over it) but we’re moving in the right direction.  Again, bright side.

I can’t believe I didn’t notice this one till now!  Can you tell what’s wrong?  The right side is lower than the left side.  So low in fact that I can’t fit our bath mat underneath the door.  Errrr…  Another thing to add to the punch list!

As with any construction project, our has taken longer than we thought it would.  We’re now officially on day 18 and I’m ready for all the workers to be out of my house so that I can clean up all the dust and mess.  Worse yet is that they’re fixing things that should have been done correctly in the first place.  In Sneak Peek 3, I showed you the upside down door.  Today two guys spent a few hours aligning the hallway closet doors that should have been done last weekend.  Errr.

But on the positive side, the ceramic tile backsplash is in and looks gorgeous, I’m beyond happy about the wallpaper and I no longer have to wake up at 6am to commute into the city.  See?  Bright side.

But the real reason I want the contractors to hurry up and finish (besides of course that I want them out of my house so I can move on with my life) is that my husband and I are heading off on vacation this Saturday for two weeks.  Fear not, the blog will be updated remotely so you’ll still get your fill of chic green design.  And if you’re concerned about the fate of our plants, don’t worry about that either.  We have two wonderful friends cashing in on free NYC rent for two weeks.

As much as I’m sure you’re enjoying hearing me wax poetic about our house construction, I’ll move on to what you’re undoubtedly looking for.  Progress pictures!  I was hoping today would be the last round, but much to my disappointment, it won’t.  So here you go – Sneak Peek 4 of my apartment construction!

I just had to show you one last time cause it just looks so damn gorgeous.  Thanks Ferm Living for being awesome!

Our new Caesarstone countertop.  More on the specifics later, but doesn’t it look beautiful and a million times better than plastic laminate?

Our new dishwasher!  It’s Energy Star rated and even better actually washes dishes (unlike our previous model).

Did I mention the closet door that was put on upside down?  Well, now it’s gone back to the shop.  I’m hoping it shows back up tomorrow painted and with hinges on.  I’m not holding my breath for that one.

Here are our gorgeous glass knobs from Anthropologie.  I needed a few more since we used to have a closet with no door.  But no longer!

And my brand new vacuum cleaner!  I used to have a small dust buster that I don’t think actually busted any dust.  So I figured it was time to become a grown up with a real vacuum.  Dust and plaster watch out!  I’m coming for you!

This is what I’ve been living on for the past couple weeks.

Okay, okay, what I know you’ve REALLY been waiting for…our new ceramic tile backsplash!!!!  Doesn’t it look gorgeous!  I promise to have more and better pictures when it’s all done (you can see that I’m not quite done painting the cabinets).

I’m not sure if this picture really captures the color and richness of the Fireclay Tiles.  It’s sort of a purplish gray.  Again, I’ll take some after pictures during the day so you can really get a good idea.

Here’s more of an overall of the kitchen.  Yeah, not done painting the cabinets yet.  And yes, my stove is covered with dust.  That’s how I roll (okay, not really, I promise!).

I hope you’ve enjoyed Sneak Peek 4 of my apartment construction.  I hope to have a more complete Sneak Peek 5 before we head off on vacation, but I’m not making any promises.  Fingers crossed that tomorrow goes smoothly!

It’s starting to get pretty chilly here in New York at night which makes me want to snuggle under a warm fuzzy blanket, watch movies from the 80s and drink hot chocolate.  Our TV is still under drop cloths and we’re not quite up to running water yet in our kitchen so I’ll have to settle for the blankets.  Fortunately Teixidors out of Spain makes some beautiful and eco-friendly mantas (I’m practicing my Spanish) to cozy up in.  As you can probably tell, I don’t speak Spanish and there’s no English translation on their website so you’ll just have to take my word for it.  So instead of writing lots about the company and the products, let’s just skip to pictures the gorgeous blankets.  They’re not currently being sold in the US but will be on display at Maison et Objet in Paris and 100% Design in London if you’re heading to either of those shows.  And fingers crossed that Teixidors come over to the US soon!

Arles

Boi

Bruma

Andalus

Sisteron

Mirtos

Hydra pillows (you didn’t think I’d let you get away without a few throw pillows, did you?)

Photos from Teixidors

Now that most of the major projects in my apartment are done, I figured another sneak peek would be in order.  I’m hoping you’re not yet sick of hearing all about my construction, but figured that I’m finally getting to the exciting part.  Progress!  You’ll see from below that most of it looks amazing. We have hit a few bumps but what construction project is without those?  My favorite so far has been seeing the wallpaper go up, maybe because it’s so much more decorative than door frames and crown molding.  I do reserve the right to change my mind when the kitchen countertop and ceramic tile backsplash are installed though.  You’ll have to check back for pictures of those!

Remember those unpainted hallway doors from yesterday’s sneak peek?  Well, here they are painted AND with hardware!

And remember that tall closet in the bedroom?  It’s painted now too!

What a difference a fresh coat of paint (and a few new doors) makes!  Although it looks like I might have to do a quick paint touch up on the ceiling.

I’ve been talking about using antique hardware for my doors for character and sustainability reasons.  So you may be asking, “are those antique door knobs?”  Sadly, I caved to the ease of Home Depot and new hardware.  For all its charm, antique hardware often is missing important pieces (yes, that screw matters), so I figured I’d wait until everything was done and then change the knobs to something with a bit more charm.  Besides, now I have all the correct working bits.

I’ve been around all week to supervise, but unfortunately wasn’t around to see this door go in.  Can you tell what’s wrong with it?  It’s a bit hard to tell from the picture so I’ll tell you.  They put the door on upside down!  Yup, that door knob is at about 4 feet off the ground (most door knobs are at 3 feet).  So now they’re going to have to do the door all over again.  Ugh.  I just hope it’s done by Friday.

And here it is, wallpaper!  First strip is up!

And here’s Chris, the amazing wallpaper hanger, on strip number 2!

Close up of the pattern!  Gorgeous, no?

One side of the hallway done!  Doesn’t it look amazing?  I keep telling people I feel like I’m finally in a grown up apartment.

There’s been some great progress happening in my apartment over the last week so I thought you might like to take a peek.  There’s more going on this week (which will hopefully be the last week – fingers crossed!!) so I’ll keep the sneak peeks coming until the dust settles and the contractors are out of my house.

The doors are on in the hallway closet!  Actually from this view, you can see into the bedroom.  The doors are on there too!

Same doors, but painted!  The guy who’s painting them? That’s Frank.

Upper closet doors painted too!  Next step is adding a fascia piece to over the unsightly track.

Action shot!  That’s Omar at work caulking all of the door frames so that everything lines up well.

Here’s the tall closet in our bedroom.  The bottom closet finally has doors!  My husband has been looking forward to doors there more than anything else.

The doors are partially on for this small upper closet in our bedroom.

And here’s Jose installing the last door!

Are you sick of seeing closets yet?  Well, we’re not sick of having them.  Lots of closet space is a true luxury in New York City.  Missing one door on the top here, but it will be there soon.

We have this weird triangular niche in our bathroom.  We had previous put some cubes from Target in there to fill up the space and add some storage.  But now since we have a contractor to build anything we want, we’re going to fill this in with a custom shaped piece that fits that niche perfectly.

Okay, I’ll admit it.  I don’t know how to knit, but don’t blame my mom for not teaching me.  As an amazingly crafty and creative woman, she’s tried numerous times.  But soon after every lesson, I manage to forget how to knit, pearl and cast myself off to a new scarf.  But that doesn’t stop me from loving knits and wool in general – sweaters, blankets, scarves, you name it and I love it.  Fortunately for me, eco-friendly wool knits and felt are definitely in for fall.  Here are a few fuzzy things I’m loving right now.

I’m loving the chunky knits of these Granny Lamps from Casamania.  The wool comes from grazing sheep in the Tyrolean Valley of the Alps and they’re hand knit by a cooperative in the Netherlands that supports senior citizens and people with special needs.

I first saw these rugs from Souled Objects at ICFF this year.  The chunky knit made me want to either curl up on them or romp through them like this little girl.  Either way, they’re super cozy and totally gorgeous.  The website for these rugs isn’t quite up yet, but there’s a great article about them and their creator, Dana Barnes, in the New York Times if you’re interested in learning more.

I’m so in love with this intricate Teardrop Vessel from Branch.  Not only is it unique and beautiful, it also supports a collaborative program between Crafted Systems and the YWCA Women’s Shelter of Portland, Oregon to train and employ homeless women.  Each vessel is made of 100% wool felt and assembled by hand with interlocking pieces of the felt that require no sewing or fasteners.

One of my favorite luxury organic bedding brands is Coyuchi and they definitely don’t disappoint with their decorative pillows either.  These Sweater Stripe Pillows are made of Mongolian cashmere, knit with organic cotton into the ribs.

For another pillow option, here’s a wool knit cabled pillow.  It comes from PreciousKnits on Etsy and is handmade from 100% wool.  In general I love cable knits, but this pillow is especially detailed and gorgeous.  No plain cable knit here!

There are tons of beautiful knit blankets out there, but I was drawn to the nubby version from Stansborough Wools.  They’re knit in New Zealand from Stansborough Grey fleece, wool of a special sheep bred for their gorgeous silky wool.  You can find them at Pfeifer Studio here.

I couldn’t possibly leave you without a cozy wool wallpaper to go with the other fuzzy items.  This fleecy Blanket Yarn and Stitch comes from Maya Romanoff and is available in a few different colors.  This paper would be perfect in a ski lodge with the Granny Lamp and actually everything else from above.

I’ve been painting away in my apartment, but in the meantime I wanted to share this amazing SAYL Chair from Herman Miller with you.  As an interior designer, I’m constantly looking at other designers’ work for inspiration.  I’m generally drawn towards more traditional interiors rather than modern or especially futuristic.  My one exception?  Yves Behar.  His products are incredibly creative and are always pushing boundaries.  And his work always has some sort of humanistic element to it.  For those of you who might not know who he is, here’s a quick bio: Behar was trained as an industrial designer and is the founder of fuseproject, a design and branding firm.  He was the mastermind behind One Laptop Per Child and the Jawbone Bluetooth Headset and has worked with brands such as Swarovski, Birkenstock, GE & BMW Mini.

So when the SAYL Chairs from Herman Miller and designed by Yves Behar came through my inbox, I knew I had to share them with you.  I’m not sure I would use them in my own home (maybe in my someday office space), but they’re incredibly well designed and of course super cool.  Made of an elastomer suspension material, these frameless chairs encourage a full range of motion.  You can tell that the back is reminiscent of the Golden Gate Bridge from Behar’s hometown of San Francisco.  And of course in true San Francisco fashion, these SAYL chairs are eco-friendly: they’re made of fewer materials than a similar office chair, are 93% recyclable, made in the US and are aiming for MBDC Cradle to Cradle Silver, BIFMA level 2, and Greenguard certifications.  Plus at $400, Herman Miller created a less expensive desk chair that’s more attainable (compared to $700 for a similar Aeron chair).  If you’re in the market for one, they’re sold through YLiving.

What are your thoughts?  Do you like the SAYL chair?  Would you put one in your home or office?

Photos from Herman Miller