Thursday, June 4, 2009

Metal Scrap Into Countertops!

I discovered a new eco-friendly solid counter top today - it is made from fine flake aluminum milling scrap! Usually the scrap metal is recycled by burning, which creates pollution. So instead, the scraps are put into a resin and made into beautiful and interesting counter tops. The product is called ALKEMI and the manufacturing process leaves no hazardous footprint.

The countertops come in several colors and finishes. When you look at them close you see all the interesting twists of metal.

I love this industry! The move towards GREEN has really gotten people to think outside of the box and has increased creativity and product choices!

Monday, May 18, 2009

First Eco-Friendly Chair!


Our first eco-friendly upholstered chair is complete! It is a beautiful, high quality chair with clean lines and great scale - best of all it is entirely eco-friendly. Below are the environmentally friendly attributes.
  • Cover: Organic cotton grown in the US
  • Frame: Solid hardwood harvested locally and responsibly
  • Seating: 8-way hand tied made with recycled metal
  • Webbing: Recycled polyester and natural materials
  • Padding: 100% pure unbleached cotton and recycled Dacron
  • Cushions: Soy based foam core wrapped in down and feathers
  • Back and Throw pillows: Down blend (other options available)
  • Glue: Water based with no formaldehyde
  • Stain: Water based finishes
  • All scraps are recycled
Click Here to see our entire catalog. Please contact me if you have questions about our furniture or interior design services - I would love to help!



Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Sustainability in Carpet

A few weeks ago I attended a speech given by Ray Anderson who is the Founder and Chairman of Interface, Inc, a carpet company. His passion for the environment and his sustainability mission truly was inspirational. I pulled this off the company website:

"While Interface is noted in the industry for high quality design and innovation, the company is recognized as an out-front leader in the green business movement. Ray heightened the company’s awareness and led changes in sourcing, process and technologies to move toward being environmentally sustainable, and named the efforts Mission Zero. Under Mission Zero, we are learning to harness solar, wind, biomass and other forms of green energy and providing raw material needs by harvesting and recycling carpet and other petrochemical products, while eliminating waste and harmful emissions from our operations."

Read more at: FLOR and Mission Zero

The FLOR carpet tiles (part of interface) are great products! They are very versatile, fashion forward, and Eco-friendly. See the list below.
  • Return and Recycle Program
  • Renewable and Recycled content
  • Low VOC (volatile organic compounds)
  • Catalog printed on 100% recycled paper / 85% post-consumer waste.
  • Best of all their ultimate goal is zero negative impact on the Earth by the year 2020!!!

What an inspirational company!!


Thursday, April 9, 2009

Eco-Friendly Wood Substitute


A substitute for wood!! Kirei Board is made from reclaimed sorghum straw which is the portion of the straw that is not edible. This waste is usually burned or added to landfills. The boards are created with zero VOCs which means it is non-toxic and formaldehyde-free.

These beautiful eco-friendly boards can be used for almost anything! Millwork, wall covering, cabinetry, furniture... What an interesting wonderful green product!

This product is made by a company called Kirei - Check out their website for some sample applications.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Business launch plus eco-friendly window treatment

This week was my official launch of my new eco-friendly green interior design studio "PURE Inspired Design"!! It is very exciting to finally get to this point after all the careful planning. I still have a lot more I need to do, including tons of eco-friendly product research (this will be on going), increasing my private label rug designs and upholstery line, and also implementing national interior design services so I can truly help anyone. If you are interested in entering a pilot program for virtual interior design please contact me to find out more. This process has been a wonderful creative outlet plus I LOVE to help people and share my knowledge. My blogs in the future will contain more green interior design product information and useful green tips - my goal is to blog every week!!!


Today I installed these beautiful organic cotton twill draperies - they are cream and dark brown in a beautiful updated pattern. The fabric is from Mod Green Pod. We used a 2” bamboo rod and 3” bamboo rings with pinch clips- the finials and brackets are wood with a dark low VOC finish. All the hardware is from Antique Drapery Hardware. The window turned out so nice (the client loved it), it really finished the room plus best of all it is all eco-friendly! I'm loving the role of a green interior designer!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Impact of buying local

One way to be GREEN is to buy products made locally - within 500 miles. I'm working with local furniture makers to create my own furniture line. The furniture will be high quality and a little more money than what you find at the local furniture stores. I started thinking about the impact of buying products made local. It goes so far beyond your pocket book. Yes it will cost you more dollars, but look at some of the long term benefits.
  • Keep money working locally. Increasing the income for you neighbor which in turns puts more money into the locally econmy.
  • Job growth due to increase in local sales.
  • Less energy consumed in freight. Closer to home mean less travel before it gets to you. It also mean less freight damage and more timely delivery. It is not coming all the way from China...
  • Your dollars pay for quality and materials vs. expensive long distant freight.
  • Easy to confirm the content and quality of the materials.

So concider buying local when ever possible!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Welcome!

This is my first Blog! As I get ready to launch my new GREEN design studio "PURE Inspired Design", I have been continuing my endless research. I've been reading about the GREEN Economy and how it will not only create jobs but also save money and the world. It is a win win situation. President Obama is a strong supporter - but please call your Senator and tell them to pass Obama's green recovery plan - this is so important to our future so please act now.

Watch Van Jones opening statement from the Stimulus Hearing a few weeks ago. He is very inspiring.