Low Carbon, High Style: Eco Chic Home Decor

A FEW YEARS AGO, the words “eco chic” didn’t translate into good-looking home decor. (Cue images of an off-the-grid treehouse outfitted with birch-log beds and license plate “art.”) But these days, new products, from sustainable cork flooring to rehabbed antiques, mean an eco pad can summon Elle Decor instead of L.L. Bean. “Your house doesn’t have to look like REI,” says Sean Schmidt of the Sustainable Style Foundation. “It can look like anything you want.” In fact, green design is red-hot. Here are some fresh ideas to satisfy both your inner tree hugger and outer design fiend.

» Vintage Vogue
What’s old becomes very new again, thanks to Yuppie Decor, an Arlington-based furniture rehab business that sells its pieces at Georgetown‘s Maison Living (2601 P St. NW; 202.337.1731). “Antique furniture is better built, has better lines and is more stylish,” says Aaron Hase, who co-owns the company with his wife, Shannon (both pictured). “But a lot of it doesn’t fit peoples’ style today. So, we take antique and mid-century furniture and revive it in bold style.” This often means painting Grandma’s chair or tuffet a high-gloss black or white and reupholstering it in a punchy textile. Think an old Hollywood-style chaise covered in a modern black and white floral ($550) or a black antique boudoir bench upholstered in a bright green print ($115). It’s all very Tory Burch goes to Palm Beach, but Yuppie pieces would play well in both modern or traditional interiors. And, really, “purchasing secondhand furniture is the greenest way to go,” says D.C.’s Maria Fyodorova, who runs the popular Righteous (re)Style blog. “It gives you a unique piece that no one else will have.”
» In the Can
Now, even the places you stash your trash and recyclables are pretty enough to be left out in the open. Uncommon Goods‘ recycled cotton wastebaskets (above, $15, Uncommongoods.com) are made in India from cotton rags left over from the apparel industry. Their nature-inspired designs would be a hip accent to a reclaimed wood desk or a vintage pedestal sink. Simplehuman‘s new butterfly cans (below, $180, Simplehuman.com) are clad in sleek, fingerprint-proof stainless steel and boast separate compartments for trash and recycling. “People ask for them,” says Daniel Velez, owner of eco-tailer Greater Goods (1626 U St. NW; 202-449-6070). “They’re actually attractive recycling bins.” Which makes it easy to do good and look good doing it.

» Wall to Wall
Mix acoustical tiles with Legos and you’d come up with something like Mio‘s PaperForms ($32-$34 for 12 square feet of tiles, Mioculture.com). The modular wall covering made from 100 percent post- and pre-consumer waste paper can be used to make one-of-a-kind accent walls covered in waves, swirls and other patterns. Paint the stuff any color you like (with no- or low-VOC paint, of course) to turn up the mod style volume. You can also deck your walls without clobbering the planet with American Clay Earth Plaster (Americanclay.com; 80 cents-$1.10 per square foot), available at Amicus Green Building Center (4080A Howard Ave., Kensington; 301-571-8590). Mixed from clays, recycled and reclaimed aggregates, and natural pigments, the stuff ­comes in a variety of colors and gives surfaces an Old World vibe in a greener way.

» Branching Out
When a tree falls in the forest, very often it’s found by Marcus Sims and made into a bookcase, counter top or desk. For 15 years, the Montgomery County artisan has been saving fallen and cut pieces of black walnut, mulberry, cherry and other trees to use in his custom furniture pieces available through his company, Treincarnation. “Not only am I salvaging wood that would otherwise be wasted, but I’m also honoring it, saying that it’s more valuable than we’re treating it,” says Sims. “I have a desire to help people wake up to the nature that we’re surrounded by, and to begin to respect it and treat it better.” His prices vary from a few hundred dollars for a desktop to thousands for large bookcases. Architect Alan Abrams had Sims create a bathroom vanity, desk, shelves and light fixture for his Silver Spring condo. “The pieces remind you that you’re part of a natural world,” he says. “In Washington, we live in a world of pavement, office buildings and computers, homes covered with sheetrock and clad with vinyl. It’s nice to have just a little reminder that there’s a world out there that man didn’t really create.”

» Green Plate Club
Since 2004, VivaTerra — a California-based catalog you might call the carbon-neutral Pottery Barn — has been a go-to source for housewares both good-looking and good to the earth. The company’s latest lines of recycled glassware provide dreamy dishes, for serving organic or locally grown produce, of course. Styles range from the bright hues and interesting lines of Seaglass ($119-$189) to the soft pearly shades and subtle texture of the Serene Sol group of plates and bowls ($49-$198). “The evolution of recycled glass has been extraordinary,” says Bonnie Dahan, VivaTerra’s co-founder and head merchant. “I don’t think there’s been this level of craftsmanship until now, and it’s evolved toward more decorative pieces and higher levels of design.” The site also sells recycled glass wine goblets (six for $149) and fruit bowls ($35-$95) carved from the discarded root balls of Chinese fir trees to help you set a PC table.

Written by Beth Luberecki
Photo by Abby Greenawalt

Taken from www.expressnightout.com