Pretty Little Green Things

Archive for February, 2011

As consumers, we’ve been slowly greening our living spaces with energy efficient appliances, eco-friendly materials and vintage furniture for a while now.  But what about our work spaces?  Sure, there are LEED certified office buildings out there, but if you’re not lucky enough to work in one of them, what do you do?  You pick yourself up and do it yourself!

And that’s exactly what ISC International did.  When it was time to remodel their office space, they went the green.  From non-toxic carpets, low-VOC paint and Greenguard certified chairs, ISC’s owners thought of it all.  And the most impressive part?  ISC International’s business doesn’t even focus on the green industry!  They just care about their employees and their environment enough to make a difference.  Now that’s a forward thinking company.  I’m also loving that ISC didn’t use the traditional white and grey but added fun punches of color and lots of artwork throughout their new space.  Makes it a much happier place to spend your day.  Here are a few details of their remodel:

• No & low-VOC paints from Benjamin Moore & Sherwin Williams were used throughout their space
• Eco-friendly wool carpeting from Karastan
• Porcelain floor tiles at the kitchens and bathrooms.  Many of the options out there now include some level of recycled content too and of course porcelain doesn’t emit much in the way of toxins.
• Office chairs from Knoll are Greenguard certified
• Leather is tanned with some really nasty chemicals so they used faux leather rather than real.  Just make sure if you’re going the vinyl route make sure to find one that is PVC free as well.

ISC International generously shared pictures of their office remodel with me, so I thought I would share them with you for a bit of office inspiration.  What does your office look like?  Has your company taken any steps to green your office environment?

Photos from ISC International

You’ve probably already seen wall decals aplenty.  As a removable and easy to install item, they’re the perfect way for renters and commitment-phobes to add a bit of pattern and color to their walls.  There are some really beautiful and fun options out there, but I have to say, my favorite comes from Hu2 Design.  Their stickers are quirky, original and always eco-friendly.  Made from non-PVC vinyl, they’re free of chlorine and plasticizers and remove cleanly from the wall.  I’m loving the cute eco-reminders for those of us who sometimes forget to turn off lights, unplug electronics or take long showers.  Take a peek at my eco-friendly reminder picks and head on over to their website to see their complete line of stickers including larger wall scenes.  Enjoy!

Save Water Sticker

CO2 Factory Reminder Sticker

Bills Reminder Sticker

Hamster Wheel Generator Sticker

Hamster Lamp Sticker

Unplugged MacBook Sticker

Photos from Hu2 Design

We’ve had a sad looking lounge chair sitting in our living room for what feels like forever.  Although I’ve eyed a few other options before, it’s finally time for this thing to go.  The reason is not so much that I hate the chair (even though I do).  It’s more because the low seat means that when you sit in it, you’re WAY to far away from our sofa to have any sort of conversation with even the nearest person.  So why haven’t I replaced it yet?   My problem is not that I can’t find what I want, my problem is that I have too many great options and I get cold feet.  Yes, it’s true, even designers get indecisive sometimes.  But I thought, why make myself crazy when I have all of you lovely readers.  So I gathered my top ten eco-friendly lounge chair choices for my apartment, in no particular order.  They’re all a bit unique, not too big, not too traditional and totally comfortable.  Tell me what you think and vote in the comment section below.

I’m always a fan of the casual chic style of Cisco Brothers.  The curves of this Grace Chair would complement our sofa quite nicely (in a fabric to match our decor of course).

My recent post on Kelly LaPlante’s new Jak furniture line may have been a bit selfish since this little Deleon barrel chair would look stunning in our apartment.  You’ll forgive me, right?

1stdibs is always a go-to for really elegant pieces.  Most everything is vintage so you’re good to go (I was going to say green to go, but even I was groaning at that one).  Much of what I find and fall in love with is well out of my price range, but I did find this cute chair from Lost City Arts just a few blocks from my apartment.  How’s that for local?  It would of course need some chic new upholstery fabric to pull the look together, but I’m kinda liking the unique lines of this piece.

I’m absolutely in love with just about every piece from Lawson-Fenning, so I couldn’t help picking two options from them.  This is the Rolled Arm Chair.  I love the slightly masculine look that’s balanced out with the curvy shape.

I’ve always been a wing chair fan.  Maybe there’s something about hiding behind those huge wings that really appeals to me (not that I normally hide behind chairs or anything).  This Wing Chair is also from Lawson-Fenning.

This really unique lounge chair comes from Suite New York.  It might get a bit too low and thus not solve my low-rider problem, but there’s no shame in looking, right?  I’m not a big leather upholstery fan, so of course I would pick a fun eco-friendly fabric to match our decor.

For something a bit more traditional, I also like this upholstered linen chair from VivaTerra.  It, unfortunately, only comes in two fabric options so the Java would be my choice.  And I’d add a few colorful accent pillows to spice it up a bit.

As always, the furniture from the New Traditionalists is elegant with a slightly irreverent edge.   I love this tailored take on a traditional barrel chair.  And the added strap detail at the bottom is quite chic.  Why let handbags have all the fun?

Don’t let the clean lines fool you, the Todhunter Club Chair from Q Collection is totally chic.  It would be the perfect contrast to the much more ornate Hepplewhite style dining chairs that are next to my lounge chair’s future home.

And last but absolutely not least are these fixer-uppers from Chairloom.  Although the crushed olive green velvet definitely needs to go, I love the lines and the raw potential of these two chairs.  I might not end up with these exact chairs, but I’m definitely leaning toward buying something from this awesome company just because I love what they stand for.  The wonderful people at Chairloom scour markets and dealers’ inventories to find interesting chairs that just need a little bit of love to turn them into the beauties they were meant to be.  Take a look at their gallery of sold chairs for a bit of inspiration.

So there you have it, my top ten eco-friendly lounge chair choices!  What do you think?  Which one is your favorite?  Vote in the comments section below and as soon as I get my indecisive butt in gear and purchase something, I’ll reveal my final choice!

Being conscious about how you live just naturally bleeds into being conscious about how you eat.  At home, I try to cook organic food, limit our meat intake and cook as many veggies as I can fit in our tiny kitchen.  So it’s no wonder I fell in love with The Plant Café Organic in San Francisco as soon as I laid eyes on it.  Not only to the owners, Mark Lewis and Matthew Guelke, serve up delicious organic cuisine, their restaurant is just about as green as the food.  This could-be LEED certified café is located at Pier 3 on the waterfront in an old adapted warehouse and was designed by Cass Calder Smith of CCS Architecture.  Natural and recycled materials abound, including leaving the existing ceiling beams & girders intact, dining tables made from reclaimed hickory, flooring made from coconut shells and even your check arriving in used books.  In addition, the owners are true innovators and, I’m going to just make a wild guess here, technology lovers.  Solar panels provide about 20% of the restaurant’s electrical needs.  To wash dishes and hands, they’ve instituted an electrolyzed water system that increases the acidity of water to the level of bleach.  That means, no soap is needed at handwashing stations and in dishwasher.  Pretty cool, huh?  As for the decor, I’ll let that speak for itself.  Enjoy!

The back wall is displaying the Living wall of plants.

The outdoor patio towards the waterfront.  I could definitely hang out here on a nice summer day!

I love the ceiling treatment and hanging bulbs.  Why hide an old industrial ceiling when you can enhance it?

Photos via Inhabitat

After the success of painting my kitchen cabinets from an ugly cherry color to glossy white, I’m ready to paint just about every piece of furniture in my apartment.  So when I saw these zinc wrapped tables from Scarlett Scales Antiques, I thought this was right up my alley.  While I probably don’t have the space or the technical skills to pull off a zinc creation like this chic tables, I can certainly enjoy them.  Scarlett and her father, Barry, take vintage tables and wrap them with zinc scraps rescued from old buildings near their hometown of Franklin, Tennessee.  I think they would be perfect in an entry foyer with a colorful bunch of flowers on top.

Scarlett Scales has a lustworthy collection of antiques so make sure to pop on over to her website and check out some of her items.  Maybe I’ll even be lucky enough to score something from her at this summer’s Brimfield show.

Photos from Scarlett Scales Antiques

As you can probably guess, I’m a big believer in slower and smaller living.  In recent months, I’ve even been challenging myself to live with less – repair what I can and buy only what we truly need.  I’m not perfect, but I’m getting better.  So when I saw a write-up about Tiny Texas Houses in the latest issue of Country Living, it struck a cord with me.  Not only are these houses incredibly cute (they’re like dollhouses for adults!), they’re also totally environmentally friendly.

Founder Brad Kittel builds tiny custom houses from 99% salvaged materials originally destined for a landfill.  At around 400 square feet, he manages to pack in a full kitchen, bathroom, living area, bedroom and two lofted areas plus an outdoor porch on either end of the house.  I’d say that was expert space planning!  Starting at $32,000, homeowners can design the tiny house of their dreams with styles ranging from rustic to Queen Anne to an gambrel-roofed Dutch Colonial.  Who says bigger is always better in Texas?

While extreme small living may not be for everyone, I’m sure my fellow New Yorkers would agree that living in 400 square feet is totally doable.  My husband and I live in 650 square feet quite comfortably.  And that’s without the benefit of added lofts or porches.

I mean, how cute is this house?  I could totally live here.  What about you?

A view of one of the interiors from the upper loft.

This one is actually a tiny chapel.

Park Lane Guesthouse in Austin was inspired to use a few Tiny Texas Houses as rooms for their guests.  This would be a wonderful and charming place to stay.

Another cottage at Park Lane Guesthouse

A detail of one of the cottages at Park Lane Guesthouse

Photos from Tiny Texas Houses and Park Lane Guesthouse

I’ve been hoping to get out to San Francisco soon to visit a few friends and it looks like I now have a new reason to get myself out to the west coast.  Adding on to their first location in Los Angeles, HD Buttercup just opened a new 35,000 square foot store in the city by the bay.  Started by co-founder of ABC Home, Evan Cole, this chic store sells a huge range of products including many eco retailers such as Cisco Home, Urban Woods, Lee and Green Home to name a few.  HD Buttercup’s inventory is hand-picked and ever changing, so you’ll never quite know what you’ll find (or miss!).  The pictures below are shots of the new store, although I’ll bet it doesn’t look this this anymore!













Photos from HD Buttercup via Interior Design Magazine

I’m not sure where I’ve been, maybe hiding under my computer, but I just discovered Jak, a super elegant furniture company.  And to show you just how oblivious I can be, I’m a huge fan of one of the founders Kelly LaPlante!  (Kelly’s fellow co-founder is James Saavedra).   To jog your memory, Kelly is the creator of the Standard Magazine, an eco-friendly online shelter mag that treats green as a quality standard, not a style.  Just like the magazine, Jak’s furniture is totally eco-friendly and of course chic and sophisticated.  I love that not only have they considered all the sustainable elements of the actual furniture, they also take a wider view of the process.  Case in point, Jak offsets carbon emissions created from transporting their products and has a recycling program to dispose unwanted furniture in a responsible way.  Now that’s something you don’t see with many furniture manufacturers!

I’m loving their collection, but the selection is still a bit limited.  I’m hoping that since Jak is still a fairly young company, we’ll see lots of great additions to the line.  Enjoy!

This is my favorite piece in their collection.  I love the clean lines and elegant shape.  Hmm, maybe this could be the piece to replace the awful lounge chair in our living room that I hate.  Don’t worry, when I do in fact get rid of the chair, it will be donated to a worthy cause.

This is my second favorite chair.  There’s something about slipper chairs that I just adore.  And this one isn’t too feminine, which is sometimes hard to find in slipper chairs.

And of course the sofa version of the slipper chair above is pretty cool too.

Photos from Jak

It has been an especially cold winter (either that or this Minnesotan is becoming a true wuss) so I definitely have had cozy blankets on my mind.  I figured I was about due for a round-up of my favorite eco-friendly throws that you can feel good about curling up on the couch with.  All of the blankets I’ve gathered are either made from organic or recycled materials and most are handmade.  Click on the links for more information.  Enjoy and tell me which one is your favorite!

1. Reversible silk & fleece throw from VivaTerra 2. Striped Alpaca throws from Canvas 3. Shuka & Peau blankets from D. Bryant Archie Textiles  4. Current throw in Sunshine from Inhabit 5. Mohair throws from L’Aviva Home 6. Harbor throw in ivory from Unison 7. Tufted cotton blanket from Canvas 8. Cashmere/cotton throws from Coyuchi 9. Traditional Pakistani quilt from Ralli Quilts 10. Recycled sweater blanket from Seasons of Wool

1. Organic cotton Turkish towel from All Organic Textiles 2. Octopus throw in indigo by Thomas Paul, from My Sparrow 3. Pendleton Eco-Wise Wool throw 4. Scallop Blanket in mandarin from Eleanor Prichard 5.Gade Chief blanket from D. Bryant Archie Textiles 6. Paya Crochet Throw from Sefte 7. Maya Boucle throw from Sefte 8. Recycled Sari throws from Jeanette Farrier 9. Tracks Plaid blanket in pink from Branch Home 10. Alpaca Afghan throw in Sunshine yellow from Amenity Home

I was wandering around during lunch a few days ago and popped into Lillian August’s new showroom in New York City to check it out.  And guess what I discovered…they have a green line!  I couldn’t be more excited that this chic retailer really gets it.  Their Environments collection so far is the only line that is eco-friendy, but I’m hoping the rest isn’t too far behind.  According to Lillian August’s website, “Environments embrace the authentic link we have with our natural surroundings. We work with companies that are finding innovative ways to build products with sustainable, natural and organic components.”  In addition, they are a founding member of the Sustainable Furnishing Council which is a group dedicated to promoting sustainable practices within the furniture and design industry.

I’m going to leave you with a few pictures from Lillian August’s website.  If you’re in the area, you should definitely stop by one of their stores and take a look for yourself!

These pics are from the store, not necessarily the Environments collection.

Photos via Lillian August