One of the most positive things I have see in my years of researching green materials for interiors, is that increasingly mainstream manufacturers feel that they must have a green story to compete. It used to be that green counter top materials were made by small producers such as Vetrazzo or Paperstone, who just wanted [...]
I am very excited that I have just passed my LEED Green Associate exam. But, I realize that this is only exciting news if you know what the heck it means. As in any profession, there are any number of alphabet letters one can put after one’s name. Some mean more than others. If [...]
I have a confession to make, I am not a natural modernist. I love modern design, and the constant striving for something that is purely original, clean and new. But I also realize that what I am more natrurally drawn to warm, referential modernism. I love the textile designs of the fifties, the modern furniture [...]
I love the integrity of architecture from different periods. Each style of home reflects the concerns, the dreams, the optimism and the fears of the period when it was built. An important consideration, when remodeling, is to be true to the architecture, the feeling, the gesture of the existing building. I don’t think remodels should [...]
I am extremely excited to be reading the various posts from NEO Con, the commercial interior design convention. So many well designed, and exciting products! Green products seem to have a strong presence, I am thrilled to see that sustainable design has penetrated deeply into mainstream product design priorities. I have always loved the textile and carpet [...]
Sometimes saving the environment seems like an exercise in denial: don’t buy things, don’t take planes, don’t use your car. Now personally, I think saving the world might be worth a teensy sacrifice, but it is lovely when saving resources also adds a little more comfort to your life.
How long before you want to [...]
I am encouraged that we seem to be having a backlash against huge homes. I don’t want to bash them, but they make me sad for so many reasons:
* Most importantly I do not think giant homes function well as a places that make the folks living in them happy and comfortable. If, [...]
I am teaching a class in early March that answers that question, on the SF peninsula, through Palo Alto Adult School. I really enjoy making folks laugh and and at the same time become more conscious about their interior design choices. Of course, it might be partly because I like people paying attention to me as if I have [...]
I posted not too long ago about new products coming out of West Coast Green. Since then, I got my library set of samples from O Eco Textiles, and they are gorgeous! I mean luscious and splendid. I was a fabric designer in a past life, and love working with fabrics in my new incarnation as an interior designer. [...]
One of the basics- the biggest difference your house makes on the environment is by the energy it uses. We just got our first big rainstorm of the year here in N. Ca, and that got me thinking about wall systems. (Have I ever disclosed to the group that I am totally a [...]
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