Caress your tech with these nature-inspired skins and covers. 

In celebration of the new iPhone 5, here are ten cases and other gadget holding devices from Society6 that fuse nature with technology. Cost is $35/each.

What is Society6? Good question, but may we suggest switching that “what” to “who?” Thousands of artists from all over the globe create artwork for Society6, printed and shipped in an array of products from gallery quality art prints to t-shirts. Products are produced to order, thus reducing waste; one piece iPhone cases, in particular, are made from a super-plastic called Lexan. Not bamboo or recycled, but stronger and longer lasting than other plastic cases on the market. Interesting tidbit: the material has been increasingly used in eco-friendly and high-concept cars like the GM EcoJet.

Without further ado, iPhone porn.

“Hard to Impress” by Shannonblue

“Birds Flying High” by Ben Geiger

“Washed Away” by Zero Division

“Breathe” by Joy St. Claire

“Across an Endless Sea” by RDelean

“Mountain Range” by Cassia Beck

“Blue Moon” by Galaxy Eyes

“Let’s Run Away” by Leah Flores

“Elemental Geodisc” by Terry Fan

“Friends for Life” by Vin Zzep

Inspired by a post on Design-Milk, who has teamed up with Society6 to curate the Milk Dairy, aimed at supporting and promoting the work of independent artists all over the world.

The post Inspired by Nature: iPhone 5 Cases from Society6 appeared first on EcoSalon.

File this under sexy: dripping chandeliers made from salvaged bicycle chains.

LA-based multidisciplinary artist Carolina Fontoura Alzaga produces what she calls “reflections and documents of…shifting realities” inspired by her tri-cultural upbringing in Mexico, Brazil and the USA. Referencing tricycles at this stage would seem a natural progression, given that these functional sculptures are made from the cast-off remains of bicycles. But that would render frivolous the perspective she brings to her art of salvaging objects of disuse and beautifying them into objets d’art.

Her chandelier series, called CONNECT, borrows from the aesthetic of Victorian chandeliers and welds it to contemporary DIY and urban bike culture.

The post Salvaged Bike Chain Chandeliers Defy Concepts of Wealth appeared first on EcoSalon.

Big city, smaller footprint: blurring the line between landscape design and modern architecture. 

The trend of vertical gardening is up, as is the rise of the jolly green skyscraper. Easy on the eyes and easier on the planet, the trend of upward greenery is transforming our concrete jungles into ivied oases.

The Musee du Quai Branly in Paris is one such example, with some 8,600 vertical square footage dedicated to more than 170 different species of plants.

London’s Athenaeum, its tendrils and blossoms looming high over Piccadilly Circus, is another.

As watchers of modern eco architecture, of course, there does come a point when we ask what it is, exactly, we’re looking at. “Is it a man, or a plane,” spectators once wondered of Superman. “Man, or Astroman?” punk relics wondered way back in the 90s.

Similarly we ask: is it architecture, or vegitecture?

That’s what the Barcelona City Council and one Spanish firm are calling this, the Green Side-Wall, “represent[ing] the birth of a novel type of construction in the field of vegitecture.” Constructed upon the eyesore remnants of a demolished building, the green supporting protective façade was created by the Barcelona firm Capella Garcia Arquitectura (follow that link for a visit to, perhaps, the strangest website ever).

An interior staircase lends access to the metal platforms throughout; a pulley system facilitates the transport of planters, nests, and other materials within the prefabricated steel frame.

Why vegitecture?

Buildings such as these literally breathe life into our cities and blessed lungs. Technologically speaking, turning a building into a living, self-sustaining one is complex, typically requiring a combination of sunshades, solar panels, and ventilation to catch water. And while the aesthetic contribution is obvious, practically speaking architectural thought sprouting in this direction could save the world, feed children and cool down our cities.

Our cityscapes are looking up.

Image: Toxel; mimoa; Domus

The post The Changing Façade of Urban Architecture appeared first on EcoSalon.

Get roped into this year’s hottest trend.

Sometimes naughty and often nautical, ropes are everywhere this year – from fashion to interior design. What started with a well-spotted rope entwined bowl by one of our shelter writers, has now unraveled into an all-out search for all things strung up.

The result: we found rope being used for door handles, floor mats, room dividers, containers and chandeliers, in an array of patterns and styles to fit into just about any interior, including the most urban industrial and bucolic country.

Here’s a hefty bundle of ideas, doable DIYs and luxe piles of inspiration for incorporating ropes into your own interior design projects.

Above: surely this is knot-able. But for $100, a knotting enthusiast in Suffolk, England will knot it for you. What it is exactly: a rope knot doorstop via Labour and Wait.  

Rope It Yourself: DIY

From Green Wedding Shoes, a DIY flower vase that combines two of our favorite things: rope and neon.

The Gilded Hare‘s $2 rope project is perfect for the containerized afflicted.

From Stylelist, these coasters, trivets and placemats are as simple to make as they look. Get rope, coil into a spiral, secure with hot glue, serve. Well – allow to dry, then serve.

This welcome mat (a great detoxifier, by the way) looks almost Olympian, but constructing it is not an entirely herculean task. You’ll need some rope, some jute, gardening gloves, thread, needle, tape and a sharp knife. Karen of Karen’s Rope Works will provide more specifics via PDF.

Has Martha ever met a rope she couldn’t DIY? Lemons to lemonade for our dear Ms. Stewart.

Fully Doable Ideas: 

From Remodelista, easy to emulate door handles and pull handles.

From Atelier 688, for purchase or emulation (wiring know-how required).

Straight Up Inspiration: 

Spotting the rope is like a game of Waldo in this room designed by Design Therapy for Traditional Home magazine.

The perfect room divider, via The Brick House.

Two rope swing sofas, via Scrap Hacker.

From Little Blue Deer, we are willing to admit that what we have here is a jar filled with rope. But, hey, the use of natural fibers does the trick: transforming everyday accents into something more extraordinary.

The post Ideas, Inspiration & DIY: Oh, The Things You Can Do With Rope appeared first on EcoSalon.

Ever feel like the world’s a mess? Say a little prayer and spread a lot of love with an optimistic set of prayer flags. 

A prayer flag is simple enough: a panel of cloth imprinted with text or images strung to spread that sentiment to whomever the wind touches. Quilter Vivika Hansen DeNegre, who started The Prayer Flag Project, calls them a “living, breathing, kinetic journal of our hopes, dreams and concerns.” They’re meant to fray in the elements, their ends left unstitched to unravel into the impermanence of time.

The world, on the other hand, is not simple enough. There is a lot to be concerned about these days. Embassy uprisings spurred by a propaganda hate film, for one. An election that’s as much about the elected as it is our fundamental value system, for another. Entire nations are in crisis. It seems that we, as a globalized humanity, are at a turning point. What direction are we going to take: the good, the bad, the better?

Let’s aim for the latter and spread that hope far and wide. Because when it rains, it rains on everyone. It doesn’t make choices.

You, on the other hand, have an array of choices for sending messages of peace out to whomever the breeze catches.

Miranda Gray Studio‘s prayer flags are made of organic cotton, and meant to be flown for the protection of the garden, bees and creatures in the sea. She uses egg tempera as a medium, created by grounding the pigment into a paste with water and then mixing that with the yolk of a chicken egg.

Jersey Murmurs’ modern prayer flags are digitally printed on heavyweight cotton twill fabric. They are the “physical representation of our prayers and petitions,” including the musings of poets, mystics and feminists.

The Group Prayer Flags from Touch the Earth graphic art studio are hand crafted and hand printed on silk. They are then strung up on black cord with brass bells. Here are the flags in a seven grouping (for earth), three grouping (for trees) and lone polar bear.

Finally, Pantie Party‘s prayer flags:

Don’t let the panties fool you (or offend you). They are actually made from discarded paper and plastic grocery bags. The prayers themselves are the conversations and experiences of women, as recorded by the artist’s female friends. Creative reuse and communicative art? Sounds like an answered prayer.

Image: Jersey Murmurs

The post What the World Needs Now is Prayer Flags, Lots of Prayer Flags appeared first on EcoSalon.

“I have never met a designer who was retained to keep things the same as they were.” – George Nelson

Herman Miller, manufacturer of some of America’s most iconic pieces of modernist furniture (think the Equa Chair, Aeron chair, Noguchi table, Marshmallow sofa and- all hail — the Eames Lounger) has a new video series posing the simplest of questions: why?

It’s the sort of question that trips up many a creative type, more preoccupied with the what’s and how’s as opposed to actual why’s of doing what they do. But as design is a discipline charged with finding solutions to the everyday conundrums of living, it is a question of some import.

Why design? It’s more than a matter of why not? It’s a question designers must ask themselves at every turn – before birthing a new chair into the world, manufacturing an additional iGadget, and especially prior to producing more waste for the planet in the quest of gaining consumer dollars.

Now, more than ever, it’s a mighty big question mark blinking in the faces of mainstream suppliers and indie creators alike. As Forbes noted in an article earlier this year, titled Welcome to the Era of Design (the appreciation of newer and better design is, indeed, more than a fleeting consumer trend):

Expecting great design is no longer the preserve of a picky design-obsessed urban elite—that aesthetically sensitive clique who’d never dare leave the house without their Philippe Starck eyewear and turtleneck sweaters and buy only the right kind of Scandinavian furniture. Instead, there’s a new, mass expectation of good design.

In other words, it has become democratized. And every democracy worth its grain actively and demonstrably engages in the dialogue of why. Hats off to Herman Miller for taking it to the industry’s brain trust in their new series Why Design.

Every Monday morning from now until October 29th, designers including Don Chadwick, Ayse Birsel, Irving Harper, Gianfranco Zaccai and more will share their perspectives.

Here one take from Yves Béhar of Fuse Project. For more, pop by the storefront of Herman Miller.

The post Why Design? Herman Miller Calls on the Industry’s Brain Trust For Answers appeared first on EcoSalon.

Write on it, muse on it – do anything you want on it.

The chalkboard has busted out of the classroom and into a well-appointed home near you. Last week we showed you one very cool DIY idea; now here are twenty other cool things you can do with a little chalk and a board full of inspiration.

Chalkboard planters from RossLab

Chalk tags from Lake Effect Treasury

Refrigerator message chalkboard, also from Lake Effect

Chalkboard size weekly planner from Household Words

Also available in polka dot, from Write On Decals

Chalkboard photobooth props you never thought you needed – until now! – from Itty Bitty Wedding

Chalkboard abacus in the event of actual chalkboard-based learning, from &XYZ Handmade & Vintage

If not, there’s always the chalkboard flask to slip into your backpack, from Supply by Chrit

Chalkboard labels for your staples (perfect on a mason jar) from Let’s Talk Chalk

Chalkboard speech bubble (perfect for over sharing) from Chalk Style

Chalkboard calcium reminders from the Pink Lemonade Party Shop

Chalkboard “do not disturb” hangers, from Kokuban City General Store

Chalkboard geography lesson/road trip planner from Lola Decor

Chalkboard full-length mirror, for those mornings when you just can’t deal, from Garth Fout

A chalkboard elephant in the room, another Chalk Style creation

Chalkboard hashtags for tweet addicts, from Grace Graffiti

Stop! It’s chalkboard time (commence Hammer dance) from Shopasta

Chalkboard art print from Flea Market Trixie. Don’t arrest, lest you end up…

…a chalkboard skull, like this one from I Am Home proving that a good board can be both a practical and stylishly macabre reminder to erase at your own peril.

Chalkboard birds because at this point we might as well put a bird on it.

Image: Roman Lily

The post 20 Things to Do With a Chalkboard That Don’t Involve Detention appeared first on EcoSalon.

Kick-butt home improvement, by women for women (or anyone with a glue gun).

The arts and crafts movement has heralded a new era of DIY, an alterna-consumer culture for “roll your sleeves up” boys and girls with a penchant for putting the three Rs into messy (and oftentimes beautiful) practice. We’ve got our resident DIY maestro Sofie Sausser who is always challenging us to turn trash into treasure and put our rolling pins to better use.

And there’s a plethora of other “Can Do” DIY mavens of the web that inspire us each and every day. Here are a few of our favorites that make us believe that – yes! – we, too, can cross stitch, color block and power-saw our way to off-the-big-box-store-grid independence.

Get ready for a “nuh duh” moment: A Beautiful Mess is one of the best DIY/lifestyle blogs out there. Elsie and Emma dedicate themselves to helping you create the most beautiful, inspired life possible. Notable new projects include these honeycomb bookshelves and this excellent pictorial on how to make your own house stamp:

Karen, a TV host from Canada, is a self-professed cheap and crafty fix-it girl with a blog called The Art of Doing Stuff. She’s installed her own central vac, does her own wiring, plumbing and drywalling, and avidly answers reader questions on all things practical and fanciful. Her philosophy is “it’s not as hard as you think…You can do it yourself, cheaper, faster and it will make your life simpler.” Prime example, her recent chicken coop poop control center.

Mandi from Vintage Revivals is lovable and cute because, well, she can’t seem to help it. But hers is more than a pretty blog and her tutorials take the whole room, woman and budget into account. Just look at what she can do with $150. 

Jen Ramos is the definition of DIY. The graphic designer, blogger and retailer behind Made by Girl is like a walking glossy mag with a perennially stylish and fresh focus on interior design, food and fashion. The talented Jane of all Trades is also an accomplished typographical artist, fearlessly open about her personal beliefs and has appeared in Ladies Home Journal, Marie Claire, HGTV and just about everywhere else.

All you need to know about Kirsten Nunez of Studs & Pearls is that she’s “convinced DIY is the best form of self expression.” We love her take on the Composition Notebook and her reconstructed polaroid postcard series.

Making Nice in the Midwest seriously caught our eye with this papier mâché hand hooks DIY and we’ve been stalking ever since.

1.) Take a bottle…

2.) Add some yarn…and you’ve got yourself a Pinterest sensation: another whimsical creation from Rachael Smith of Penelope and Pip who, seriously, just sits down and comes up with this stuff.

The same thinking applies to this yarn stool over at BRIGG, the flawlessly stylish Scandinavian blog.

We might not fully understand the instructions (being in Norwegian, as they are), but we know inspired blogging and DIY-ing when we see it. It just clicks.

Image: Morning Theft

The post Doing It Herself: The Fab ‘Can Do’ Girls of DIY appeared first on EcoSalon.

From IKEA “designer” hostels to concrete bunkers in Albania, European stopovers that are anything but conventional. 

News surfaced earlier this summer that Inter Ikea, the company that owns IKEA’s intellectual property rights, was segueing into the “budget design” hotel market. This will not be the first IKEA lodge, or even the company’s first urbanized endeavor. In 2007, they opened an IKEA hostel in a Norwegian store; next year, the Swedes are assembling a self-contained neighborhood in East London.

The new hotel chain – expected to roll out 100 locations across the UK, the Netherlands and Poland – will not carry the blue and yellow logo, nor is it clear if Swedish meatballs with lingonberries will be on the menu. What is clear, however, is that the flatpacking giant is cashing in on what is the fastest growing segment in the European hotel industry: that of hip, budget design and “experiential” overnights for intrepid backpackers.

Book us on the Eurorail; here are a handful of wanderlust inducing locales, plus some bonus hindquarters right here in America.

La Villa Hampster in Nantes, France 

At this Kafkaesque gîte, guests get to experience life from a rodent’s point of view replete with suspended cages, ladders, woodchip-strewn flooring and the option of plushy hampster pjs.

Concrete Bunkers, Albania

Entrepreneurs Gyler Mydyti and Elian Stefa looked at Albania’s 750,000 concrete bunkers and came up with a creative re-use project for the Communist-era ruins. Calling the idea a “future mode of Mediterranean tourism,” the project offers budget accommodation in picturesque locations.

Hostel Celica in Ljubljana, Slovenia

After the Yugoslav army left in 1991, this former prison was transformed into an Art House hostel that eventually became, as Lonely Planet put it, the world’s hippest hostel and Rough Guide’s ultimate 25 places to stay…in the whole wide world.

Images: Click78; Reuters; Trend Hunter; Unusual Hotels of the World; House and Home; National Geographic

The post 7 Unique, Budget & Downright Odd Euro Hostel Adventures appeared first on EcoSalon.

Ten ways to create a toxin-free, beautiful home.

Our homes are dirty, toxic places. In fact the average home contains over 500 chemicals, indoor air tends to be up to five times more polluted than outside air, and if you have a chemically treated lawn, 19 of the 30 most commonly used chemicals are linked to cancer –making the typical American filthy.

What’s a home dweller to do? Detox. And it needn’t involve bulky air purifiers and filtration systems. Here are a dozen ways to filter out toxins while keeping your space pretty and livable.

Oxygenate 

This geometric modular hanging greenhouse from University of Toronto researchers is meant to filter toxins out of the home by hydroponically feeding household plants, while allowing their roots to remain exposed.

Establish a No-Shoe Rule

Given that most household dirt, pesticides and other toxins are transported around the house on shoes, enact a no shoes rule. Opt instead for bare feet or slippers. Go the grown up route with a portable stepper from self-start upstart Quirky:

Or live a little with a cute Japanese version from My Sweet Muffin.

Bring the Welcome Mat In

Bring the welcome mat inside by placing them vertically in all entryways. Here’s a nice one from VivaTerra made, appropriately enough, from recycled flip-flops.

Clean Green

Dump the chemical cleaners and opt for cleaner and greener ones. Either DIY naturally or purchase with caution. We recommend the eco-cleaning kit from the Laundress.

Remember: “The future” is not in plastics

Certain plastics contain Bisphenol A (BPA), which is linked to cancer, endocrine and developmental problems. Avoid plastic food packaging whenever possible and opt for unzipped glass containers instead. This one being a highly literal version, of course.

Go Teflon Free

Rid yourself of non stick pans, pots, bakeware and utensils. Teflon harbors perfluorinated chemicals (PFC’s), which have also been linked to cancer. The Thermolon nonstick “GreenPan” on the other hand is made from a polymer ceramic nanocomposite and during manufacture emits 50 percent less greenhouse-gases than other non-stick cookware.

Dust Up

Dust = more toxins. Get yourself a pretty duster like the hand-crafted artisan example above from Objects of Use or duo of pear wood dusters.

Get natural

Synthetic carpeting is rife with toxins. As such, outfit your home in natural fiber wool & cotton rugs.

Use low VOC, low odor latex (water based) paint

All the majors feature a range, including Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams and YOLO Colorhouse. When painting, be sure to aerate.

Be kind. Go slow.

A home lacking in compassion and love is not only ugly, it’s toxic. Keep your home resentment free — and by all means slow down and revel in the dust bunnies.

DEAR HOUSE, MAY I PET , TICKLE, RUB, SWEEP, PICK, WASH, SCRUB, SCRATCH AND STROKE YOU…? from Thalia de Jong on Vimeo.

Image: Marijke Annema

The post Detox Your Home, The Pretty Way appeared first on EcoSalon.