Deck the Walls

Two of my current clients are looking to create memorabilia and photo-filled collage walls, so I've been scouring the internet for inspiration while they lovingly collect family portraits, theatre tickets and their children's first scribbles. It seems that are no rules for the perfect grouping, other than DO NOT RUSH. The collection is the most important, which must be gathered and edited with great care. Then the chosen pieces and one's decor will dictate framing style, quantity and layout. It's a totally organic process with infinitely possible results. Here are a few of my favorite inspiration walls:


A wall in designer Scott Newkirk's home, found on Remodelista.


In this image, found on Traditional Home, designer Tobi Fairly proves that framed objects need not be 2-dimensional (like this collection of found seashells) and that the frames can steal the show.


Unified frames hung in a neat grid allow endless possibilities for color and photographic content.


Classic black and white photos in black frames on a white wall is always a fool-proof choice for a cohesive look.


But black frames also have the power to unify the most eclectic groupings on lively striped walls as well.


From Creative Index, ledges like those in this image are an ingenious solution for anyone who wants to continually rotate memorabilia and photographs.


Check out the helpful how-to on Boston's Apartment Therapy behind this AT reader's collage wall.

Etsy Love: Evolving Habitat

Happy Saturday everyone! I'm excited to feature a local Long Beach, NY artisan on today's Etsy Love post. Meri Vallo's company Evolving Habitat combines her passion for designing unique home goods and following sustainable practices to leave her creative mark in this world, which is exactly what I comb Etsy each week to find. It's an added bonus to find someone who lives right down the street to shine the spotlight on.

Evolving Habitat offers several unique treasures that breathe new life into reclaimed, salvaged and found materials. While Meri's creations continue to evolve, her core offerings include light boxes and pieces made from naturally shed antlers, with new lines in clothing and other home accessories continually added to the mix. Every Evolving Habitat piece harnesses the raw beauty of nature and the creative possibilities of re-use.


The softly illuminating "Birds of Snow" Light Box makes the perfect night light, designed to bring an imaginitive thought and a beautifull scene into your mind before you go to sleep at night.


Using naturally-shed white tail deer antlers from a Texas ranch mounted onto salvaged woods, Evolving Habitat offers these one-of-a-kind freestanding and wall-mounted decorative pieces that are beautiful on their own or can fulfill a limitless number of useful functions.


Clearly inspired by Meri's intimate love of nature and her life at the beach, she creates unique Cactus and Succulent Terrariums on a custom order basis.


An example of the new clothing line from Evolving Habitat featuring pieces hand-made by creative team member Jenna Derosa in natural, organic and salvaged fabrics, this Warrior Hood is a versatile poncho in 100% linen with fine burnt out lines running through it.



An Evolving Habitat logo tote bag and a shot of their regular weekend booth at Williamsburg's Artists and Fleas where this and all Evolving Habitat's offerings can be found in person.

Top 12 Personal Care Product Ingredients to Avoid

Did you know that 1/3 of the personal care products on the market contain at least one ingredient linked to cancer? Or that only 20% of the chemicals in personal care products have been tested for safety? I'll just say it: I think this is scary and WRONG. I personally chose to stop being part of this mass toxicological experiment when I stopped using all conventional products. This may not be the answer for you, but at least you can educate yourself with the increasing amount of information out there and make more informed choices.

Natural Home & Garden just published an incredibly poignant online article written by Kelly Lerner and Alli Kingfisher about the dangerous ingredients lurking in personal care products. The list of the top 12 ingredients to avoid contained in the article appears below, information I feel it is my responsibility to pass along. It's time to start bringing awareness to what we're putting in and on our bodies. Please familiarize yourself with this list and if you have a few more moments, I invite you to read the whole story here.



1) Prefixes Ethyl, Methyl, Butyl or Propyl
What It Is: Parabens
Health Risks: Endocrine disrupters that mimic estrogen; linked to weight gain and breast cancer
Found In: Lotions and shampoos

2) Fragrance, DEHP, DHP, DBP 5, Dibutyl Phthalate
What It Is: Phthalates
Health Risks: Sperm damage, infertility
Found In: Nail polish, shampoo, deodorant, lotion

3) Dyes: Blue 1, Green 3, Yellow 5 & 6, Red 33
What It Is: Coal tar
Health Risks: Carcinogenic
Found In: Hair color, medicated shampoos

4) Triclosan, Chloro, Phenol, Irgasan
What It Is: Triclosan
Health Risks: Endocrine and thyroid disrupter; promotes antibiotic-resistant bacteria; bioaccumulates in the body
Found In: Antibacterial soap, shampoo, facial cleanser, toothpaste, deodorant

5) 3-(4-methylbenzylidene)-camphor (4-MBC), octyl-methoxycinnamate (OMC), octyl-dimethyl-PABA (OD-PABA), bexophenome-3 (Bp-3), homosalate (HMS)
What It Is: Sunscreen chemicals
Health Risks: Estrogenic activity; enhances the potential for pesticides to penetrate the skin
Found In: Sunscreens

6) Polyethylene glycol (PEG, PPG, Cocoate), propylene glycol, polyoxyethylene, polyethoxyethylene, polyethoxyethylene mineral oil
What It Is: Petroleum byproducts
Health Risks: Carcinogen; liver and kidney effects
Found In: Lotions

7) Petrolatum
What It Is: Derivative of petroleum
Health Risks: Endocrine disrupter; carcinogen
Found In: Lotions

8) Lead acetate, thimerosal, mercurius solubilis, mercurius sublimates, mercurius corrosives, mercuric chloride
What It Is: Lead and mercury
Health Risks: Found in higher levels in women with breast cancer; neurotoxin
Found In: Hair color, wound treatments, artificial tears

9) Isobutene
What It Is: Propellant made from petroleum processing
Health Risks: Carcinogen
Found In: Moisturizer, shaving cream, foot spray, breath freshener

10) Placenta
What It Is: Placenta, placental enzymes, placental extract
Health Risks: Filled with hormones that upset your own balance and increase estrogen
Found In: Skin and hair conditioner

11) Hydroquinone
What It Is: Hydroquinone
Health Risks: Can cause a skin disease called ochronosis
Found In: Skin whitener

12) Nano zinc oxide <100mm
What It Is: Nanoparticles
Health Risks: The safety of nanoparticles has not been tested, but they can cross the blood/brain barrier and move along nerves.
Found In: Sunscreens, lotions

If you're as disheartened and overwhelmed as I've gotten in the past looking over this list, please consider contacting me about Shaklee products, in which NONE of these ingredients can be found. They are naturally safe and effective, ensuring you never have to wonder what's lurking in your bathroom vanity again.

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.