Refining something from nature that is rustic and organically decorative, into a piece of furniture or home décor is a high form of eco-flattery. While it can hardly be called a trend, using twigs can liven up any décor.
Found objects from outdoors can bring the natural world and the interior world closer. This is especially true for the cool weather months ahead, when just a glance of nature can perk up a room, and an attitude.
I live in the woods and go on walks almost every day. Each season has a natural rhythm and I find myself seduced into collecting stuff…natural stuff. In summer, I collect sea glass and shells, and in the fall it’s whatever falls off trees, twigs, branches, acorns. My collecting sometimes ends up in seasonally evolving naturescapes, and sometimes the items get uprecycled into art, craft, and useful items.
You don’t have to be an uber-sophisticated tastemaker, or the craftiest decorator to display good design sense when using natural objects like twigs. CLICK HERE FOR 10 TWIG PROJECTS
Credit: Live Wire Farm via Design Sponge
Tags:Art·Bathroom·bed & bath·crafts·Design·feng shui·green home decor·hangers·holiday·home decor·lighting·Nature·organizing·recycle·recycle & reuse·reduce·wedding
Inhabitat is one of the top environmental blogs in the world. Their mission is simple, “Green Design is Good Design ~ Good Design is Green Design.” Inhabitat also believes, “Green Design Will Save The World.”
I follow Inhabitat daily, and want to thank them for choosing an idea from an econesting post. Their post titled: Time Flies With the Recycled Aluminum Epigram Clock via econesting is on Inhabitat’s front page today.
Inhabitat is an established “green” blog that continues to provide innovative ideas, while provoking the cautionary green vs. sustainable issue. They share a frustration that I also have about considering “green design” as a new category in the field. Is “green design” separate from good design? Inhabitat doesn’t think so:
“We believe that all design should be inherently “Green”. Good design is not about color, style or trends – but instead about thoughtfully considering the user, the experience, the social context and the impact of an object on the surrounding environment. No design can be considered good design unless it at least attempts to address some of these concerns.”
I am pleased Inhabitat picked up A Clock With a Conscience (and a mother’s gush), for the same reasons I chose the witty Epigram Clock. It encompasses all that is good about design: It is thoughtful and cleverly designed, with a nod towards environmental impact (the clock contains up to 70% recycled content), and it was created within the social context of giving back (a percentage of the proceeds goes directly to the International Rescue Committee, an organization that responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives). The clock also represents what all design should – form, function and style.
What do you believe constitutes good design? Are you in agreement that green design can save the world?
Tags:blogging·clock·Design·green·Inhabitat·recycled·socially responsible design·sustainable
This clock not only looks good, it does good! It was designed by iconic graphic designer, Milton Glaser.
Before I get to all that goodness, I have to tell you about one of my kids (gush). You may click away now if you have no use for that nonsense (the gushing). But if you stay, I promise you’ll find out what this has to do with the clock.
My daughter is a very talented graphic designer/artist (gush, gush), who now has an awesome job in her chosen field. When she graduated from RISD, she landed a much-coveted internship with Milton Glaser. She got a rare glimpse into his design genius. Maybe even more importantly, she learned first-hand how a designer creates a culture of making a difference through design. You may recall, Milton designed the I ♥ NY logo for the New York State Department of Commerce. His design became the most frequently imitated logo design in human history. Anyway, my daughter shared with me a link to the Botanist-Socially Responsible Modern Products and Milton’s Epigram Clock. Since I just wrote about clocks, it seemed fitting to add this witty one to the mix.
Now we can get on with the business at hand (thanks for not clicking away!) What’s so good about the Epigram Clock? It constitutes socially responsible design because a percentage of the proceeds from the Epigram Clock goes directly to the International Rescue Committee. “The IRC responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster.”
Socially responsible design seems like something we should teach to all kids. Maybe as consumers (and parents), we could set an example and start a socially responsible cultural movement of our own. Why? Because…time flies.
Credits: Botanist
Tags:clocks·conscious consumer·designers·Family·graphic design·product design·socially responsible design
Last night was one of those cool, clear, crisp late August evenings. I will not lament about the end of summer, let’s just enjoy what’s left and notice what is knocking on summer’s door – autumn. Lovely!
It is a rare weekend that my family (daughter, son and their boy/girlfriends) is all together. We have a late evening tradition of dipping into our wood-fired hot tub when the temps are not sweltering out. All summer I’ve been padding around the hot tub barefoot. But, last night it was chilly and I wished we had a mat next to the tub.
I’ve coveted the beautiful, earthy-colored Clustered Felted Mat (above) from VivaTerra for a while. How beautiful is that? It would be just perfect on my deck right next to the tub. While I have purchased items from VivaTerra in the past because I love their commitment to the environment for using pure and stylish materials handcrafted by artisans, these mats are just too pricey for next to the tub (large mat – $695). But…they can provide the inspiration for DIY possibilities to create something similar to this:
This tutorial from Craftster uses felted leftover yarn balls. The creator of this DIY rug explains her process: “I started making balls out of my stash of leftover wool. (You know that stash of wool you can’t bear to part with but don’t have enough to actually knit/crochet a whole project?) I used a combination of hand and machine felting, and sewed the stones together by hand with a nylon twine.”
Made in neutral stone colored tones, I think this method for creating a similar mat, might just be what will keep my feet toasty after those evening dips. Certainly worth a try, don’t you think?
Credits: VivaTerra, Sea Otter Designs, Crafster
Tags:bath·DIY·felting·hot tub·Knitting·mat·rocks·stones
“Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way” ~ Pink Floyd
One of the 5 clocks, called the ‘365′ (above), I just had to share with my knitting readers because it knits! Yes, you read that right. The ‘365′ is a knitting clock, created by German designer Siren Else Wilhelmsen, will knit you a scarf a year. How cool is that?!?!
Time and trends don’t stand still, so let these 5 cool and unusual clocks be the inspiration to make fun, funky and functional clocks. CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Tags:back to school·clocks·crafts·Design·DIY·green home decor·home decor·Kids·Knitting·time·tutorials
How do you like your dishrags? Do you care? Maybe not, but while we are ditching the paper napkins why not just chuck the paper towels out too? And, since we’re dishing about dishrags, I like my dishcloths thick and absorbent, thank you very much.
There’s a bit of a buzz in the knitting world about dishrags. Kay Gardiner shared with the readers of her popular Mason-Dixon Knitting blog, her dishrag obsession, “‘Whatcha knitting?’ ‘Um, a….[muffled] dishrag….’ Somehow, even for me with my raised consciousness about the value of old-time domestic pursuits, knitting a dishrag is not something I’m eager to admit to some over-buffed woman on the beach. But I cannot tell a lie, I was knitting dishrag after dishrag. And loving it!”
Paper towels have become yet another symbol of waste. With over 90% of US households taking advantage of the convenience of paper towels, we produce over 3,000 tons of waste each day. Phasing paper towels out of the home can be more of a challenge than ditching paper napkins, and plastic bags. I’ve heard about using alternatives such as clean cloth diapers for paper towels and newspapers. But really, do they hold any appeal as cleaning cloths? Not so much for me.
Not ready to fess up to knitting dishrags? Just say you’re checking your stitch gauge and doing your part for the environment by using leftover yarn…CLICK HERE FOR MORE (PATTERN)
Credit: Mason-Dixon Knitting
Tags:cleaning·discloths·kitchens·Knitting·paper napkins·paper towels
A Niche And A Knack
The blogosphere is a curious place. Most bloggers happily tap away at their computers all day. People often ask me how I do it. My stock answer is, “I have a niche and a knack.” I also have a Herman Miller Aeron Chair that supports my back, and a husband who watches it (spamers beware). The blogs I find most inspiring and click-worthy have two qualities – a niche and a knack. Great bloggers share their passion (niche), and their interactions with readers flow in a naturally upbeat manner (knack). Aesthetically appealing blog images don’t hurt either. A while back, I wrote an in depth article about blogging. You can read it here.
A Thank You Note
Being a blogger doesn’t come with an expense account, but it has some perks – books to review, products to try out, interviews with stimulating people, being able to work in your pajamas, and sometimes a chance to review and visit an eco-resort in Jamaica. I am definitely following up on that last one. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to meet and interview author, Dominique Browning. She is someone I came to admire when she was the editor of House and Garden magazine. Her latest book, Slow Love was delivered by my friendly UPS guy who said to me (again), “What do you do with all these books?” Well, this one I devoured. You can read my review and interview with Dominique here.
Here’s how the blogosphere can work its magic: I was elated to see a recent post on Dominique’s, Slow Love Life blog, titled: Knit A Market Bag. It includes a link to my DIY Knitted Shopping Bag post. I can thank Dominique by asking you to check out her lovely blog. I think you’ll find that she has a niche and a knack worth signing up for.
Main Credit: Michael Maslin
Tags:blogging·cartoon·Herman Miller·Knitting·slow love
OK, fly fishers — this one’s for you…
I live with a few fly fishers. They are a passionate bunch. Passionate about their waterways, their love of nature, and they are passionate about how they fish — catch and release. On any given day during the season, lifesize suspendered waders and heavy wading boots hang dripping from the rafters of the garage. Hooks, feathers and fishing line find their way into their tackle boxes and deposited onto the floor around their fly-tying spaces.
When this New York Times article, Fly Fishers Serving as Transports for Noxious Little Invaders flew across my computer, I ran to see if their boots were felt-soled. According to the article, “Growing scientific evidence suggests that felt, which helps anglers stay upright on slick rocks, is also a vehicle for noxious microorganisms that hitchhike to new places and disrupt freshwater ecosystems.”
Apparently, going feltless comes at a cost to the fly fisher. Rubber is slippery and dangerous for those who wade on rocks. Some fly fishers are reluctant to give up their felt (yea, not my guys), despite the havoc that “rock snot” imparts on the environment.
This may seem incidental in the scheme of our recent environmental disasters, but all of these small environmental threats caused by humans add
up. So, let’s join Orvis, the biggest fly-fishing retailer in saying, “Change your boots and help fight the spread of invasive species.”
(Also, anyone want to share more about “rock snot”? I’m a bit out of my league here.)
Credits: Ben Scott
Tags:boots·environment·fish·fishing
There’s something nostalgic about driftwood. It’s already lived a whole other life before it was uprooted from the ground and set adrift to sea. The sand, wind, water and waves have a way of uniquely weathering the patina of fallen wood like no manmade finish can do.
Driftwood Rack
The DIY Driftwood Rack from Sunset is simple, beautiful and free. It’s the same idea as this coat rack.
Driftwood Headboard
This rustic handcrafted headboard lined up next to the linen bedding, created by artisan Trisha Rose, sets a calming bedroom mood. Doesn’t it?
Driftwood Table
This one-of-kind table made from a piece of driftwood we found along the shores of the Hudson River (see, you thought I was only partial to the ocean), sports a slab top of black walnut from a downed tree found on our property. Here’s a tutorial for making driftwood tables. We left out the polyurethane and used Gorilla Glue, which is non-toxic after it dries.
Driftwood Wall Art
My Uncle Danny was a master of reuse. His renditions of eco-art could be found all over the nooks and crannies of his seaside home that my cousin, Amy and her family now live in. He created this piece in the 1960’s, and it is still displayed on an outside wall of the home.
Note: Before you head out beachcombing for driftwood, check your local state beach authority for regulations about collecting scavenged wood.
Credits: All Driftwood Furniture, Sunset, Cabin On The Water
More beach-inspired projects: 
Beachcombing With a Purpose: 2 DIY Shell Projects
DIY Decorating With Nautical Knots
What The Sea Left Behind
Sun Senses: Beach Inspired Home Decor
Tags:beach·beach house·beachcombing·driftwood·eco-art·furniture·linen·river·summer
