Green Home and Design Archive

The Best Small Picture Frames are also the Greenest

Call it fallout from the scrapbooking craze: Too many picture frames today are decaled to death, hyper-personalized with sculptural embellishments (golf clubs, starfish) or such eager pronouncements as “Proud Graduate!” or “It’s a Girl!” To achieve a more realistic style span, frames should play a supporting role. They can look sleek or rustic to fit [...]
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Conserve Water with a Niagara Ecologic High Efficiency Toilet

Green messages abound these days. Some are worth listening to. Many are merely noise and distraction that don’t amount to much. Admittedly, it’s hard to know what’s legit and what is little more than eco-marketing ploy. And of the stuff that’s environmentally legit, it’s hard to distinguish the high-quality green products from those that suffer [...]
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Toasting Handmade, Recycled Glass Barware

In the beginning, there was the “appletini,” which lured the classic cocktail away from a simple gin-and-vermouth preparation. And now that such fallen delights as pomegranate, caramel and white-chocolate martinis are par for the first course, could exotic glass barware be far behind? La Mediterranea’s Bedside Bottle and Glass ($16) is a marvel of invention. [...]
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Toothbrush Holders from Glass to Metal to Bamboo

The two major trends in toothbrush holders are curiously divergent. Germ killers are hot: high-tech wonders that zap bacteria and other wee beasties from bristles after every brushing. Then again, these gadgets usually require batteries and maintenance. The other end of the spectrum is graced by fun, free-form holders that can easily be repurposed. For [...]
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Kitchen Glassware: Plates, Serving Plates, Mixing Bowls, Tumblers, & Pitchers

Polishing fine crystal is about as relevant today as scrubbing soiled longjohns on a tin washboard. Nevertheless, a lot of current kitchenware is reaching for a yesteryear vibe - enameled pink Deco toaster, anyone? – and glass is close inside the curve. The Clear Spanish Recycled Glass Extra Small Oyster Plate ($28, above) hearkens back [...]
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Kid Dishes: Kid-friendly, Parent-Approved Dinnerware

Until recently, parents had one of two choices when it came to toddlers and dining: plastic plates or no plate at all. I discovered this after serving W a ceramic bowl of yogurt when he was seven months old. Unwise. Very unwise. Kid dishes are important. Plastic is the obvious solution, but if you have [...]
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Paint the Town Green with Zero-VOC Eco Paint from Kelly-Moore

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m pretty darn lazy when it comes to painting. As long as they aren’t dripping with blood a la The Amityville Horror, I pretty much leave my walls alone. But in the event that I miraculously wake up one morning with a bristle brush and painter’s tape in my [...]
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Table of Eco Elements: Bill More Design’s Bamboo Furniture

If you’ve ever been to the outdoor recreation-obsessed city of Bend in central Oregon, you’ll understand why designer Bill More, the man behind a small line of truly lovely bamboo furniture called Forged Elements is based there. Like his handcrafted eco-bamboo, recycled steel, and resin inlay tables – Ventralis, a coffee table ($790), and Pica, [...]
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All ‘bout Arktura – Designer of seriously curvy, eco-friendly furniture

image: Arktura’s Flow Bench Often, eco-friendly furniture and home accessories, however sustainable, can be a bit humdrum: An ordinary-looking, banged up salvaged door turned into a coffee table; a dining chair made from responsibly harvested wood that looks like any other dining chair made from non-responsibly harvested wood; a blandly designed organic cotton pillow cover. [...]
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Walmart Serves Up Margarita-Ready Recycled Glasses To Thirsty Greenies

Think what you may of big boxer Walmart, but when the company starts shilling a set of four not-too-shabby margarita glasses (32.98) with a coordinating pitcher ($24.98) that are handmade and mouth-blown in Mexico with recycled glass, it’s a true sign that good green design has been democratized. The confetti design-rimmed – a nice, subtle [...]
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