With plaster antlers and synthetic animal hide adorning eco homes everywhere, why not faux taxidermy? If you like the rustic look but aren’t feeling a real head on your wall, the faux mount may be right up your alley.

You know taxidermy, the art of mounting stuffed animal heads on a wall. Yes, it is an art. Not for everyone and many may even feel it’s a little creepy. But as the daughter of a talented and ethical taxidermist I can tell you, however you feel about it, there are those who are good at taxidermy and those who are … well … not.

There is the straightforward, hunter-esque sort of taxidermy. There is a bit edgier side to taxidermy, as well. Something for everyone?

Maybe.

If you are a home décor fanatic, you may be attracted to certain trends that are less than eco. Antlers, hides and skins are a big deal right now in interiors. They look cool. But do you feel okay about having animal parts tossed (however tastefully) around your home?

There is salvation for those of us looking to get in on the latest without the an-animal-lost-his-life guilt. Sub in plaster or ceramic antlers for the real thing. I love my fake sheepskin throws. You can even buy authentic looking faux animal hides to use as rugs.

Now for that head you’ve been longing to hang on your den wall? Enter, faux taxidermy. “Animal heads” made from metal, cardboard, wood, fiberglass…you kind of have options, here.

Ok, so most of us are not exactly lusting after a wall mounted head, faux or not. Safe to say, it is most likely something we can live without. And like traditional taxidermy, there is both good and weird stuff out there.

Now take a look at Mbare’s Recycled Metal Wall Art. These pieces are not only pretty and super unique, but made in Zimbabwe from recycled car tin.

One of a kind wildebeest, kudu, or springbok to adorn your living room? Pretty cool. Daniel, the man who makes these works of art, learned the craft from his father and now supports his own family with the business. Each piece sells for $58.

Has your idea of taxidermy changed? Can you see yourself purchasing a piece of faux taxidermy? A colorful water buffalo would look mighty nice sidled up against your artificial zebra print rug.

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Images from Mbare.com

The post Faux Taxidermy is a Thing: Would You Hang This on Your Wall? appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnPressuring ourselves to “get out more” is an old hat we use to deal with our problems. Fresh air. Exercise. New experiences. It makes sense. But sometimes answers can be found by spending more time in our “place.” Here’s a case for respecting your inner homebody.

I’ve recently taken a few of those silly online quizzes that tell you who you are, what you were and where you should be. It’s a guilty distraction, I know, but it has importantly been determined that I’m Gustav Klimt, living in a minimalist Paris apartment during the Renaissance and playing lead guitar for Led Zeppelin. Fair enough. Count me in.

I mention this because among the many odd questions that helped these brilliant algorithms identify my true self, one popped up that got my attention: “Do you prefer to be inside [picture of some dark, ill-defined interior] or outside [a lovely mountain with a lovelier waterfall]?” I clicked “outside,” of course—but then paused, hit the back button and stared at the question again. Could I? Might I? Yes. I changed my answer to “inside.”

Allow me assuage some guilt out of the gate and say that I do love the outdoors. I’ve climbed some big mountains, hiked some excellent trails and believe Ra is the one true god. Also, with summer coming, I’m well aware that championing the indoors might not resonate very well with the promise of a much-needed vitamin D fix on the near horizon—particularly for my long-suffering friends back East. (Sorry, dudes. You’re welcome in Cali anytime.) Nevertheless, I think the great indoors—and staying home, in particular—gets a bad rap.

Most of us have a love-hate relationship with our personal home space—one that’s easy to take for granted. After all, it’s where we conduct such inspiring tasks as doing laundry, collapsing in front of the TV, going to the bathroom and eating hastily made eggs over the sink before rushing out to our “real” lives. Even those of us who take great care in tending to our insides, as it were, or choose to work at home (as I do), would be excused for gliding over its value and impact as familiarity indeed breeds oversight. You know, in plain sight, out of mind.

But next time you’re home (if you’re not all cozy now), take a moment to stop and look around, and pay some attention to your quarters. As the poet W.S. Merwin put it:

Just this, just this, this room where we are. Pay attention to that. Pay attention to who’s there, pay attention to what isn’t known there, pay attention to what is known there, pay attention to what everyone is thinking and feeling, what you’re doing there, and pay attention. Pay attention.

If you do, interesting things are sure to emerge. The colors you (and perhaps your roommate or partner) once chose to “open up the space.” How incoming light glints this way and that. What’s lying around? Magazines? Photos? Check out those books on the shelf. Which ones have you read? Which ones have you not? Why not? When was the last time you looked at that art on your wall? Remember when you got it? What was happening in your life then? Did you buy it overseas? Or at Pier One? What does that mean?

And here’s an ode to tchotchkes. I know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea (and dusting is a drag), but most of us have lots of them. From where I now sit, I see a curious combination of class (a lovely Baccarat glass statue of a Labrador retriever I stole from my parents) to kitsch (a Detroit Red Wings shot glass filled with Tootsie Roll Pops) to somewhere in between (a small ceramic sculpture of a head I made one day in college that somehow turned out way above my pay grade).

Though my space doesn’t give off the hoarder vibe, there are little things everywhere. They elicit memories of some of the many nouns in my life—the people, places and things—that at one time or another were important to me. All told, knickknacks are clues—curated breadcrumbs that can lead us back through our lives to experiences that may need re-exploring, analysis or just one more well-deserved smile.

Room to Create

Aside from stirring your memory pot, exploring your space can be a limitless source of creative and emotional inspiration, as well. At home you can have an interesting and productive conversation with yourself. One obvious example of how such space inspiration works is in the visual arts. Artists use the word studio—or “room for study”—to describe the place where they retreat to energize their thinking and do their work. Two quick examples:

A friend of mine, the artist Abigail Doan, spends a lot of time working with found objects. She says her home environment is “constantly evolving with the displayed objects that [she’s] currently researching or interpreting.” Her work with sculptural fiber forms and still life arrangements “often migrates from room to room in a dialogue with my children’s play activities as they, too, draw and create objects with materials that we collectively recycle in the home or find outdoors. There is a certain clarity that comes from making things work in the time and space that one has available.” By arranging, rearranging and juxtaposing items she’s gathered, Doan grows new concepts. This is a process that happens inside.

Also consider the game-changing Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957). Without belaboring my fascination with his revolutionary work, the relevant short take is this: the artist is inexorably linked to his commitment (some say retreat after scandals related to public reception of his work) to his Paris workshop, which was also his home. He constantly photographed it and invited the world to come to him, rather than pushing his work “out.” And he was always rearranging his pieces so they would support and impact each other, often describing how the populated space itself was his expression. (Man Ray described visiting the studio as “penetrating into another world.”) After his death, he left his “Atelier Brancusi” to the French state with instructions that it be displayed exactly as it was the day he died. Painstakingly recreated just outside the Centre Pompidou, the great master’s magnificent “interior” is now available to all of us.

Of course, the broader idea of “studio” is not limited to the visual arts. The workspaces of all great thinkers and writers are, in fact, a source of great public fascination. (Note the recent online obsession with library and study “porn.”) In any case, allowing what’s happening inside your four walls to expand your thinking—rather than confine it—can be a wonderfully creative experience.

Room to Learn

For many of us, our very personal relationships with our inside space goes back to our childhood bedrooms. I remember when I was young getting a great buzz when I gave in to orders to clean my “calamity.” In fact, I came to enjoy it, right down to arranging the pencils and markers in my desk drawer. Better still was rearranging my furniture—moving the bed here, the desk there, changing out this poster for that one. Sometimes the new arrangements made sense. Sometimes I created ergonomic disaster areas. But still, I got a charge out of doing it. Somehow it made me feel smarter.

Today, I can be a tad OCD-ish. (I know, flip self-diagnosis bugs the hell out of me too, but you get my drift.) I have to neaten my home office before I begin to write and my studio before I put brush to canvas. I don’t have a clean fetish or germ phobia, but I do react well to organized clutter. It gives me the illusion that I have my shit together—that my thoughts are straight, that I somehow know what I’m doing. And I’ve read that, like all things behavioral, there’s some neuroscience to this.

One way of learning, especially when we’re young, is getting raw data in. New experiences. Fresh information. Soaking it all up like a sponge. But as we age, it’s about more than adding new bits. It’s about working with what we already have in stock. That is to say, by repositioning what we’ve already acquired into new relationships, we see new patterns—and we learn. Existential angstists might refer to this as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. I say it’s part of the fun. Regardless, spending time rethinking can shake loose new ideas.

I know the idea of hermitage isn’t for everyone, and that’s perhaps too strong a word, anyway. But looking “inside” for new inspiration, using the found objects of our lives to grow and inspire and develop new tales with our existing vocabulary, so to speak, can open new doors in ways that simply opening the exit door can’t. By all means, get out and breathe the fresh air. Find new things and ideas. But don’t be afraid to take them home with you. You never know what you might come up with after you empty your pockets on the table, move things around a bit and realize that knowledge and growth are at hand.

Now if you’ll excuse me, the laundry is piling up.

Scott Adelson—who does indeed go outside—is EcoSalon’s Senior Editor of HyperKulture, a monthly column that explores opening cultural doors to initiate personal change. He is also the author of InPRINT, which reviews and discusses books, new and old. You can reach him at scott at adelson dot org and follow him @scottadelson on Twitter.

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Images: Allie_Caulfield (top): René Magritte, Les Valeurs Personnelles (Personal Values), 1952; Scott Adelson (center): Atelier Brancusi, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Abigail Doan: Fiber Form Drawing |2012 (Sofia), Abigail Doan, 2012.

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Sustainable design inspired by an unsustainable war.

EcoSalon writer Stephanie Rogers outlined the myriad public works a month of war funding could pay for, including wind energy, high-speed rail, Superfund cleanup and an end to hunger in the United States. Earlier this week, the New York Times released a poll with CBS News that found 69 percent of Americans think the U.S. should not be involved in the war in Afghanistan. Sixty-eight percent think it’s going badly; 35 percent say “very badly.”

As a nation, we have been at some kind of war for over a decade. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that we see so much upcycled and repurposed military paraphernalia on the home front. But is the army aesthetic fatigued, or will it forever remain militantly chic?

A handmade jump seat made from sustainable solid mango wood top swivels.

A reproduction of a 1949 mappemonde found in a French antique shop. It shows borders as they were then, with the Middle East and Germany “at major transition points in their histories.”

This industrial double pendant operates on a die-cast pulley system, a metaphorical play on the industrial war machine.

We’ve featured the Recycled Army Canvas Bean Bag before. The hand-stitched topography is made from the reclaimed canvas of old Army tents and tarps, keeping this durable material out of landfills.

This replica of a vintage American factory bin is a natural accent for a military inspired abode.

The Safia from Environment Furniture is a big, modern sofa upholstered in vintage canvas from Army tents.

A lamp created from military-grade grenades, destined to become your space’s conversation sparker.

The post On the Home Front: Military Chic appeared first on EcoSalon.

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 post Trend: High-Contrast Metallic Wood Accents appeared first on EcoSalon.

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

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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

The post Lustables: Reclaimed Tin & Wood Magnetic Frames appeared first on EcoSalon.

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

The post Lustables: Couple Themed Throw Pillows appeared first on EcoSalon.

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.

The post Rock This Look appeared first on EcoSalon.

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

The post White (Rooms) After Labor Day appeared first on EcoSalon.

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;

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