Path Design will be one of the exhibitors at Vanguard University for their 2nd Annual Environmental Sustainability Conference this Friday starting at 9 AM.
Please stop by and say hi! We’d love to see you there!
This is a post from theinteriorevolution.com, but I wanted to make sure everyone locally heard about New Leaf America too.
Everybody knows that a more energy and water efficient home is a good thing, but how many of us really have the time to figure out how to make it all happen? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just pick up the phone and call someone, have them come out and evaluate your home, give you a customized list of recommendations, and then sell and install all of the items you need to accomplish your goals?
Well, if you are in the U.S., now you can*. For $99, New Leaf America will come to your home and do an efficiency audit. When they are done, they will give you a customized report, as well as a DVD full of helpful home efficiency tips. They also give you a customized list of recommended products, including things such a bulbs, smart power strips and low-flow faucet adapters. Best of all? They provide free** installation for anything you purchase through them.
They also have a free online lighting energy calculator that helps you determine how much you will save from switching from incandescent to high efficiency bulbs. Even if you’re not looking to switch your bulbs out yet, it’s fun to play with just to see what a difference a little wattage can do!
If you are in a country outside of the United States, and know of a similar service, please let us know in the comments section. We are always interested in finding out what is available world wide.
*Currently New Leaf America has service available in California, Arizona and Utah, but they will continue to train new auditors and expand into additional states soon. Contact them for more information.
** Sorry! That was my error. There is a charge for installation, although it is quite reasonable. Pricing varies by project.
Happy first week of the New Year!
TIR just keeps rockin along! After only 3 short months, we made it to the final voting for Apartment Therapy’s Homies Award in the Green Home Category! And I have to say, although we didn’t win this year, we had a great time! Congratulations to maya*made, and all the other great winners!
This week, we’ve been running a series “Let’s Get Organized” where we’ve looked at all sorts of sustainable solutions to desks, storage, and even iPhone apps! Tomorrow we wrap up the series with “The Paperless Office”. Come check it out!
And while you’re there, please take a minute to fill out our quick survey. We are trying to determine what people are most interested in reading about. There is even a space for your own suggestions, so come and make theinterioRevolution.com the blog you’ve been looking for!
Please check out my review of “Downtown Chic” on theinteriorevolution.com
And while you’re there, look on the latest Friday Wrap-up to see some truly tiny living spaces!
I though I would share one of the recent articles for our sustainable interior design blog theinterioRevolution.com If you haven’t checked it out yet, you are missing all sorts of great posts on everything from the latest green fabric lines to how they make Vetrazzo countertops. We even have a bookstore!
Enjoy!
In the world of interior design there is really nothing so revered as the chair. Whenever there is a design retrospective, a clever contest, or a new furniture line released, you can bet a chair is front and center. The requirements for being a chair are pretty basic. All you need are a horizontal surface to rest your bum, and a vertical surface to lean back against. Voila! You have chair.
It should be no surprise then that sustainable design has given birth to a host of chairs of all shapes, sizes and materials. Although most are fairly mainstream in style, some take an entirely different approach, creating unique and fun seating out of unexpected materials.
via Hugh Hayden Design
Tennis anyone? Created by Hugh Hayden Design from re-purposed, used indoor court tennis balls, this chair is just plain fun.
I will be teaching Green Interior Design at CSULB, starting Tuesday, October 20th!
Go green without compromising style…
The demand to use products and practices that are both eco-friendly and promote better health in our homes and the workplace is becoming increasingly important.
This course presents an in-depth introduction to “green” interior design practices and will equip you with knowledge to “Go Green” without compromising style.
Combine your passion for interior design with a working knowledge of sustainable principles and collaborate with architects, interior designers and contractors to produce projects that meet the highest level of green building standards
Topics Include:
* Understanding the core differences between a standard interior design project and a green project
* Acquiring the ability to research and identify appropriate material solutions for project requirements
* Understanding IAQ issues, and how to solve them using green materials and products
* Differentiating between the key product and building certification systems, and how they apply to project goals and needs
Originally started as a way to keep clients and potential clients up to date on what Path Design was up to, our blog has grown in scope and content. So much so that it seemed that much of what we should be writing about – events, projects, speaking engagements – had taken a back seat to product reviews and my own, ever so humble, opinions about sustainability and design in general.
At the same time, we were noticing that many people visiting this blog were searching for information on green and sustainable interior design. While there are some well known blogs devoted to all things “green”, including architecture and design in general, there were few devoted exclusively to green interior design.
So without further adieu, may we introduce you to our latest venture www.theinterioRevolution.com !
The interioRevolution is a design blog devoted exclusively to sustainable interior design. Through daily product reviews, guest blogs by experts in their fields, special features and spirited discussion, the interioRevolution will provide new knowledge and expand the dialogue on sustainable interior design.
While we will still be posting to the Path Design blog, it will be returning to it’s original purpose of providing information on our business to the local community. For our national and international readership, and those in the interior design profession, please consider following theinterioRevolution.
We came, we saw, we walked away exhausted…
So exhausted in fact, that it has taken me over a week to get up the energy to post some images! But all the time and effort expended were worth it, and the Teen Choice 2009, Bop-it Celebrity Retreat was a great success.
We went with an artist’s loft theme this year, complete with paint splattered drop clothes and quirky accessories. We stuck to a black, white and red color palette, to provide a good back drop for the retreat’s main sponsor, Bop-it. If you haven’t ever played with a Bop-it, I can tell you that the celebrities were really getting into it. I was too busy chatting with people to try it myself, but those who did said it was addictive fun.
We had the support of some terrific companies this year, as we pulled everything together. The elegant, yet super comfy sofa from Eco-Luxury by D’Bodinus that you see in the image above was much larger (and heavier!) than it looks! The seat cushion was so full of cushy goodness that it weighed almost as much as the frame!
Idea Paint provided some great interactive boards, which many folks took a turn at signing or drawing on.
Between Miss J reminding us all to stand up straight, and George Lopez’s crazy face drawing, the boards were a hit. Jordan Sparks actually wrote “Whoa!”, which was her reaction after I told her that Idea Paint can be applied to any smooth surface, such as walls, doors, chairs, refrigerators, etc.
This “cabinet of curiosities”, was generously provided by Cleveland Art, one of my favorite sources for one of a kind, repurposed furniture. The amazing (and amazingly heavy) coffee table, as well as some other terrific pieces just out of camera range, were all created from items found in old factories and recreated into functional furniture. The birds were provided by the wonderful people at Stray Dog Designs, who make terrific lamps and accessories out of recycled tin and paper mache, amongst other methods.
Here’s a close up of one of Stray Dog Designs adorable, funky paper mache birds, next to the beautiful tulip and rose centerpiece from The Spiraled Stem, who specialize in eco-friendly floral arrangements and events.
Here’s another shot of the lounge, where you can see the bright red birdcage chandelier, also from Stray Dog Designs. Everyone loved it!
The beautiful black and white print organic cotton fabric was generously provided by Harmony Art, long my favorite source for fun and creative prints. I’ll write a little more about the story behind the pillow this week, but it too is a design by Harmony Art.
All in all, things went great. Celebrities and press enjoyed the space and many nice things were said. Although I’m a little past my swooning teenage years, I had fun meeting all the up and coming young talent, such as Ashley Greene, Abigail Breslin, and Keke Palmer, who all stood out for their genuine charm and sweet natures. And while some, such as Britney Spears, looked pretty much as you expected in person, others, like Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas, were even more handsome up close.
Many thanks again to all the wonderful companies who participated in the lounge – Idea Paint, Eco-Luxury by D’Bodinus, Cleveland Art, Stray Dog Designs, and Harmony Art! Many thanks too to Linsi Brownson for her terrific illustrations, helping me wrestle things up and down ladders and in and out of delivery trucks, and mostly for being a terrific assistant under pressure! And of course, a big thank you to Karen Wood of Backstage Creations, the retreat’s production company – You make this more fun than work!
Now back to my regularly scheduled programming…
There is a tendency to think of floral prints as being pretty girly. Most guys wouldn’t be caught dead with some twee little pink and yellow daisy print pillow in their bedroom, unless they could blame it on their girlfriend or wife. But I bet they wouldn’t feel quite so threatened by this great black and white wildflower print on organic cotton from Harmony Art.
It’s just one of two prints from Harmony Art that I will be using at the Teen Choice Awards lounge, but the other one is a secret custom print that Harmony designed just for us. Stay tuned to see it revealed at the event!
Idea Paint
I had the pleasure of speaking on the phone yesterday with Jeff Avallon, co-founder of Idea Paint. One of the best aspects of my job is getting to know all the great, creative people who come up with such amazing products. Jeff is no exception, and I think we could have gone on for hours brainstorming great new ways of using Idea Paint.
If you haven’t seen this terrific product, it’s an eco-friendly paint you can apply to any smooth surface to turn it into a dry erase board. If you ever get tired of it, you can just paint over it with regular paint, and you’re back to “normal”. I’m excited because it will be a feature of my Teen Choice Awards lounge area. I’ll post images of the installation once it’s done in a couple of weeks, but for now, check out this video Idea Paint took during the Dwell on Design show recently.
