Interiors

In the June 22nd editors posting we offered the lowdown on health issues with wallpaper. Wallpaper is a popular choice for cozy-ing -up the place when it comes to home decorating. Keeping in mind that wallpaper may not have completed the transition to 100% eco-friendly, there are some things to look for that are an improvement. These typically include water based inks and bamboo. But who would have thought of nanotechnology?

Ecodomo, offers wallpaper made out of recycled materials, they call their product 'ecore'. Ecore relies on nanotechnology for its low energy process. The product is said to compete with vinyl and doesn't release any VOC's. The wallpaper is resistant to stains and tearing, doesn't burn, and is completely recyclable.

Since no trees are cut down when harvesting cork, and bamboo, these remain environmentally friendly choices. There are some interesting 3D modern wallpaper designs made from bamboo at QuantumWarpWallpaper.com.

Ai wall in Japan takes it to another level with their Igusa Straw wallpaper. Check out aiwallinfo. Igusa straw from Ai Wall sells itself as an anti-mold, anti-fungal, and claims to have a 'spiritual healing effect'. They will even send you swatches. ###

Italian food has firmly staked its claim as one of the world's most popular cuisines. A treat for the eyes, nose, and taste buds, it's easy to see why the kings and queens of pasta live such happy and healthy lives.

The sights and smells of the Italian countryside serve as inspiration for California based Nomine's line of soy candles. Pronounced "noh-mi-neh", Nomine "simply means 'name' in Latin and was chosen to celebrate the power of the meaning behind names."

Started by Nancy Covello as part of her dedication to alternative health therapies and a vegetarian lifestyle, all of Nomine's burning beauties are made from only soybean wax and essential oils - 100% free of petroleum ingredients found in "traditional" paraffin candles.

Our wax burns longer, cooler, and clearer than paraffin candle waxes, with little to NO carbon build-up. Soy wax does not produce black soot, which can leave residue on furnishings and walls. The wax is made predominantly from domestically grown crops supporting U.S. farmers and the economy.

Available in both jars and as tea lights, there are four scents in the Nomine collection, each representing one of the four seasons. You can buy each candle individually from the Nomine website, or as set of all four seasons (shown above, includes a box of matches). Each of the candles in the "Botanical Jar Collection" feature a beautifully applied image on their glass jars, adding both pleasant smells and sights to your own eco-abode.

After the blue jean insulation is fitted, the low-VOC paints have dried, and the solar panels are functioning, it's time to focus on the inside of your new home. With air quality indoors being rated as 4 to 5 times worse than outdoors and the fact that we spend 3/4th of our day indoors, the items that we choose to decorate are rooms with are just as important as our home's basic building elements.

Sunny days call for open windows and screen doors, allowing the outdoor breezes to flow freely and temporarily remove many of the toxins captured indoors. When the temperatures drop, sealing cracks around doors and windows help to keep those breezes out (in turn, keeping us from cranking up the heat).

When the sun is out and the breeze is blowing, a funky chicken or mouse doorstop from Refab UK adds a nice hint of color to any home. If the temperatures are low, a psychedelic snake will keep out those nasty drafts.

Made from vintage, reclaimed, and organic fabrics, each of Refab's items are unique. Refab UK's creations come flat, allowing you to fill them with rice, beans, herbs, or any personally-chosen mixture (the snakes are already filled with buckwheat). Very soon, Refab will be offering cushions, bags, and accessories on their website, all of which they already sell each weekend at the Greenwich Market.

Yet another fabulous shopping weekend looking at eco-friendly products for the house. We discovered the Eco-wise store, which got the Best of Austin 2007 award for the most eco-friendly, green store. Good for them!

We met a very animated, yet friendly sales guy giving us the scoop on eco-friendly/sustainable flooring, countertops and rainwater collection.

Basically, there are several types of flooring:

• Bamboo flooring, which is a fast growing type of grass that is easily grown and harvested, but shipped from China. Bamboo is hard, resilient and can be made into many different beautiful patterns. There's a variety of quality, so be careful what you pay for!
• Cork flooring, which is made from the bark of cork oak trees, and when stripped, does not destroy the tree. Advantages are that they are softer on the feet, especially in an area where you stand a lot (i.e., kitchen), and are recycled and have no VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
• Linoleum flooring, which is an all natural, non-toxic flooring made of linseed oil, produced by pressing seeds from flax, an easy to cultivate and abundant plant. They are usually warm and softer on the feet than cold tile flooring and come in a variety of colors. The problem is the look of it, in my opinion, as it has that 70s retro look that doesn't evoke beauty to me, but hey, beauty is the eye of the beholder :-).
• Local or reclaimed wood, specific to your area. Check out wood that has been taken from buildings that were demolished. You can sometimes find great deals in reusing it for your flooring, banisters, ceiling beams, etc! We are checking out using hickory, which is a near diamond hard wood that is found in Arkansas and milled locally in the Hill Country. It is a beautiful wood that can be stained to your desired color and will last decades.
• Stained concrete with fly ash, which is basically the mineral residue resulting from coal plants and when mixed your concrete, greatly reduces cement production and therefore eliminating much of the carbon emissions. They are quite fashionable in homes nowadays, as it can make your home look very modern by staining or creating patterns in the concrete. It also provide a large thermal mass for your home. A thermal mass is some sort of structure (i.e. stone) that keeps a constant temperature and thereby positively affects the temperature in your home. Concrete floors are relatively cheap, as they can be part of your foundation, and you can then stain it, and then instantly have your floor ready. You can easily repair them if they crack and are durable, but the only problem is that concrete can be hard on the feet and unforgiving if you drop something on the floor.

We also looked into concrete countertops with varying degrees of recycled glass in them or using sorghum or bamboo as a countertop as opposed to concrete. There are even countertops made of recycled paper that are even stain, scratch and heat resistant! You have a lot of options to create the look you desire.... MORE HERE...

Before the leaves start falling and the chilly temperatures set in, there's still time to get a fresh coat of paint on your house, garage, tool shed ... etc. Maybe that's why Portland-based Yolo Colorhouse just released their line of Green Seal-certified exterior paints.

Available in three different finishes (velvet flat, satin, semi-gloss) and sizes (quarts, gallons, fives), the "Outside" collection is zero VOC, 100% acryclic, and especially designed to handle full sunlight. A palette of 36 colors are arranged into six families - cloud, prairie, forest, ocean, desert, and canyon. It goes without saying that all of them are inspired by nature, along with mixing and matching seamlessly.

Ready to give your favorite exteriors a new coat? You can buy all colors and sizes from Yolo's interior and exterior collections online. Living in the United States? Find a nearby retail location to check out Yolo in-person (and save on shipping).

[via Apartment Therapy: Green]

RELATED:

+ Episode Six: Exterior Finishes

+ Exterior Finishes Workshop