When it comes to buying furniture and living “G” the options are pretty bleak. I think I have seen the same recycled crate seats again and again on website after website. Look, yes recycling is cool, but really I don’t want to furnish my house with recycled milk crates. It’s just not “G”. Are you feeling me. Well, lucky for the G Living staff, there was this company just down the street called Viesso, founded by two brothers, which makes lushes modern cleanly designed furnisher from all “G” materials. Viesso was the company which made all of the couches you see on the Real G shows and our outdoor benches. Our couches are made from sustainable harvested wood, natural latex and recycled synthetic micro suede. They feel amazing.
But todays post isn’t about our couches, its about Viesso’s new line of Pool / Patio furniture (on sale). We now have a need for some modern outdoor furniture, since we just moved out to Palm Desert and we have these very large decks wrapping around our new saltwater pool. Okay, not our saltwater pool, my saltwater pool. And when you look at the decks, they are just screaming for some cool furniture. Right now I just have these semi-tacky very cheap target type patio tables. Normally I would have to look at a store like Design within Reach, which sells the right style of furniture, but I don’t think there is anything green about the materials from which they are made. But with Viesso, and this is why I love these guys, they not only nail the modern design, they made sure by default everything is made “G”. Look at this stuff. Just so clean.
Are you a creative soul living within the walls of a wacky crazy world of your own creation? Or are you just another beige dwelling number crunching McSomething sucking drone monster? Okay there are other options, you may just be the most awesome flesh monkie on the planet, living in a master piece of design and style. That last one wasn’t you? Hmmm, I am running out of descriptions. Let me get to my point. Do you ever wonder how that first group actually lives. The creative wacky world type. Well, wonder no more. Welcome to the world of The Selby.
Todd Selby is a portrait, interiors, and fashion photographer and illustrator. His project The Selby offers an insider’s view of creative individuals in their personal spaces with an artist’s eye for detail. The Selby began in June 2008 as a website, theselby.com, where Todd posted photo shoots he did of his friends in their homes. Requests quickly began coming in daily from viewers all over the world who wanted their homes to be featured on the site. The Selby’s website became so popular—with up to 35,000 unique visitors daily—that within months, top companies from around the world began asking to collaborate.
Attention “G” Moms / Dads, Juli Novotny, one of our very own GreenChefs, is busy building her own “G” space on the internet called Puremamas. Her site is completely focuses on “G” children and families. Part her blog is focused on decor, where she features new families and their eco modern interior designs! You know, she basically is doing a mini dwell thing. Seeking out cool design ideas people put together as their families grow. Is your babies room vogue / dwell worthy? Great, Juli would love to see all your hard work.
If you would like your nursery, children’s room or play room to be a part of it, she’d LOVE to feature you. So much so, in fact that she will also send you free Kookie Karma (which are soooo good by the way) products if she uses your images and story on her blog. Continue Reading / See Additional Photos
I’m a veritable addict for collapsible, multi-functional furniture. Panels that slide to reveal unexpected compartments and seemingly unlimited possibilities. So it’s no surprise I fell fell hook, line and sinker with designer Akemi Tanaka ‘s collection of “now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t” tables. The Tagei Table slides playfully into a bench for two with end tables to match. With this kind of versatile style and function any of us can live large in a small space.
“The convertibility factor makes it ideal for small spaces,” says Brooklyn-based Tanaka. “A lot of the time, for small spaces, you have to bring in kitchen chairs or stools when you have people visiting, and it doesn’t really fit the environment of people getting together and hanging out in the living room. But this encourages relaxation and communication.” If storage is more important to you than seating, remove the seat cushion and you’ve got a hideaway for your remote controls, magazines and other coffee table clutter. Continue Reading / See Additional Photos
This is pretty cool basic idea for anyone in need of hot water without all the expense. The product caught my eye because there are so many situations you might need something light enough to use as a temporary solution but the camping hot water bags wont cut it. I am thinking about when we buy our land outside of Portland, something like this would be cool during construction.
Think about how we use hot water everyday to take showers, to do laundry and even to cook our food. Now add up all the cost to make that happen. Over a period of 10 years, you are paying thousands of dollars in energy cost and the up front cost for the system in your house. Now what if you could replace it all for under $150 and carry it in your backpack. Well, that is exactly what this product from SolarStore can do.
Constructed of a heavy duty polymer, the patent pending Solarstore is both robust and flexible, and can be used in a variety of different settings. When deflated, it is small enough to pack into a rucksack, yet can inflate to nearly 2 square meters for maximum solar energy absorption. Used primarily for domestic outdoor applications, solarstore can provide up to 3 full tanks per day attemperatures nearing 80 degrees celcius. This is the equivalent of enough water to wash a car 18 times over, at a temperature hotter than most domestic hot water systems.
To answer the obvious question, The Good Home in Maui is good because it is the greenest home in Hawaii. It’s successful in meeting three of the most demanding green building standards: the Hawaiian BuiltGreen rating (three star), the National Association of Home Builders (gold) and it’s the only home built in Hawaii under the LEED for Homes Pilot Program, where they’re expecting a gold rating. Those are some Good ratings.
The Good Home is designed to be environmentally friendly in every way. Even during construction, they only used a portion of the site for construction activities and took care to separate and recycle materials. Drought tolerant plants are used for landscaping to reduce water use. Trees and shrubs are used as natural air conditioners to cool the air around the house.
I don’t care how green you are, if you’re going to live in Wailuku, you have to have a view of the water. Unfortunately, with the east and south facing windows, there is come significant solar heat gain. In The Good Home, you don’t have to sacrifice; the designers at Zilber, Ltd. just threw on some hanging lanais and deep overhangs, and the problem was significantly minimized.
When I think of big city life, I think of tall buildings, lots of noise and a ton of traffic. I certainly don’t think of green gardens or fields of flowers. As the song says, Green Acres is the place to be. When living the big city life, there isn’t much greenery to enjoy. Those who put up with an often cold, hard existence lose the peaceful feelings of calmer pastures. We also lose touch with animal and plant life — things that are important to have in our lives.
But thanks to Hungarian-born street artist Edina Tokodi, big city green is making an appearance. In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Todoki has created a way for city-dwellers to enjoy both city life and the green normally found outside the urban atmosphere. Tokodi uses moss to create animal silhouettes and camouflage designs which can be touched as they touch the lives of those who look at and feel them — a subtle reminder for city dwellers of the importance of our environment.
If you love design in your life, you just might fall in love with this simple high tech water kettle.
Vessel the company who makes this kettle, which they are calling ONE, made a design and function choice to skip the standard steam whistle on most stove top kettles and go with a visual indicator. This is the interesting part. The visual indicator is just freaking hot. Images appear to bleed into the white surface as it heats up. Images like Space Invader Ships, Hello Kitty, and others.
But they didn’t stop there, the kettle also cuts out the middle man. You can go directly from the stove to the table and to the cup. Detail photos after the jump.
What’s black and white and carried all over town? Not a nun in a parade…Considering how trendy it is, I’m surprised more retailers aren’t offering reusable shopping bags for customers. I’m not talking about the high-end grocers that charge you $15 to buy a “sustainable” bag that lets you walk around town advertising for them. I’m talking about the every day sort of store that cares about the amount of plastic they spread around the planet.
Well, here’s a BYOB idea every store can fly with: Handmade Expressions (whose motto is “Fair trade = justice + peace + love”) has cool grocery bags that measure 12”x16” and are made of several layers of used newspaper and sturdy cardboard. They’re inexpensive and customizable. Best of all, they save new paper from being produced by using paper that would otherwise go into a trash bin.
And they’re totally affordable. At 60 cents a bag, now even Mom & Pops can get you to walk around town advertising for them.
Architect Michelle Kaufmann today is making custom table placemats using reeds or twigs. This is a pretty simple DIY project using some string and yard clippings. This is part of Michelle’s Green It Yourself Projects. Continue Reading / See Additional Photos
G / Video Okay I have been in search of a spicy raw cashew cheese recipe all day and just came across this video on making a cashew cheese by DeliciousRevolution, First time seeing her.
G / Style Beat the Heat With DIY Ice-Cube Bling You Can Make in 5 Minutes
G / Food how to roast an avocado and what to do with it when you do [5 ingredients]
G / Food Cashew Ricotta Cheese (No Tofu Needed, No Milk Needed) It’s light. It’s fluffy. It’s creamy. It’s ricotta cheese.
G / Style Sustainable fashion at its best. One garment, 20 ways to wear. Check out ecovogue 365′s Butterfli.
G / Food Botanical Recipe: Dill, Grated Cabbage, Red Radish & Sweet Pea Salad
G / Design It’s amazing how easy it is to now go completely leather free, with amazing leather like fabrics by Joseph Noble. They make a range of fabrics with feel better than leather and last longer
G / Food The Ultimate Sausage and Pepper Pizza – RAW It’s Rawfully Tempting!
G / Food Chocolate Fruit and Almond Bark – D E C A D E N T and H E A L T H Y! Sooo Rawfully Tempting!
G / Food The edible cups are made entirely out of agar agar (a gelatin substitute).
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