Bamboo Holds Water

Every day I see more and more people toting reusable water bottles around and it makes me very happy. Hopefully we are finally making a dent in the quantity of water bottles that were piling up in our landfills. It also makes me happy to find new products coming into this market niche that make reusable bottle use more sustainable, more sanitary and more stylish. So I was grinning ear to ear when I stumbled upon the Bamboo Bottle Co. Their bamboo-encased drinking bottle is beautiful and extremely practical. A 51% recycled glass vessel is dish-washer safe and insulating, so you can use the bottle for hot tea or ice-cold water. Wait, I have to stress the dishwasher part.....because until now I've spent many cumulative hours wedging a bottle brush down into the narrow openings of my steel bottles. The wide-mouthed glass insert thrown into my dishwasher just sounds so much easier. The highly renewable and aesthetically pleasing bamboo part stays out of the dishwasher but is easy to wipe clean when necessary. The limited plastic parts are all BPA-free and recyclable. Drink up!!




The generous 17 ounce Bamboo Bottle Co bottle is available through the company's site directly for $25 plus S&H, but I also found it here for only $20.38 with free S&H.

Monday Color: Army Green

I couldn't make up my mind, so today's Monday Color was selected by my 6 year old son from one of my decks of paint colors. He usually gravitates toward red (his favorite color) or various shades of blue, but to my surprise his little finger skimmed over those color families and landed on Fatique (the Benjamin Moore color shown above).

Perhaps he was reading my mind, as the cooling temperatures in recent days have me excited about donning my lightweight army-issued parka again. And year after year it's one of my most beloved neutrals, along with blue (denim), white and gray. But it's not a color I've used much in my own home or in design projects. So, as usual, I'm using my Monday Color post to explore outside my own experience and find inspiration in a new color. Army Green, as I'm calling it, has many different personalities: sometimes its yellow undertones swing it toward its Olive cousin, but usually its a somber green with a cool gray cast. The rooms and home products below run the full spectrum of this intense hue.























Images above:

1. This velvet tufted headboard in army green (found on decor pad) is softened by sheer white curtains and shiny mirrored side tables.

2. These army green velvet couches are soft and sensual but have the power to ground this whole living room, found on elledecor.com.

3. Nate Burkus' Chicago kitchen is deliciously warm yet masculine.

4. Crisp white trim brings a fresh look to the historical army green exterior of this Victorian home.

5. All the accent colors - from the black, yellow and white table lamps to the bright coral pillows - are unexpected compliments to the army green walls in this living room.

6. Forest Green Print from Ballard Designs.

7. Green Cross Hemp and Kapok Pillow from Enhabiten on Etsy.

8. Atelier Chesterfield Sofa in Bottle Green from Anthropologie.

9. The Moroccan-inspired pattern on Z Gallerie's Mimosa Bedding looks fresh in this army green and white combination.

10. Langford Throw in Olive from Crate & Barrel is a heather mix of army green and brighter olive.

11. A vintage typewriter is even more alluring in army green.

Take me to Ryantown!!

Wow, two art-related posts in a row. That's a first for me here on Baby Green. But my joy is uncontainable! With no mountain top to run to and shout from, this blog will have to do. I opened my daily Remodelista email this morning to learn that one of my all-time favorite artists Rob Ryan has opened a shop in London called Ryantown. Forget the mountain top, I need airfare to the U.K. immediately. And an art buying budget of a few grand. Not too much to ask for, right?



I have been coveting My Home (in Blue) since I first saw it years ago at Rob Ryan exhibit at the Earnest Cut & Sewn store in Manhattan's Meatpacking District:



Apparently Ryan has branched out into housewares including pillows, ceramic tiles and even tape, enough to fill a Columbia Road storefront in London, at least. I especially love this Everything Is Going To Be OK Ceramic Tile:



This book is the only Ryan piece I've been able to afford to date (although I have a good feeling someone is going to step forward with the airfare and art allowance, now that I've put it out there!). I've given it to a few dear friends and I have a copy of my own, as well. Even when I purged 100's of books in my move toward minimalism, this one remained a standout in my small remaining collection:



Ryan's adorable plywood growth chart, available through SCP:



And as if all that wasn't enough to make me say "screw the airfare, I'm going to just start swimming!!" Ryan has collaborated with London-based Mini Modern on this adorable Our Adventure wallpaper, available in 3 color ways:

My New Hero: Chris Jordan

Whether you read them in the paper or overhear a friend rattling off some numbers at a dinner party, most statistics are often too abstract and/or overwhelming to have a real impact. Especially the ones we should pay attention to, such as our excessively wasteful consumption, the number of deaths from prescription medication overdoses, the pervasive use of GMO seeds in the world or the disturbingly high number of elective breast implants performed in our country annually, just to name a few.

But for years, artist Chris Jordan has been brilliantly illustrating the mind-blowing social and environmental issues we turn the other cheek to every day with his large-scale photographic series, Running the Numbers. Having just discovered his work, I feel as though I've been living under a rock (or under a pile of garbage, perhaps), but it's never too late to celebrate the creative geniuses using art to raise social awareness, of which Jordan certainly is a star. I've listed plastic bag consumption statistics on this blog before which may have been read by a few dozen people, at best. But Jordan's "Return of the Dinosaurs" piece depicts the 240,000 plastic bags that are estimated to be consumed around the world EVERY 10 SECONDS in a way that should get the attention of EVERYONE!!

(Please note that you must click on each image on Jordan's website to zoom in to the essential detail of each work.)



An image created in the likeness of a famous Seurat painting called "Cans Seurat" made with 106,000 aluminum cans, the estimated number of cans used in the U.S. EVERY 30 SECONDS:


"Barbie Dolls, 2008" depicts 32,000 barbies, illustrating the number of elective breast augmentations in the U.S. in 2006:


"Prison Uniforms" illustrates 2.3 million folded prison uniforms, equal to the number of individuals incarcerated in our prison systems in 2005:


"Plastic Cups, 2008" depicts one million plastic cups, the number used on airline flights in the US EVERY SIX HOURS. According to his 2008 lecture on TED TV, not a single one of these cups gets recycled. (If you have ten extra minutes today, I highly recommend click on the TED link for the full Chris Jordan experience.):

Monday Color: Aqua

I'm cheating today. I already wrote a post on turquoise several months ago, which is basically the fraternal twin of aqua. But aqua is a little muddier, a little deeper, with an intensity all its own, making it worthy of its own coverage. It's also a color I just used in a nursery project in Manhattan, so it's all over my radar right now.



















Images above:

1. A living room designed by actress Julianne Moore, featuring an aqua sofa, paler blue walls and layers of textural neutrals, from The Lennoxx.

2. Found on Travel for Design, the high gloss finish on these walls is perfectly contrasted to the mellow soft aqua blue (design by Steven Gambrel) .

3. The Upper East Side Manhattan nursery that I just completed for a client's second child, marrying a soothing aqua with bold orange and clean white.

4. A few pops of aqua have a big impact in a home office that I also designed.

5. Blue Lulu rug from Madeline Weinrib.

6. West Elm's new Organic Cotton Ironwork Duvet and Shams

7. Equinox Armchair from Barlow & Tyrie with Aquarmarine Sling.

8. From the colorful Juicy Jute grasscloth collection by Philllip Jeffries, this Tantalizing Teal hue in a natural woven paper is completely unexpected.

9. Labyrinth Dinnerwear from Z Gallerie.

Etsy Love: Art and Philanthropy

Everyone knows I'm a fan of doing good while doing what one loves, so I am especially smitten with Art and Philanthropy's creative, hand-made offerings on Etsy. But Rebecca Peragine, mother and social entrepreneur, takes this a step further by making beautiful pieces that pass on principles of philanthropy to the next generation, earning her place in today's Etsy Love post and in my heart. Her product line of "modern, eco-friendly and culturally diverse wall art, wall cards and posters....are designed to help children learn compassion for our earth and all who inhabit it." Changing the world one notecard or poster at a time......


Fundamentals of kindness for all children: Please and Thank You Print.


Inspire wanderlust from an early age with the World Traveler Room Collection (includes a large 11"x14" world map and four smaller 8"x10" prints).


One of the collection's beautiful blank journals.


100% recycled card stock with eco-friendly dyes, make these adorable Nature-Themed Alphabet Cards even sweeter.

Wild at Heart

Recently, a client asked me to source "modern and sophisticated" zebra print bedding for her young teenaged girl. I was pretty sure that was an oxymoron, but of course I obliged anyway. However in my searches, I came across not only a great set of organic cotton pink zebra pattern sheets for my client, but also a ton of modern, design-friendly spins on animal prints. Take a look at some general animal print accent inspiration and some great products that I found and feel free to go wild!!









Here is the bedding I used in the project referenced above:


PB Teen's Zebra Sheet Set with organic cotton content.


Leopard Fabric Shower Curtain from JC Penny.


Snow Leopard Wrinkle Free Bedding from The Company Store.


Leopard Print Wood and Faux Leather Tray Set from Cheap-Chic Decor.


Maha Fiberglass Animal Print Round 25" High Table Lamp from Lamps Plus.


Indigo Tiger Rug from Clayton Gray Home.


Alcott Flannel Bedding in "Animal Skin" (the middle pattern), also from The Company Store.


Zebra Pillar Candles from Z Gallerie.


Hand Painted Silk Pillow Cover in "Blue Zebra" from Michelle Mathiss on Etsy.


Worlds Away Zebra Print Oval Wastebasket in Orange from Layla Grace.


Brink & Campman's Brown & Beige Zebra Print Rug from Domestic Modern.


Silver leaf and Zebra Print Baby Grand Piano, a special commission by Jimmie Martin.


I know these aren't for one's home - unless you have a really big living room - but I just had to include them. Moxy Ivy Roller Skates from Urban Outfitters.