So if we can’t explore a few crazy ideas in this blog, where can we? And with that liberating and mouth watering thought in mind, I thought I’d share with you a few designers who are cooking up a storm with their edible furniture and accessories. It’s clear, if you watch TV on ANY given evening, just how important cooking …
Never Felt Better: The Many Uses Of Pressed Wool for eco homes
Felt is one of those under-used but “designers’ favourite” materials. And as one of the earliest fabrics created, it has been for a very long time. Natural felt is made using wool in a wet or dry process and utilises the wool fibre scales and kinks to bond or matt the fabric together. For me, it’s the density of …
A Million Little Pieces: The Magic of Mosaics
Patchworks are a key way to use materials in the world of eco design. And I just love them. Simply put, they offer the opportunity for small, otherwise unusable parts of material to have a new and useful life. Whilst big slabs of materials might look bold and impressive, they are also inefficient as they can be very wasteful. Mosaics …
10 Green Bottles…And Just What Eco Designers Did With Them Next
We take so many of the materials we use and dispose of everyday for granted. But if we were just to stop for a moment and take a closer look, we might see incredible potential in the products we often call rubbish. What I love about the trend for upcycling wine bottles is that you can just picture the setting …
Log in and Branch Out: Natural Wooden Furniture In The Home
Bringing nature into the home can mean so much more than just treading mud into the hallway carpet. What we’re seeing at the moment is a new generation of designers finding ways to create furnishings from unprocessed materials. This allows the softness and elegance of natural forms to add a unique organic richness to your home. Perhaps this is part …
Pattern Application: Repetition For Rejuvenation
It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to notice that pattern is creeping into all areas of our homes. What I’ve recently been noticing is that it’s now being applied to some really unusual materials and even as a means to upcycle furniture that otherwise might be taking up space at a landfill site. Adding texture and relief gives products …
Get On (And Off) Your Bike: The Best In Indoor Bike Rack Design
I’m a regular and passionate cyclist and, like Boris Johnson, I think more of us should be getting on our bikes every day. Not just in an effort to cut down on smog and CO2 emissions (although this is obviously great news) but because bikes are incredible pieces of engineering and deserve to be properly worshipped. It turns out I’m …
Too Good For Bottles: An Eco Material That’s Finding New Ways Into The Home
Cork is one of those materials that designers love (a bit like cardboard) but others still have a bit of a hang up about. Reminiscent of chilly 1960s bathroom floors, it’s now having a renaissance in the home, with a selection of truly sustainable, beautiful and highly functional products. It’s warm-to-the-touch, has a little bounce and is really, really floaty. …
And so to bed … healthy bedrooms, eco homes
Im often asked how eco design can create healthy homes as a means to reduce asthma and allergies. More often than not the answer lies in the bedroom; its materials and potential toxins. As we spend a round one third of our lives in our bedrooms focussing on the reduction of toxins, good ventilation and reducing the build up of …
Knitted furniture for happier Eco interiors!
Amazing to think that there are around 32 million sheep in the UK – that’s half a sheep per person (perhaps a bit messy) or 2 sheep per family of 4, much neater except perhaps in the bathroom. So where I hear you ask is all that fabulous wool going, especially as wool sales have been in such decline? Well …