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Sustainable Corner Desk with Peninsula

This big, bold desk needs a nice corner to nestle into. We love its curvy lines and raised shelf to accommodate a computer monitor, PDA, or books. It’s made from sustainably, organically-grown Chinese bamboo and, amazingly, fits together in three minutes with no tools required. The desk’s gorgeous form factor, adjustable shelving, and hidden cable management comes together to make a beautiful focal point for any home office.

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The Cubby Desk

If you work on just a laptop, you may not need a huge, sprawling space to spread out. This compact desk is large enough to hold a laptop and office supplies on the top, while still leaving room to park a printer and phone on the top shelf. Stash envelopes and files in one of the cubbies, and corral all your pens in the slide out drawer. The desk is made from FCF-certified birch and coated in your choice of six eco-friendly veneers. The steel legs are finished in tough aluminum powder and lend a certain androgyny to the piece, making it practical for a two people sharing a single workspace.

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QDesk Combo

Why should adults get to have all the fun? Stash this fun kids’ desk in a corner for your lads and lassies to finish their homework in style. Made entirely of 100 percent recyclable polyethylene, it’s available in a batch of different colors and in both right and left-handed versions. A handy opening at the base is perfect for stashing papers, books, and the gum you aren’t allowed to chew in school.

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Personal Air Fresh Desk

Breathe easy while you sit at this unique desk to get your stuff done. Its deep recess run the length of three sides to hold plants, and provide a little privacy. A desk with a built-in personal air cleaner? Pretty sweet.

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Uzura Reception Desk

This honey of a desk was built to reside in a reception area, but could absolutely work as a way to carve a home-office space out of a large room in your house. It’s made of liana and plywood, and somewhat resembles a giant sisal tumbleweed. Angled backward into a corner, the desk’s high back gives the illusion of private work area without cutting you off from the rest of the room.

The post 5 Desks to Feel Good About Using appeared first on EcoSalon.

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Dreaming Spires Willow Playhouse

Arguably the most sustainably designed playhouse on the planet, the Dreaming Spires Willow Playhouse is as enchanting as it is green. Handmade in Surrey, England by artist Judith Needham, this beauty is fashioned with annually renewable English Willow which naturally degrades over 4-5 years. The structure may then be recycled directly back into the garden in which it resides: used as fire kindling, placed in a compost bin, or shredded for garden mulch.

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qb Playhouse

“Choose-build-play” is the motto for qb playhouses, which kids may customize themselves to make their backyard castle truly unique. The qb design team will even tailor-make a playhouse according to a print or photograph you upload to their website. Check out the playhouse at the top of this post to see an example of the delightful and whimsical qb playhouse, all of which are made with eco-friendly wood. Doesn’t it look like something straight out of a Tim Burton film?

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La Roulotte Playhouse by MIKO DESIGN

Mum/textile designer Erika Harberts built, landscaped and decorated the interior of this breathtaking playhouse, dubbed La Roulotte (gypsy caravan) for her two daughters. Built as a family project, the dreamy space was created with “recycled, vintage, given and handmade materials.” The inside boasts cushions made from vintage scarves, a quaint play kitchen punctuated by live plants and a bedroom designated by a homemade patchwork curtain. Visit the playhouse’s Flickr photo page for more inspiration, ooohs and aaahs!

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Made by Joel Backyard Playhouse

Artist and dad Joel Henriques custom built this chic playhouse for his kids, transforming an unassuming strip of cement behind his garage into a space filled with boundless charm. Joel says this venture was simple – economical – and he used all non-toxic paint and varnish, including chalkboard paint which turned the interior walls of the house into a constantly transforming canvas.

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Piccolina Designs Playhouse, inspired by the movie Up

If your kids are too young to venture outside by themselves, but you still want them to engage in independent play, consider building them an indoor abode out of cardboard boxes and household materials. Designed by mom, Mia, for her toddler who is obsessed with the film Up, she explains, “The entire project is composed of used cardboard boxes, cleverly recycled into the walls and rooflines of her new digs. All support pieces are from empty wrapping paper rolls and packing materials that came with said boxes.”

Images: qb, Judith Needham Willow Design, MIKO DESIGN, Made by Joel, Piccolina Designs

The post 5 Eco-Friendly Playhouses for Nature Loving Kids appeared first on EcoSalon.

We all know that baking soda can be used to clean everything from your counter tops to your teeth. But did you know that there are plenty of other eco-friendly cleaners that you can whip up with a few common kitchen ingredients? Here are five of our favorites.

1. Vodka laundry freshener

   The smarties over at Webecoist say a spritz or two of vodka on your clothes will freshen them up between washes. They swear that the booze scent evaporates quickly, along with the noxious odors you’re trying to kill. This isn’t technically a “recipe” since you’re not combining any ingredients with the vodka, but it’s too clever an idea to pass up. And, no, we don’t recommend mixing orange juice into your vodka-filled spray bottle.

2. Creamy soft scrubber

   Sure, those goopy white creamy cleansers do a great job of removing gunk from sinks and showers, but we can do without the fumes and chemicals. Care2 has a terrific idea for making a similar cleanser that won’t leave you gasping for air every time you use it. Put about 1/2 a cup of baking soda in a bowl, then add a little liquid detergent until the mixture resembles cake frosting. Scrub to your heart’s content without unleashing a cadre of chemicals into your home.

3. Glass cleaner

   To make your widows and mirrors sparkle, try the approach recommended by Green Homes. Add two tablespoons of white vinegar to a gallon of water, put some in a spray bottle and go nuts. If the smell of vinegar bothers you or evokes memories of that bad egg-dyeing session you’re trying to forget, use club soda or lemon juice instead.

4. Drain cleaner

   Oh, this one is fun! Eco-Friendly Cleaning says forget the caustic drain cleaner from the hardware store, grab a box of baking soda, a cup of vinegar, lemon juice and a gallon of hot water instead. Call the kids in to watch while you create your own little homemade volcano. First pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain and follow it up with the vinegar, then about 1/4 cup of lemon juice. Let it foam and fizz for a while, then rinse the drain with the bucket of hot water.

5. Furniture polish

   Lighter Footstep nails down a great homemade recipe for making your wood furniture glow. Fill a spray bottle with a cup of olive oil and 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Your furniture (and lungs) will thank you for not rubbing chemical-laden spray all over the place. As an added bonus, if all that house cleaning leaves you famished, spritz a plate of pasta with your new furniture polish, toss in a handful of basil, and there’s lunch!

Image by alancleaver_2000

The post Top 5 Eco-Friendly Cleaning Recipes appeared first on EcoSalon.

One of our favorite design mediums is clay because we’re in awe at what an artist can create out of clumps of earth and a little water. Of course, there was also that scene in Ghost that makes us love clay even more… but we digress.

Here are five of our favorite clay designers that we think you’ll love, too.

Hippiekingdom

How can you not love this chunky beaded bracelet made from forest green natural clay? There’s even matching earrings and a necklace if you want to get all coordinated. Besides coming up with awesome clay-based jewelry, this designer also creates neat stuff out of paper, so be sure to check out the entire shop.

American Clay

When it comes to interior design, it’s hard to beat the look of walls covered in environmentally friendly, non-toxic earth plaster. Available in several colors and textures, American Clay’s approach to wall coverings get high marks from us for their beauty and the way it can be used from the most contemporary to the most traditional design schemes.

One Dream Design

Speaking of interior decorating, get a load of these handmade basin sinks. They’re just stunning and come in all kinds of shapes, colors and sizes to match your bathroom’s decor. This company also makes whimsical vases, bowls, and pots, like this 36-inch high vase with human-shaped ears for handles.

Atelier NL

Home design blog Dwell spotted this amazing line of clay kitchenware called Polderceramics. Each piece is made from clay taken from farms all around the Netherlands, then shaped into bowls, jugs, carafes, and other beautiful ceramics. It’s a gorgeous approach to tableware that makes us hope they create product lines for other rooms in the home.

Echo of Deco

If you’re a fan of art deco, you’ll go nuts for designs in this British pottery gallery. For example, take the line of darling glazed animal-shaped figures above. It’s called the “Ark Deco” line – get it? Ha! All the other pieces in the gallery are just as clever and reminiscent of the 1920’s and 1930’s jazz era and are just too cool for words.

Image: Atelier Clay Service

The post 5 Clay Designers We Love appeared first on EcoSalon.