Green design- in common practice

I have been thinking a lot about green design today and how most people already practice the tenets of green living, even if we do not live it to the letter. And, probably do not see themselves as "environmentally-friendly" people. We call it other things like saving money, saving time, being crafty, shopping or helping local artists. Like many things, it all depends on the way you frame it.

More info about this image here.

If you choose to rearrange your furniture instead of throwing everything out and buying all new furniture, you are working in the tenets of green design. Same goes for painting furniture instead of tossing it!

My antique space at Hanna Antiques in Birmingham

If you are shopping for accessories in an antique mall, or to some extend TJ Maxx or Homegoods. You are buying recycled and saving items from the trash, that are not trash.





If you are choosing a paint that doesn't smell, then you are choosing low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints and helping the environment, as well as the respiratory health of your family.

Beautiful pottery from my friend, Tena Payne, found here.

If you buy ceramics or pottery from a local artist, or art gallery that represents locals, then you are buying regionally which is very green especially since many potters are able to get they clay locally.



Greener than you thought?  It is not just about sorting your trash for the recyclers or buying smelly sofas from the thrift store. Respecting the environment is not an all or nothing proposition, thankfully. It is steps toward a healthier world around you on a continuum.

This is the first post in a series of posts on green design and living. Next up is all about water! Please follow my blog for more info, or search green design in my search box on the right to see most ideas and ways to easily practice greener living.

Pretties at Scott's Antique Market in Atlanta

I'm selling at Scott's this weekend and the show is not only full if beautiful things, it is also full of photo ops. Here are some of the beauties I found.

I'll let you in on a secret...

So, I love secret pin boards on Pinterest. It is where I store all the great ideas that I want to interpret into my own style. I am working on my Halloween shop design, as I type, and I thought I would share a couple of ideas I plan to interpret in my shop in Interiors and Antiques in Vestavia Hills.

The first comes from Sagebrush Ridge and is a pumpkin from a book. I am interpreting into different shaped pumpkins and I think I will be doing silver wood stems and silver pages with silver vintage German glitter.


This item is actually for sale on Etsy from The Dusty Raven, love the shop name. I love the concept of the corner spider web. I'm thinking silver, not barbed wire,  less Tim Burton-ish and probably a wire spider that hangs low from the web.



A few years ago, when I was a corporate librarian, I decorated a library space for Halloween with waves of bats circling the main reading room. The image below reminded me of that space. (It is actually Martha Stewart's bat mobile) I will definitely be doing the walls in wave of bats in the shop. I'm thinking the look will be like the Bat Cave in the Devil's Sinkhole State Natural in Texas where the bats emerge from at dusk most of the year.



What are you storing, secretly, on Pinterest?

Fave of the weekend picking... Hollywood Regency lamp- understated

Though I love the new desk that I just added to the shop... which I stalked, plotted, staked out and woke up really early for, this lamp is my favorite pick. I don't know who made it; I have no history on it. It is just good design in a solid Hollywood Regency package.

Love the black shade on the white ceramic base and the scale of the shade. Nice pagoda shape, bas-relief bells, or maybe it is tassels, and the faux bamboo details. The two bulb lamp has parallel sockets, which allows for the shallow shade.

Close-up of the bamboo and bell details. 

my 200th post!!!... and an awesome table pick

Today's fave pick was the Mersman table (below) and  I'm adding a lesson on picking. This table is one of the hot design trends- dark wood and brass together. You can see it in Design within Reach's new line called Helix,


and in


Jonathan Adler's walnut furnishing with brass accents.

The brass brings light and sparkle to the dark wood. This table has fantastic dark wood with a characteristic Formica top. Now don't be put off by Formica, it is a typical surface from the 50's and 60's and is extremely durable. Counter tops aside, I love finding a great Formica topped table. The desk I am currently writing from is Formica topped and I can set sweaty glasses of iced tea as well as big mugs of hot tea directly on it with no worries.

Picking always includes time spent with cleaners. And, on this journey I am remembering all the "old" cleaners for woods, metals, glasses and fabrics. Today's pick required a trip down memory lane to my childhood of staying with grandmother and great grandmother during the hot summer days and the weekly cleaning of the house. Windex, Pledge, Old English, Wright's Silver Cleaner each with their own cloth rubber banded to the bottle... they were very practical ladies devising the forerunners of the Windex wipe, Pledge wipe, etc. And, it is surprising how easy it is to clean with the results you would want with these older cleaners! And now that my cleaning cloths are all rubber banded back to the bottles, here is my pick of the picks for this weekend!

 



Interested in buying this Mersman 8198 table? Or need advise on cleaning, I'm getting really good with my deep knowledge of cleaning odd stains. Just ask!

Holiday Sale- 25% off all items in my shop

If it is in space 6 with the dealer code LARL, then it is 25% off when you pay with cash or check! BIG BIG sale all month, including all my new arrivals! Many other shops are having a sale as well.

 

I've included some images below from the store, everything in the images is available, except the giant birdcage shelving, that sold last week!

 

Interiors and Antiques in Vestavia Hills (in the old Ethan Allen building)

The are closed on the 4th, but open on the 5th.

 

 

Memorial Day Sale for Laurl Designs at Interiors and Antiques

Today is the last day of my week long Memorial Day Sale! Everything in my space is 25% off and I'm ready to make some deals!

Find something you like?

 Let's make a deal! Ask the folks at the front desk of Interiors and Antiques to give me a call and make me offer!

Like all good furniture advertisements I feel compelled to say,

"I'd rather sell it that store it"

and then say things like, 

"New merchandise is arriving and I need to make space!" 

Which is true, it just sounds phony thanks to the Old Ronnie Marchant furniture commercials. Residents of Birmingham, do you remember those ludicrous commercials from the 1980's and 1990's?

... then I used the incantation, "scourgify"!

Finding great objects, accessories, and furnishings at an estate sale satifies the thrill of the chase, but it is not the end of the story. It would be great to be able to "pick" a sales then immediately put it back out for sale with a small finders fee. However, many times...well, most of the time... 95% of the time, really... you have add a heaping helping of elbow grease and some cleaning know-how. 

Take the lovely Paul Hanson Lamp with the oh-so-stylish lattice-work base. Pretty, stylish, and a TOTAL sticky dirt magnet. Every top edge of the lattice edge was filled with sticky dirt, as in not vacuum-able, not to mention the crevices of the base and the edges.

So, since this is glazed white ceramic, it is basically glass... for cleaning purposes, or course. So, with a light weight glass cleaner- with no dyes- and many cotton swabs, I went to town on every edge, crevice, and flat plane with Mrs. Meyers window cleaner in lavender... be case lavender is my fave small. Always choose un-dyed cleaners. If there are light cracks or crazing in the glazing, the dyes can deposit in the crazing and draw attention to the cracks.

My before and afters are below.

"the funk of forty thousand years..."

And then I used the incantation, "scourgify" with my magic cotton swab wand.

It is always best to start with the least of the cleaners and more work on your part, than a harsh cleaner with light work on your part. You want to clean, but not damage. And remember, some patinas are important to not only the value but aesthetic of the piece. When in doubt, do a little research by searching on Ebay, Etsy, and Pinterest for what you are debating to see what the current trend is.

Today's Pickin's

 

Today I hit four, count them 4, estate sales in 2 hours. There was so many that I actually didn't have enough time to get to the 5th! I decided to simply put the addresses in groups by area and just plug them into the GPS. I learned a few lessons today.

Note the picture on the left relates of #4!

 Here are my top ones-

1. Look at a map to generally know where you are going.
Had I know that I would be backtracking so far between #1 and #2, I would have put them in a different order. However, had #2 not been a bust, I might not have cared.

2. Use a GPS!
I was so easy to connect between the sales by plugging in the next location, like a real treasure hunt.

3, Always drive past the sale before parking.
I invariably choose a parking park that is WAY far way from the house when there is one quite close, that I would have found if I had only tired to get closer. Not that I am the person who is always on the look-out for a close parking space, but at estate sales, you might be buying big. It is easier to get it to the car when you are closer.

4. Take pictures.
Sometimes you see things that you do not want, but you want to remember. If for no other reason because it is so strange you want a record! I did not buy this cart above today- but I had to record it for posterity!

5. bring a bag, maybe some bubble wrap.
If you check the websites of the sales and you know that there is glass at the sale that you might want, then bring a bag and a smidgen of bubble wrap. A little bubble wrap will shield your new glass pieces from each other.

antiquing adventrues- the trip

These spools I had to have!

I posted last night that I was headed to the Lakewood 400 today. I accomplished both goals- on to see what's there (the easy one). The second was to compare Scott's to Lakewood 400. This is a goal that takes reflection and I do wish I had had my partner-in-crime for both. The upshot of both goals was to see if I think one is "better" i.e. suits my needs, than the other; if the same vendors go to both; and if it is worth taking two days out of each month to go to these.

So, here are a few things that I found at Lakewood today.... reflections to come!

 

antiquing adventures

Tomorrow I will be going to Lakewood 400 for two reasons- one to see what they have and two to do a direct comparison with Scott's from last weekend! Long days of driving and walking... and coffee!


Photo lifted from Lakewoodantiques.com

My hot Pin on Pinterest this week

MY hot pin this week comes from my research on craft spaces.
I love the small suitcases placed in the shelves of the chest. it is a fun alternative to drawers!