Decorate your space and show pride for where you’re from with these fun home decor finds.

Whether you’re from Anchorage, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, or some small-town no one’s ever heard of, most of us have some local or regional pride. You see this love of where we’re from when Texans argue the merits of their BBQ or when Philadelphians root for their sports teams. Humans have an innate sense of belonging that’s often tied to where we call home. It’s about pride, but it’s ultimately about wanting to feel connected to others and feel that you can always go home.

While we have this sense of place, some of us care to express our love for our city, town, state, team, or region in a more exuberant way. And we want to show our pride in unexpected ways with cool home decor –like with an I <3 California string wall art piece or with a zip code throw pillow.

Get in on the act by showing your geographical pride with these cool home decor finds.

Fun Home Decor Find to Show Where You’re From

1. Philadelphia Love Park Shower Curtain – Show your Philly pride with this colorful shower curtain featuring the Love Park sculpture. Shower curtains for Ocean City, Maryland and the state of Maryland are also available.

2. Customizable Zip Code Pillow – This fun customizable zip code pillow will make such a fun housewarming, host, or wedding gift or a great conversation piece for your own home. Show your home pride with your zip code digits.

3. California String Wall Art – What a wonderful way to show off your Cali love with this beautiful string art wall home decor piece. There are a variety of states from available from Florida and Texas to New York and Ohio.

4. Long Distance State Pillows –  We love these personalized state map pillows. They would make an ideal gift for a couple for either a housewarming or as a wedding gift.

5. Idaho Wooden Wall Art – Choose to represent your state with these fun and colorful wall art pieces. Choose your state and your colors to make your own statement of pride.

6. My Fair Milwaukee Tea Towel – From Milwaukee? Show off with this cute and funky tea towel that shows off some of Milwaukee’s iconic buildings.

7. Boston Steel Wall Art –  If you are from Boston, you want to show that off. Choose to do that with this replica of downtown Boston rendered inside bubble lettering made from steel. Other cities like Denver, Indianapolis, San Diego, Chicago, and more are available.

8. I Love Washington Coasters – Everyone needs a coaster, so why not proclaim that you are Washington born and bred with your coasters? Choose from Arizona, Illinois, Oregon, and more.

9. Chicago Skyline Lamp – From the Windy City? Then you need this super cool lamp that features the Chicago skyline. Also available are lamps for New York, Milwaukee, and Seattle.

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Image: iPrintPoster

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Bambu’s newest line of cork fabric home and lifestyle products deliver a natural flair with a smaller carbon footprint.

Ok, let’s clear a couple of things up right away. This post is about a company called Bambu. Yes, they’ve made a name for themselves with handcrafted plates and utensils made from earth-friendly bamboo. But that’s not what this post is about.

Recently Bambu branched out into cork, another uber sustainable material that’s long been relegated to wine bottles and bulletin boards. They offered me a chance to take a couple of items from this new line for a test-drive, and, always on the lookout for responsible companies willing to buck the status quo, I jumped on it. Here’s what I discovered.

Soft, Flexible Cork

If the only cork you’ve encountered is shaped like, um, a cork, or riddled with thumb-tacks this may come as a surprise: cork doesn’t have to be rigid. All of the Bambu cork products I sampled were incredibly soft and flexible, especially the placemat and coasters. Hand constructed and backed with black cotton and contrast stitching, both items are naturally water and stain resistant. Which means (drum roll please…) you can throw them in the washing machine! Cork fabric is also dust and dirt-repellent, and inherently anti-bacterial and hypoallergenic.

Simple, Durable Design

If there’s one thing I hate, it’s “sustainable” products that are so high-priced or delicate that you’re scared to use them in your actual life. What good is a hand-crafted, artisinal anything if you’re constantly terrified of ruining it? This was absolutely not the case with Bambu cork fabric products. The slim wallet instantly caught the attention of my boyfriend, who noted its simplistic design and the fact that it would take up so little room in his back pocket. (Drawbacks he noted included the lack of a billfold portion and the rather large brushed-brass clasp element. Could be painful if you sit on it wrong).

Meanwhile, I’ve spent the last week or so playing around with the Adjust-A-Bowl, which has taken up permanent residence in the center of our dining room table. The silky, durable cork fabric is very pliable, allowing you to shape it, fold it, or even roll its edges to modify its size. So far, ours has held keys, mail, and a chubby orange cat who loves to snooze in baskets.

Responsible Manufacturing

I am constantly disappointed by how many “responsible” products are made in China to take advantage of cheap labor. Who cares whether or not your product is green when the people making it are treated like slaves? One of the most impressive things about Bambu is how they’re working to change this.

With roots in Portland, Oregon, the company is headquartered in Shanghai, China. Not only are Bambu’s production workshop, partnering facilities, raw-materials sources there, however, but the company’s founders re-located there as well. They live alongside the woodworkers, weavers and stitchers that make their products. “We make strides to further our commitment to 3rd-party certification and testing, promote fair labor practices and safe working conditions, and green our supply chain.” The company is a member of Green America and its Green Business Network, and manufactures using organic sources certified by IMO Switzerland. A selection of Bambu’s products are USDA Biobased-certified.

Images: Bambu

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Lounging on these is like escaping on your own personal lily pad.

These pillows, designed by Jenny Lee-Katz, are consciously printed with environmentally friendly pigment inks, hand cut and sewn in Pennsylvania, and available in linen, organic denim or a combination of hemp and organic cotton.

Lee-Katz says on her site: “My fascination with textiles, my love for color and cloth and the enjoyment and satisfaction I experience through working with it, has always been a big part of my life.”

These pillows will bring her love for design into your home.

Prices range from $140 on up, depending on the fabric.

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As the long days of summer filter light through your windows, take the opportunity to amplify the golden rays through your space with a well placed mirror (or two, or three). Hang a mirror directly opposite a window to reflect sunlight through the room, resulting in a lighter, brighter, larger space – and who doesn’t long for a lighter, brighter, larger space? Pro tip: Match the size of your mirror to the size of your window.

Here are some mirrors from VivaTerra to gracefully bounce light through your dwelling. (Every once in awhile I find a resource that makes my heart swell with love and my knees weak from pure aesthetic overload. VivaTerra does this to me.)

The Talisman Mirror Collection ($598) boasts antiqued mirrors nestled into mango wood frames while the Classic Floor Mirror($925) is big enough to bring in lots of light.

Editor’s note: This is Leigha’s first post on EcoSalon. Be sure to give her a warm welcome and say hello!

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