eco-chic design

making the case for greener homes at the LOHAS Forum

Many speakers at the LOHAS Forum in Boulder last week stressed the relationship between health and sustainability that starts at home. One of the panelists about “Healthy Homes” mentioned that according to the EPA pollutant levels can be 2-5 times higher indoors than outdoors. That’s one scary fact and that’s why I like stores like Ellie’s that we visited during our LOHAS Insight Tour.

Ellie’s is a spacious eco-home store in Boulder that offers everything you can imagine to create a modern eco-friendly home. At the center of the store are all types of eco-friendly building materials ranging from natural cork flooring, bamboo plywoods to non-toxic paints and finishes. What I loved the most about the interior design of the store were the walls made out of the rapidly renewable resource Kirei and the refilling stations for non-toxic cleaners. I also like that Ellie’s teams up with local designers such as Bare Earth Design. The local family run business had one of their platform beds on display made of domestic walnut and Kirei using low VOC, non-toxic finishes. Another product that caught my eye was the natural soy crayons box by local company clementine art. The packaging looks beautiful and is made of 80% post consumer recycled and reusable materials. One common theme at the LOHAS Forum was that the future is now and you’re never too young or too old to start envisioning it. Maybe those colorful non-toxic crayons can help you with that.

mid-century inspired dollhouse with solar rooftop panels

It’s never too early to teach kids about a green life-style. That’s why I liked the Emerson House dollhouse by brinca dada (BREEN-kuh, DAE-duh) at ICFF. I only saw a prototype and not the finished piece but I really loved the modern design combined with its energy saving features such as working solar-powered LED lights. It’s a great educational tool to teach children about their impact on the environment and alternative sources of clean energy. The solar rooftop panels need to be in the sun for about 4 hours to fully charge the rechargeable battery. It powers 23 recessed lights in the modern looking house. All of the stains and paints throughout the Emerson House such as walls or floors are lead-free and non-toxic. The wood is a mixture of birch, CARB-certified plywood and MDF. 

Aesthetically the Emerson House is inspired by Richard Neutra's Kaufmann Desert House created in 1946 and the Gary Cooper house designed by A. Quincy Jones. Both celebrate a connection of architecture to nature in a modernistic way. The space-saving design of the Emerson Dollhouse enables it to open wide during playtime through its clamshell mechanism that also makes it easy to store. It has a large, open floor plan and floor-to-ceiling windows to allow for year-round sunlight. Now I only wish I could afford a similar home for my own grown-up life.

safe playdates for modern eco-kids

As a big fan of bamboo and modern eco-friendly design it was great to see the Kumo Friends organic pillows from Jaya Love's Tekeko at the sustainable display at NYIGF this summer. I’ve always loved the designs, but was surprised how soft these eco-modern pillows were even that I knew that bamboo fiber can be super soft and similar to silk and cashmere. The benefits of the rapidly renewable bamboo fiber are endless since it’s also highly breathable, antimicrobial, hypoallergenic and biodegradable.

But it’s really the fun and whimsical designs that makes these pillows great companions for eco-modern kids and cool home décor for eco-conscious parents. You don’t even need kids as an excuse to keep these eco-fabulous pillows around. The assortment of characters includes professor acorn, eggboy, hedgehog, leafgirl, owlie and raindrop. Every single one makes the perfect green house guest. I love their names as much as the hand-drawn quality of their designs. The colorful pillows are made of organic bamboo and organic cotton, printed with non toxic, waterbased inks and stuffed with a kapok insert. In case you didn’t know what kapok is like myself: it’s a natural vegetable based fiber that’s very sustainable and a great green alternative to down. And last you might rest more peacefully knowing that Jaya Love's Tekeko donates a portion of their sales to Planting Peace that provides sustainable initiatives for the protection of the environment and humanity.

the ultimate eco-modern dollhouse

One of my favorite designs at NYIGF this week is the Bamboo Sunshine House by HaPe that’s also part of the sustainable display at the show. Not only is it made out of the rapidly renewable resource bamboo but it actually features a working solar rooftop panel to teach kids about alternative energy in a fun and entertaining way. The eco-modern dollhouse comes with fully operational solar panels that absorb light energy and transfer it to four rechargeable batteries through wiring in the walls. It has a red button on the orange wall of the second floor that can be pushed by eco-chic kids to light three LED lights in the media room and two on the first floor. How genius is that. It’s a really fun and interactive way to teach your kids about renewable sources of energy at an early age.

The design of the Bamboo Sunshine House is sleek and modern with its bamboo flooring, contemporary furniture and freestanding staircase. I love how the natural look of the bamboo is accentuated with the brightly colored walls and furnishings. And in case you want to educate your kids about sustainable farming it even comes with a Bamboo Greenhouse that includes four hydroponic water trays for growing real herbs. It makes for a fantastic toy to teach your eco-modern kids about a healthy green life-style.

imaginative eco-furniture for kids

Greenplay’s caterpillar activity bench extension peeked my interest at ICFF last week right away with its playful approach to green design. In fact it was hard to ignore the two eyes starring right at me. It’s part of the Group Loop series and designed by Joe Fiacchino for Skyline Design. The eco-friendly children table is a creative introduction to nature for budding treehuggers. It comes in different configurations to match the size of your family or green living space and is available with or without eyes. I love the bright green color of the tabletops. But I love even more that they are made of post-consumer recycled plastic (HDPE) such as detergent bottles that are chipped up and heat-pressed to form sheets of material. The base is constructed from urea formaldehyde-free MDF with FSC-certified birch veneer. It contains no or low VOC finishes. Another favorite of mine was the submarine activity station with its big round windows that are easy to climb through for adventurous eco-kids. It’s great for future explorers or aspiring marine scientists that might help to preserve our oceans one day. The tabletops are made from 100% post-consumer composite wood. All Greenplay items are shipped flat to reduce their carbon footprint and all packaging is 30-40% post consumer recycled.

eco-friendly cars for all ages

As a big fan of great design I’m thrilled that Playsam has an eco-friendly version of the Streamliner Classic Car designed by Ulf Hanses. The design has long been recognized as a Swedish design classic by the Swedish National Museum for its innovative look and sleek surface. The Streamliner Classic Organic is made from German beech wood with a natural finish of non-toxic lacquer. It comes in an award winning packaging made from 100% recycled fiber. The Streamliner Organic Series comes in 4 different styles. It’s a great eco-toy for kids and grown-ups alike. You can take the Streamliner Classic Organic for a virtual spin on your work desk as an energy-efficient mode of transportation. Or you can fantasize about taking a trip to the beach in the convertible while being on a boring conference call. Or maybe you favor the not so environmentally friendly one-seater. After all it’s just a toy. I wish the Streamliner Organic Cars would use sustainably harvested wood to make them even greener. But they are still a great modern hybrid of wooden eco-toy cars. And yes, they look gorgeous with their lime-green wheels and bright red drivers.

animated green toy design

The other day I discovered these adorable wooden toys in a store window and they instantly cheered me up. I couldn’t resist the animated personalities of these gorgeous wooden Anamalz toys. What cheered me up even more is the fact that they are environmentally-friendly.

Anamalz is based in Australia and offers a range of eco-friendly wooden toys made from maple wood that comes from plantation forests. Their manufacturer is FSC approved. The waste wood is used on a farm to grow mushrooms. Each piece is hand painted with waterbased paint and the fabric is azo dye and formaldehyde free. All Anamalz accessories are made from recycled plastic. Where possible the company uses recycled paper for all swing tags and packaging. I absolutely love the Anamalz website with its animated wooden toys that consist of 10 Wild Anamalz, 10 Farm Anamalz, 7 Australian Anamalz and 6 Prehistoric Anamalz. They really come alive. I couldn’t decide between the pig and the lion, but bought the lion in the end. Plus I received a little pouch with animal playing cards. I’ll be back for more especially since one percent of every purchase will be donated to national wildlife organizations.

barking up the right tree

Having grown up with two dachshunds I was instantly attracted to this sustainable dachshund family designed by Imagiplay. The family consists of the bright blue mama dog and four colorful puppies.

This fun puzzle is part of the colorific earth puzzle collection that features pretty much any animal on this planet ranging from iguanas to penguins. What I love most are the fun scenarios like monkeys sitting in a tree or counting the arms of an octopus to learn about numbers. They are all handcrafted and hand painted with child-safe paints and made from plantation-grown rubberwood, an environmentally-friendly hardwood. I like how these toys are not only made from eco-friendly materials but also show how nature and humans interconnect. It’s really smart conceptual design. These are not only fun for children. And best of all they are splinter-free.