Green Options

I love yurt living. It’s like camping out, — but in a modern, convenient structure. The dome has so much to do with that feeling.

As we face the Autumnal Equinox, I watch the interior dome light shift as it does with my landscaping. The daily light beam changes with seasons.

Have you interior designers learned about the USBGC Suite Design Competition? This is not only for professionals, but students as well. And it’s global!

Beware the entry deadline is fast approaching on August 31st, 2009 and judging will be completed by October 1st, 2009. The competition is sponsored by USGBC, The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), and The Hospitality Industry Network (NEWH).

The BCE Environmental Leadership Awards recently praised Camira Fabrics as a major innovating business for a low-carbon economy. Their Sting Plus fabrics were featured. Four years research for development was funded by UK’s government with academic and scientific input.

The BCE intention is to honor businesses that meet current commercial demands without compromising the environment for future generations. It is UK’s most prestigious environmental award to be had.

New York City’s Cooper Hewitt is highlighting their Fashioning Felt exhibit in a big way. My mind is now filled with ideas about the possibilities of felt. 

 ”Fashioning Felt presents an extraordinary range of felt. From two-dimensional carpets to three-dimensional environments, each work reveals the virtuosity of both the material and the designers. The exhibition and book focus on felt that has been produced by traditional hand- or machine-felting processes; they exclude non-woven felt and techniques, in order to underscore the essential elements of feltmaking — wool fiber, agitation, moisture, and pressure.”

I fell for this Felt Ovoid Jacket and Empire Pant look. Isn’t this draped felt suit creative? 

Keep reading for more inspiration:

Green building is about healthy settings with visual appeal. The goal is to create rooms for physical, emotional, mental and spiritual benefits. That means avoiding things like airborne allergens, chemicals, and clutter.

Yet the study of indoor air pollution can get complex. Hence, no surprise of this month’s announcement that the LEED accreditation system introduced by the U.S. Green Building Council was revamped.

Amenity, well know for their modern organic living interior design products, has created a line of delightful organic nursery products.

A child’s genuine comfort and a parent’s peace of mind guides our careful selection of the purest organic elements that form this collection: bumpers filled with organic wool, lovable blankets of breathable organic percale and supremely cozy organic fleece, all printed with certified organic dyes.

Are you an interior designer that constantly receives calls for organic home furnishings and decor?

Goldiehome is a collection of eco-conscious homewares “inspired by the geometry and tactility of nature. By fusing sophisticated design with environmentally-responsible practices, Goldiehome strives to set a new standard for organic modern luxury.”

• Each piece is made with careful attention to design and form, comfort and softness
• The home collection is entirely SKAL & GOTS certified organic cotton.
• Fibers are custom spun to achieve fine detail in jacquards and higher thread count sheetings.
• The actual products and the packaging and collateral materials all reflect the best environmental choices within the framework of commercial manufacturing.

I don’t yet keep my craft room as green and organized as Lenore does, but it is one of my New Year’s resolutions to decorate my house more nicely (along with learning to sprout seeds, exercising every day, and getting a book contract), and it is part of our family ethic that anything we do must be done as green and thriftily as possible (per my green crafting manifesto), so Lenore and I are going to be craft room buddies pretty soon, I think.

I work almost entirely with found and recycled materials, so one of my biggest problems is the storage of…stuff. Old postage stamps, orphaned game pieces, costume jewelry, wrapping paper, comic books, beach rocks, buttons, and tinsel–you name it, and it finds its way into my work, and if I can’t see it and access it, I can’t use it.

Yeah, I’m tempted every time I wander into some big-box store, 40%-off coupon in hand, by all those clear, organized, neatly-portioned craft bins they always sell. Look, a different compartment for each kind of bead, and I can see them all! Look, slide-out drawers for each different kind of paper!

But I also want my craft room to have character, to not only contain the things that inspire me, but also, itself, BE an inspiration to me. So I have not bought those clear, organized, handy-yet-bland plastic bins. Instead, I try to find vintage, thrifted, or otherwise recycled containers for all my storage needs. Here’s part of my collection of vintage containers:

Are you a busy bee? Maybe you’re better described as fuzzy slippers or a blank canvas.

GE’s new website, What’s Your Lighting Style?, will help you to figure that out. After a fun (if a bit cheesy) eight-question “getting to know you” quiz, you’re given a lighting style for each room in your house. Based on each style, a “tip sheet” tells you how to create just the right atmosphere you want for the room, including furniture, colors, and – of course – lighting. Recommendations include each GE Energy Smart bulb that might be useful in your room, including dimmable bulbs and spotlights.

Sublimehome is a company in Scottsdale, Arizona that designs and manufactures innovative custom-made home furnishings with a limited production of eco-chic furniture. Owner Paul Jeffrey offers a contemporary style with master craftsmanship. “Transcend the ordinary” is his motto.

What makes Sublimehome green? Well, the FSC certified hardwoods that Paul uses are rapidly renewable, including exotics. Other materials are plyboo, kirei board, bamboo and palm wood. His stains and sealers are water and soy based while adhesives are formaldehyde-free. Finishes are with low VOCs.

So I’ve been doing the Fabulous Fabrics series for a while, and I’ve been noticing something.

HarmonyArt Organic Design, Amenity, Oliveira Textiles, Mod Green Pod, Rubie Green, Kirin & Co, Thea and Sami - all of the designers behind these wonderful fabrics are women. (Right?  Someone correct me if I’m wrong.)

Michael Miller Organics stands out as the lone male name with an organic fabric line.

Can someone educate me a little here?  Is it typical that most mainstream fabric is designed by women?  I don’t know enough about the industry, honestly. I know that in quilting, men like Kaffe Fassett, Michael James, and Ricky Tims stand out not just because they’re good at what they do, but because they’re guys in an industry dominated by women. (Side note: am I the only person who really, really wants to pronouce Kaffe Fassett’s name as “coffee faucet?”)