Designers Address The World's Plastic Crisis

There's a heat wave in London, and by human making. I prepare to head out on the prowl to see what's on offer for decorative sustainable design resources in the city. Something that has been heavy on my mind: What is the relevance of creating or buying any object, in the year of 2018, that doesn't consider sustainability? 

As the earth and climate continue to show alarming signs of distress, there is no better time than now to make the extra effort for the best possible, locally-available, sustainably-designed furnishings and materials for your lifestyle. Considering the global plastic crisis due to China refusing to accept the world's plastic, the lack of waste and recyclables management, the failure of Fortune 500 corporations to take responsibility for the plastic that they have created and peddled, and the critical mass of people continuing to buy packaged goods, what will the world decide to do now with 91% of global plastic piling up on land and being dumped by the tons into rivers and oceans?

Thankfully, good design shepherds and shop curators are raising awareness on the plastic crisis, and some are making small waves by doing what by-and-large isn't being done anywhere else—actually, recycling it.

Using an apartment near St. Paul's Cathedral as my base, I finish my porridge and jam and take the Tube to Portobello Road in Notting Hill. Among the floral-facaded homes and antique shops you will find Katrina Phillips, a beautiful selection of Vietnamese bowls, healing crystals, baskets and art. In this selection is a dining table that appears to be made out of earthly natural stone, but it's actually made from reclaimed plastic synthetics, refrigerator interiors and lawn furniture. The Melting Pot dining table, by Dutch designer Dirk Vander Kooij, is made through his house-developed extrusion process that's molten disposable plastic pieced together by a robotic arm. Color options also include a painterly monochrome and vibrant multicolor palette. No two pieces are the same. 

The Melting Pot table at Katrina Phillips 

Heading over off the South Kensington stop, near the Victoria and Albert Museum, I pass by an impeccably dressed man walking in the opposite direction, his arms linked with a young lady, as he says "...or we could move to the U.S.," and laughs out loud. 

mint

The sun is full on as I move slowly down pristine blocks of period row houses and take in the renovating sounds of a chop saw. I observe a painter carefully protecting a window box of pink flowers with translucent plastic sheeting. Rounding a gated park, there nests a very well-edited shop called Mint.

Debris Lounge Chair, available at Mint

Mint is a great source for sustainable design interiors in London. One of the most impressive pieces is the Debris Lounge Chair, by Carmen V Machado, which is composed of an oak base and hand-woven textile made with reclaimed ghost netting and plastic monofilament. The artist has collected pieces of rope and fishing line from beaches in the UK and Puerto Rico. She isolates them by color within the textile in order to spread awareness about over-fishing and what we are doing to our oceans.

Carmen V Machado, Debris Lounge Chair detail

Other standout originals are intricately woven and crocheted textiles created with recycled plastic by traditional crafts artists in Mexico. The few magnificent pieces that Mint has left of the artist work can be used as table runners or hanging art. They could be styled gracefully on a piece of furniture. 

Textile made of woven recycled plastic, Mint

Pink Cushion with Octo by Anna Surie

Hopping off the Underground's Angel Station stop in Islington is lifestyle shop In-Residence. There hangs a mystic wallpaper called "Enchanted Garden" by Anna Surie for NLXL. The illustrative subject matter reminds me a bit of outsider artist Henry Darger. The shop owner leads me to her recent work. 

Anna Surie's own brand has a new line of cushions, wallpaper and curtains that brings light to the darkness of the plastic epidemic and its impact on our environment. Her illustrations printed on wallpaper and organic bio-cotton manage to raise serious questions about our relationship with plastic despite a beguiling, whimsical style and feel. 

The Anna Surie wallpaper depicting flower sprigs mixed with waste is called "The Eye of the Beholder."

Anna Surie "The Eye of the Beholder" wallpaper and cushion designs

Why Homeowners Want Induction Cooktops

When carefully considering design options for the kitchen, more and more homeowners are stepping away from the idea of gas flames and turning on their induction cooktops. The energy efficiency and easy-to-clean capabilities are certainly the strength of the appeal, yet there are even more reasons to go the induction route. Check out a quote on my perspective for Karen Elder's piece for SCHOTT glass on why designers love induction cooktops for their clients— link here.

For that bright and airy feel, SCHOTT Ceran also makes white, glass, ceramic induction cooktops that incorporate well into lighter countertop looks. 

Nothing can take humans away from the primal appeal of cooking over an open flame completely. To get your fix, there are always outdoor fire pits. 

Five Ways to Reverse Global Warming—at Home

Inspired by the Paul Hawken bestseller Drawdown

With global warming and greenhouse gases climbing to levels never before experienced by humankind, the good news is there’s still hope yet. 

Recently, I heard Paul Hawken speak at ABC Carpet & Home about the collective nonprofit coalition that created the book Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed To Reverse Global Warming. The book has some surprising—and encouraging—insights on what those solutions are.

Paul Hawken, editor of "DRAWDOWN," speaking at ABC Carpet & Home

Beyond recycling and composting, here are five things that you can do in your home to help reverse global warming:

#1

You Don’t Really Need All Those Groceries

How often do the spinach and arugula go bad in your fridge?  You had great intentions at the grocery store, but didn’t get around to making all those salads. You’re not alone when it comes to wasting food. If food were a country, it would be the world’s third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the U.S., according to Drawdown.

One solution is to buy fresh perishables in smaller quantities for planned meals. Additionally, food is often perfectly fine to eat after expiration dates and best-used-by dates, and some wilting produce can still be used in the juicer.

Cilantro saying, "Hurry up!" in my fridge. 

If you can't shop for less more often, a great product to prolong your food's life is FreshPaper. Add these sheets made with organic spices to your fruits and veggies in the fruit bowl, existing packaging or fridge drawer and save them 2-4x longer. 

FreshPaper sheets

#2

Challenge Yourself—In The Shower

Many Americans don’t realize how abnormally long we stay in the shower compared with the rest of the world. I remember getting a firm lesson from my high school German teacher, Herr Cody, on how to shower before my first trip to Europe:

Turn shower on; wet yourself.
Turn shower off; soap yourself.
Turn shower back on; rinse yourself. 

Create a fun challenge for yourself and your family by limiting showers to five minutes. This can reduce water use by 7-8 percent a year.

And if you want the best showerhead developed with aerospace engineering—it’s almost here. The Nebia showerhead atomizes droplets, producing more droplets dispersed over five times the area of a regular showerhead. It is thirteen times more thermally efficient, so you feel the heat on that body more. It reduces water use by 70 percent compared with conventional showerheads—even 60 percent more than the WaterSense showerheads available.

Nebia showerhead has 70 percent water savings, saving thousands of gallons a year

#3

Upgrade Your Toilet—Yes, Your Toilet

It’s not a glamorous upgrade to make but we do really need to go there. Low-flush toilets are the best way to cut water use in your home, by up to 19 percent. “The U.S. EPA estimates that if one American home out of every one hundred switched an older toilet out for a new, efficient one," Drawdown says, "the country would save more than 38 million kilo-watt hours of electricity—sufficient to power 43,000 households.” 

Here’s the list of comps on the EPA-approved WaterSense toilets. Keep in mind that 0.8 GPF (gallons per flush) is the lowest water use of any toilet on the market. According to Best Toilet Guide 1.28 GPF is a sweet spot for performance and water saving combined. A smart one I’ve found that uses the least amount of water in any single flush is Niagara Stealth, which at 0.8 GPF uses patented Stealth technology that makes for a quiet flush—meaning that you get the added bonus that no one can visualize your bathroom business.

Niagara Stealth with 0.8 GPF

#4

Find A Water-Efficient Washing Machine For You And Your Dirties

Let’s call this clean living for your clothes, your thoughts AND your environment.  Choosing a water-efficient washing machine in your home can save up to 17 percent in water usage, and by washing only full loads of clothing it can save up to 7-8 percent of your water use over a year. Washing with cold water helps save energy even further.

When comparing the ENERGY STAR most efficient large capacity front-loading machines, the Kenmore #4116 has one of the lowest annual energy and water use for its size category. You can get more comparisons for your ”dirties” here on the ENERGY STAR site.

Kenmore #4116 washing machine

#5

Don’t Screw Yourself On Lightbulbs

There’s no excuse anymore, since LEDs have made big advances in achieving warmer incandescent-like color temperatures. LEDs use 90 percent less energy, and that means saving money as well.

There are great energy-efficient bulbs available including options by Cree. A big favorite is the Cree 9.5 Watt Warm White bulb that you can dim as needed. You can start phasing in LED lighting in a room you spend the most time in. Layer lighting, so you use light only where you are when you really need it. Some smart home technology can sense this as well, but if you can't go all high-tech, you can simply create smart LED mood and task lighting where you can. No one needs to see everything and everyone overly lit all the time. We're overexposed most hours of the day as it is.

Cree 9.5-Watt Warm White LED Bulb

There’s a lot more advice where those five came from. The Drawdown book lays out 100 substantive solutions gathered by leading peer-reviewed scientists and policymakers around the world: solutions that have the ability to reverse atmospheric carbon buildup in 30 years. There are hands-on practices that are available now. There are technologies that exist now. Project Drawdown encourages us all to make use of these solutions and to seek others for our "reimagination of the world."

We have the opportunity to draw down the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by starting in our own homes. The motivation is simple: becoming a part of the solution to save humanity and our one, true home.

Jökulsárlón, "glacier river lagoon" and "glacier lake" in Iceland. The lake is increasingly growing and doubled in size in a 15-year period due to the melting Vatnajökull glacier. We can also help save it from completely disappearing. 

#Girlboss Small Business Thoughts for BRIT + CO

Honored to contribute to Krista Gray's story for BRIT + CO, among other fascinating small biz owners, on what I love about being a #Girlboss. Check out the full piece on what these women love about their jobs— here

“What I love most about owning a small business is that each project is as distinct as the individual/s that I work with, be it for a single client, a family or partners in a business,” Brynne Rinderknecht, the designer and force behind From the Inside shares. “I enjoy being a conduit in revealing their story and ideas and connecting that life to their surroundings of their home or business."

When it comes to her work, she finds motivation in the meaning behind how she spends each day. She spills, “I want the things around people to mean something to them. If I’m helping a client select a piece of art, I want them to feel it for themselves before buying it into their home. If I’m guiding a client in selecting a chair, I want it to be something that makes sense for their lifestyle and educate them on fantastic vintage pieces that can be reupholstered or more eco-friendly choices available. Most of what I actually do is help people tap into their own creativity that sometimes they never know they had. I believe that we are all creative beings when we give ourselves the opportunity and explore the space of the present moment — to listen to our inner voices.” —Krista Gray

Interior Project for Willow

6 Shades for Tonight's Black Moon

Get ready for some mysterious creative energy tonight during the black moon! The black moon, which is given its name when the second new moon occurs in a single calendar month. However, like most occurrences within space that we attempt to define, there is some debate and additional meanings for the term "black moon." A new moon occurs typically every 29.5 days and then disappears from the sky as it passes between the earth and sun. The illuminated side is faced away from us during the new moon. 

As the sky becomes dark tonight, there is more focus for reflection—from the inside—to allow your creativity to flow. Whatever your outlet may be, it's time to brainstorm your next project or start experimenting and making your individual magic. 

Here are some of my go-to paint and pigment colors that create a backdrop or accent for inner reflection. 

The next black moon that disappears from our view twice in one month will occur on July 31st, 2019.

Universal Black by Benjamin Moore, Pitch Black by Farrow & Ball, Fade to Black by Portola Paints, Black Magic by Sherwin Williams, Black Iron Oxide by Earth Pigments, Off Broadway by Behr. 

Fade To Black by Portola Paints, interior design by From the Inside

Wall shade in Fade To Black by Portola Paints and drapery wall in Korinthos in color Slate from The Shade Store

"Convey who you are or what your business or brand is about, and reflect that concept—that life—in your living or work space."

Thoughts On Appreciation for The Producer.com

Here are some of my thoughts that I shared recently with TheProducer.com for a piece on appreciation and working in the styling and interior design world. 

Labradorite