A weekly roundup of EcoSalon’s top stories.

For some women, skirts inspire feelings of love mixed with hate. EcoSalon West Coast fashion correspondent Rowena Ritchie writes in Skirting The Issues, “Hemlines are the litmus test of fashion history as a cultural study.” Do you agree?

If you’re like most people, you have a mountain of reusable bags that we hope you’re using and not just stockpiling to show how green you are. EcoSalon Editor-in-Chief, Sara Ost pens in her column The Insider’s Guide To Life: the Revolution Will Not Be Bagged, “Most of the time, I’m just amused by how relentless the bag pushers are. Rather than sigh in irritation during my moments of canvas bag forgetfulness, I’ve actually taken to forgetting my reusable bags on purpose just to see if I can be allowed out of the store without a bag for my chives or new d’Orsays. No one has called me crazy to my face. But their eyes say it all.”

We women have all had bad bosses, but your ex-heavy isn’t anything compared to these featured in senior editor Andrea Newell’s article, The Five Worst Companies For Women To Work At. Newell features “Five organizations that have recently been on the wrong end of allegations and legal action by women for gender discrimination and other unfair practices aimed primarily at female employees.”

People walk into your house and say, “You have the most original house of anyone I know.” After they say this, you scan your room overflowing with tropical plants, vintage lamps, a worn-in couch with Danish Mid-Century side tables and think to yourself “Huh?” Christiane Lemieux, founder and creative director of DwellStudio and author of Undecorate, would call your eclecticism a “Love of imperfection and penchant for surprise and unusual juxtapositions.” In Color Outside The Lines, Shelter Editor Leigha Oakes shows us how to break the rules.

Are there vegetables you always see at your farmer’s market or grocery store that you want to try out but are afraid of? In Vanessa Barrington’s Green Plate column, 5 Spring Vegetables To Love Right Now, five of those veggies are tackled with ease.

Image: cogdogblog

The post Friday Five, Vol. 8 appeared first on EcoSalon.

Un-styling your space by just being yourself, continuously.

I’m certain we covered close to everything there is to know about the art of undecorating in parts one and two, and it’s almost time to call it a wrap. You know the rules because there aren’t any, other than trusting your instincts.

And if your instincts tell you to hire a professional designer, then by all means, do it. But why not give undecorating a try?

The concept of undecorate just takes styling your home to a simpler level, without the pressure of perfection. It loosens you up a bit, asks you to sit back, relax and be yourself (which can be very refreshing).

Undecorate is here because our lives have called for it.

Now you just keep going.

I suggest you continue living, working, raising your children, dating, recycling, eating organic. Whatever you do, keep doing it, continuously. And enjoy your space. Look around you every day, notice what you chose, and be inspired.

Observe your life as it evolves and challenge yourself in all that you do. Don’t become complacent. Notice when things don’t matter to you anymore and as things change, allow your space to change as well.

Recycle, get rid of stuff, give it away. Keep undecorating continuously.

Then be grateful that you have the ability to break rules.

Images: nice*room, Avotakka, Sanctuary, interiors porn.

The post Undecorate, Naturally: Part Three appeared first on EcoSalon.

Un-styling your space by just being yourself, randomly.

In Undecorate, Naturally: Part One, we established that the new way to decorate begins and ends with trusting your instincts, choosing what you like and just going for it. There are no wrong answers. The best way forward is straight through your doubts or fears, to the colors, patterns and pieces that express you.

Nothing is holding you back. If there are no rules, what’s next?

Random, that’s what. I encourage you to recognize how random it all is, that you can move stuff around, add something here or take it away from there. Everything changes all the time, and so can your decorating.

If you like the things you choose, it doesn’t matter if they match or clash; they will come together and mesh because they are saying something other than a famous designer’s name or recognizable label. They are saying something about you.

Nothing needs to be set in cement because, well, it isn’t. Except the roof over your head. The way you style your space can be interchangeable room by room, day by day.

Challenge yourself further by randomly selecting things and finding different places for them. See how well the switch acclimates to a new setting. The more random you are, the better you’ll express your space as your own, because you’ve given up trying to create a perfect place and accepted who you are and where you live, as it is. As random and changeable as ever.

Images: Trendey, From the Right Bank, nice*room, interiors porn, House Beautiful.

The post Undecorate, Naturally: Part Two appeared first on EcoSalon.

Un-styling your space by just being yourself, naturally.

Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about the undoing of decorating. Our piece last week showed us the ins and outs of this new un-style, of letting go of the status quo and allowing a space to be personal rather than perfect.

You can go to school and learn the basics, the 1-2-3s of any craft, but no teacher can transfer the instinctual ability to express style. It’s either in your DNA or not. By knowing yourself and what you like, that doesn’t seem so hard, does it?

Working outside the box, or without any box at all, is just a cliché way of saying go for it, express yourself, thoroughly, from start to finish. Forget who’s watching or judging. Make it real, authentic, all about you. How? By looking around and choosing what you like.

Many outside forces have contributed to this move toward a more personal and relaxed way of setting up a space. Financial issues have changed our attitudes about luxury – less has become more. And the internet has made it easier than ever to explore, resource and shop for just about anything.

However it happened, it’s here. And what a relief. A space doesn’t have to be fancy or filled with expensive items to be extraordinary. It doesn’t require top interior design firms or specialty stores to feel comfortable and lived in. All you need is you.

Inspiration is everywhere. The challenge is using it in combination with your own je ne sais quoi. Only you know what it is and it doesn’t even need a name. It comes naturally. It’s you.

Images: From the Right Bank, dwell studio, Atlanta Bartlett, Nate Berkus, avotakka.

The post Undecorate, Naturally: Part One appeared first on EcoSalon.

Christiane Lemieux’s new book Undecorate breaks all the rules.

I follow the rules. I don’t park in emergency zones, I wait for my seating section to be called before boarding, and I always sort my recycling. But sometimes I color outside the lines. In fact, I break all social conventions and rules when it comes to design (remember my diatribe against furniture suites and homogeny?), so my heart pitters, patters, and flutters at the notion of Undecorate ($40), by Christiane Lemieux (the founder and creative director of DwellStudio). In this fresh new take on interiors, Lemieux explores spaces that challenge tradition with an eclectic, “love of imperfection and penchant for surprise and unusual juxtapositions.”

The premise of Undecorate sanctions taking hold of your space and taking the liberty to infuse your taste. If you find something you love, it belongs inside your walls – regardless of color, style, function, etc. Embracing diversity among your objects results in a unique aesthetic analogous to Bohemian whimsy.

Here’s an excerpt to ponder from the introduction of Undecorate.

“What does it mean to undecorate? A fine question.

It’s mixing fine antiques with your collection of Cher Barbie dolls, as Harry Heissman does in his description-defying apartment in Brooklyn Heights. It’s leaving temporary party decorations up for years because they just somehow seem right, as Erica Tanov does in her ridiculously beautiful California house. It’s wedging antique columns into a suburban house, or parking your cars in the living room, or building your own alter, or hanging vintage advertising posters in your toddler’s bedroom. Undecorated is following your instinct, even when it’s telling you to do something a little crazy, a little different, something against the rules.

Undecorating isn’t haphazard style; it’s not thought-free. It’s about being guided by something other than the traditional constraints – whether it’s your commitment to the environment, or your love of polka dots, or the fact that you want to feel like you’re in Paris when you live in Peoria.”

What’s not to love, right? I’m off to order my copy here. May I suggest you do the same? And don’t let it linger on your coffee table alone, set it beside one of these beautiful bound pictorial creations.

Images: Melanie Acevedo for Undecorate

The post Color Outside the Lines appeared first on EcoSalon.