Reclaimed wood and FSC certified materials get their shine on.

This season, it’s a winter wonderland. Appropriately so, as wood is somewhat transported back to its natural element – wrapped in icy high contrast metallics and wintry silver tones.

In these pieces, the hulk and bulk of wood gets pared down with an ultra shiny treatment that is both minimal and futuristic.

The 47 Table from San Francisco’s Council.

Pits and scars from blocks of reclaimed Douglas firs are coated in brilliant silver. The name is derived “from the atomic number of silver and the height of the piece in centimeters.”

Smart.

Like a blast of fresh winter air, a massive block of reclaimed Douglas Fir coated in dazzling silver. Also from Council.

Cabinets from the PCHseries by MASHStudios.

The series is named for California’s Pacific Coast Highway and made from natural, lacquer-free and FSC certified materials accented with cast aluminum.

From John Haushmand, a piece of Black Walnut microslab wrapped around a glass base – as if hugging a block of ice.

Shelving boxes from 2^nd Shift Design Studio in Cleveland, Ohio. The interior is rimmed with arctic aluminum frames. The exterior wrapped in slats of reclaimed lumber.

Imperfection and impermanence are the two underlying commonalities in all of these pieces. The imperfection of the wood itself, each pockmark memorialized and encased under a hardened shell. Evidenced, too, is the impermanence of wood. An unrelenting tree standing tall season by season cum roller coaster, now reclaimed and “of the moment” in our cozy living rooms.

The modest corner takes center stage.

Ralph Emerson said, “If a man knew anything, he would sit in a corner and be modest; but he is such an ignorant peacock, that he goes bustling up and down, and hits on extraordinary discoveries.”

Johnny Castle put it much more simply, “nobody puts Baby in a corner.”

What Ralph and Johnny mean to say is that corners are not exciting places. They’re dull, geometrical necessities unfit for ideas, innovations, and women who have been sexually awakened by a little dirty dancing. Considering the way we treat corners in our homes – jagged little spaces where dust bunnies mope behind unimaginatively angled armchairs and floor lamps – you’d think they were talking about our living rooms.

But corners are cool. And here are a few inventive, happening and inspirational ways to trick them out.

German designer Yvonne Schroeder created these corner frames for the retailer Details. They come in beech, black, white or natural maple finishes.

The Lorna Shelf by William Feeney is a custom-designed shelving system uniquely created for those bereft corners.

The Wrap-Around-the-Corner Frame from Photojojo is designed to hug the wall as opposed to snuggling into it. It is built to display twelve of your most corner-worthy photos.

Clearly, these dramatic corner windows are flashing “come hither” eyes. Hence the lounge.

This is how to treat a kitchen corner. Like a lady, who knows where her cutlery and her spices are stored.

A wall of sketches offset by a corner bookshelf really pulls this room together. It gives the impression of being lived in, yet worldly.

The Kulma, meaning corner in Finnish. It is designed to use the space inside of a corner or hug the outside. Made from oak, by designer Martina Carpelan.

A dolled up cozy eating cubby, perfect for brunching.

Postcards from the edge? Nope. The corner.

This corner is given a Moroccan edge, easy to mimic with plush pillows and a flea-market stool.

Images: Pinterest via Weekday Carnival Details; William Feeney; Photojojo; La Morbo de los Santos; Decor8; Modern Hepburn; Martina Carpelan; Skeppsholmen; Pinterest; Sorakeem

Ideal for pinning photos and other forget-me-nots.

Georgian-made from reclaimed roofing tin and scrap plywood, these frames are charmingly southern and aesthetically rustic. Created by Margaret Taylor of Dryads Dancing, the buttons (made from new materials) can be used to display old photos or hold memos.

Taylor also makes frames from antique bead boards and reclaimed crown molding. Her logic: why buy wood new and sand it to old worldly perfection? Kind of makes us go hmm, too.

Available for $25.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

You two lovebirds really are disgusting, it’s enough to make me hurl (these throw pillows at you).

If you and your lover are snuggle bunnies, you might be compelled to buy these throw pillows, created by the mother-daughter artisan duo kstudio in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And we wouldn’t blame you. They’re hand-embroidered on an exterior of natural flax, organic cotton and recycled wool. The inside, which is what counts, is stuffed with fiber fill. Moreover, you can customize your pillows to look like you.

Very lovely, very tender. Eh, you deserve each other.

Price: $150 via uncommongoods.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

When it comes to home decor, pebbles rock.

Pebbles are a subtle way to decorate and bring calm to a home filled with mostly unnatural things. Luckilyy for you, peace is just a stone’s throw away.

This marvelous floor mat by Stonemat in New Zealand serves up some serious Zen. As an added sustainability bonus, the government allows the harvesting of the pebbles as long as they are collected manually with no machines involved.

Lounge around on these pebble shaped cushions by Iglooplay. Upholstered in a 100% wool slipcover over a bamboo/poly fill and encased in an all-cotton liner, their sculptural shapes make for fun accents to any home, plus no bones will be broken when throwing these around.

Surprise your guests by setting your table with smooth stone placemats from VivaTerra that will compliment any dishware.

Pebble flooring creates a spa look when used for bathroom flooring.  It feels good on your feet, is affordable and easy to clean.

These soft cushions look so much like real stones, they might fool you. Inspired by nature, socially conscious textile designer Ronel Jordaan uses felt to create them. She has set up a shop in Gauteng, Johannesburg where her personally trained artisans work. You can sit or lean on them for extra seating. They are both beautiful and functional.

While it would be uncouth to wear white shoes from now until Memorial Day, when it comes to dressing your home in floor-to-ceiling white, go ahead and stick it to Emily Post.

Welcome back to your life. The Labor Day weekend is over and unless you are getting married next weekend (like a certain younger sister of mine), you have closeted your whites. That is, if you have more etiquette than Patty Hearst’s character in Serial Mom.

Etiquette experts have their reasons for this rule, which is relegated exclusively to fashion. Thankfully, we have our own panel of fashion experts who can further iterate the whys and how to’s of sustainable style. In shelter, meanwhile, we’re not quite ready to bid farewell to white, flowy things.

Like this gorgeous canopy bed offset by the wall-to-wall white drapery on the windows. The effect is stark, yet touchably soft.

This black and white motif, from Danish company Day Birger Et Mikkelsen, works because it’s deliberate without looking like a chess set.

I took one look at this and told my bride-to-be sister, “you must do this in your honeymoon suite.”

Black and white photos in an all-white room. Gorgeous.

A brick wall painted white that takes the edge off urban.

Again, with the painted brick. But what I love most about this white room is that the wood floors and primitive coffee table make it both earthy and minimal – thus livable.

Images: Home Improvement World; Elle Décor; Apartment Therapy; From the Right Bank; My White Room; Message Note; Atlantis Home

Add some diversity to your color range.

With the Presidential race heating up and candidates like Michele Bachmann showing her true colors, I thought it would be refreshing to reflect on a pallet that champions the marvelous diversity that is integral to our national character.

Rainbows might not be for everyone. I get it. Some people prefer monochromatic color schemes; others don’t like color at all. But I think we can all agree that every time we stop and gaze at the kaleidoscope of a rainbow, we recall that tiny remembrance within: there is a pot of gold, a treasure, on the other side.

The wooden rainbow shown above is made from sustainably harvested wood, and finished with non-toxic paint and a homemade natural wood polish of beeswax, jojoba oil, and essential oils. From Imagination Kids.

Below is what it would be like if My Little Pony or Speed Racer moved in. The Rainbow House (well, 830-square-foot apartment) was created by Hong Kong designer Max Lam of Moderne.

It features a rainbow that runs continuously from the living room to the bedroom, streaking through the kitchen all the way to the golden commode.

San Franciscans know the Rainbow House on Clipper Street, seen here. If only some other people we know would embrace the same spirit of diversity and inclusion. Just saying…the world would be a much prettier place.

What is a Free Printable? Here’s one…

It’s a curious crowd-sourced phenomenon of circulating inspirational quotes or vintage images. It’s also an efficient way to print, frame and decorate your home or cube with messages that inspire you, like the one above sourced from Simple As That. Another printable maven worth checking out is The Graphics Fairy.

Also worth a gander are these crayon-drip paintings by JK Create’s Jessica Kerbawy. No two pieces are ever alike and the color combinations are endless.

Jen Stark’s construction paper sculptures, meanwhile, have me aching for a less complicated time and place: art class, where we all mused on rainbows – Michele, too – because we believed in that pot of gold.

Images: The Art of Intuition; FreshHome; Moderne.hk; Imagination Kids; We Heart It; PJLighthouse, Vendoluzes;

These vibrant fair trade baskets are available care of Indego Africa, a non-profit that aims to end poverty by empowering women.  

It’s hard to choose just one lust-worthy basket, so we snuck in three handmade Plateau baskets: in black, green and white; white and brown; and a zesty green/tea. These hand-crafted home décor pieces were crafted with needles and imigwegwe plant threads by women of the Covanya cooperative in Rwanda. Each takes up to seven days to weave and a great deal of skill and technique.

The baskets retail for around $30 – $45  and can be purchased here or found through the organization’s website. Regardless of your basket-buying intentions, we highly recommend a visit to the latter.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

While they might want to reconsider the air miles it took for them to find it, this bamboo vase from Phillips Collection gets a sky-high rating.  

Designers Mark and Julie Phillips of Phillips Collection specialize in what they call Globally Sourced Home Décor. Hmm, sounds like a mighty big footprint to me. Nevertheless, this abstract-modern vase is made by hand from pressed bamboo. Let’s hear it again for fast-growing, durable and pliable bamboo.

To give them some leeway, the Phillips Collection is a traveling duo that has been traversing the globe over a period of 30 years. Taking them all over the planet in their relentless search for talent, innovative production techniques and globally inspired organic décor.

What do you think of their globe-trotting ways: a forgivable means to an end or not so cool, even if it is bamboo?

The vase retails for $147.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

Could your local guy-dominated watering hole be getting a femme makeover?

Proving yet again how well beer companies know women, Molson Coors is launching a line of lemony, citrusy and rosé sparkly bevs for girls called Animée. Some flavors will be clear like Diet Sprite, others hued like Crystal Light.

Apparently, the reason 79% of women avoid drinking sudsy lagers is due to fears of bloating, weight gain, and the perceived notion that beer is for boys.

That’s according to expensive company research; a design collective out of Denmark begs to differ. Bars are the problem.

“A pub full of men is not a place we would normally go for ourselves,” explains Mie Nielsen, Managing Director of a progressive design collective called Femmes Regionales. The same goes for a cocktail bar full of women.

In the interest of creating a chicer and brighter coed drinking establishment, Femmes Regionales recently set about renovating the microbrewery Mikkeller pub in Copenhagen, a perky place where no one expects a phone number with your name. It’s a hang out that some are calling downright femme because of its refreshingly pretty aesthetic sprinkled with vintage and bespoke furniture, delicate chests of drawers with golden knobs, whitewashed walls. From the looks of it, even the lighting is flattering.

Nevertheless, Nielsen says, “we didn’t have a specific female audience in mind when designing this, but rather a place that would appeal to both men and women. A mix of both genders is always much more fun.”

True. But we can’t help but notice just how lovely it is, combining the best of traditional Danish pub-ery – lots of wood and brass, rooted in a “storytelling” aesthetic – with Femmes’ unique vantage – combining heavy and light expressions, mixing vintage and modern, interspersing handmade and pre-produced.

“We approach the concept of sustainability with the quality of [objects] in mind, which will ensure a long life.”

Maybe we’re just trend-spotting here or making like Molson Coors with sweeping gender stereotypes, but the Femmes’ touch of lightness and airiness is far more refreshing than an Animée could ever be.

Our prediction is that rather than downing cases of daintified beer before abandoning our bras and ponytail holders in dark watering holes that bear a striking resemblance to Superbowl commercials, the bar scene will fare far better with pubs like these. Go ahead and order us a Guinness.

Surely you’ve got a pretty lady bar near you. Where is it? We could sure use a cold one.