Rugs+Carpet – Fabulously Green

Category archives: Rugs+Carpet

Felt Furnishings from Illu Stration

10Nov07

It’s always exciting to see what’s new at Illu Stration, Mary Ann Williams’ German-based design studio known for innovating exquisitely tactile felt furnishings and accessories.

Mary Ann sent me these photos earlier in the summer (oops) but aren’t they perfect for late fall? Oak Leaves is a modular system which are either available assembled or as a do-it-yourself kit in a box for your own inspired creations.

Oak Leaves interlock into virtually any size or shape. Some suggestions from Mary Ann include shaping them into pendants (like the hot scarlet number shown above), rugs, wall panels, cushions, lampshades.

Softer and more enduring than a crunchy pile of freshly raked leaves…perfect for jumping on and rolling around in.

A snow white cushion, adds form, function and fun to any living space.

Like the pieces we’ve showcased before, these felt-Flokatis are made from renewable, biodegradable wool. Their interlocking nature means you can create and recreate to your heart’s content. For more information, visit the Illu Stration website.

Filed under Furnishings, Handmade, Interior Design, Lighting, Rugs+Carpet, Small Space Style, Wallcoverings| Tagged Biodegradable, Changeable Style, cushions, design, DIY Style, Eco-friendly, Furnishings, Handmade, home, Illu Stration, interiors, Mary Ann Williams, modern decor, Reusable, style | No Comments

Holiday Style File | Modern Green Christmas p.1

09Nov07

My family is coming out to me this Christmas so I’ve started thinking about how to deck out the apartment – in a fabulously green way of course! So I’ve been on the hunt for decorations that serve double duty for the festive season and beyond (restyle is the Fab Green motto). Will post them as we find them — if you’ve got a few fab green ideas to share, bring them on!

PRETTY AS A PARTRIDGE

These ornaments are perfect for the winter holidays or year round, depending on how you play with them. You can hang them on your tree, over a doorway or mantle for a modern, Christmasy effect. In the new year why not let these flocks take flight as a focal point in a room? Suspend them like a chandelier or an art installation. These are made in Germany from certified eco-friendly and biodegrable wool. Spotted at Branch Home, $18/pair in red and white, or light and dark green.

HEY BABY, LET’S CUT THE RUG

Felted rugs have been the rage all year, and Interface FLOR, one of our favored sustainable carpet companies, offers its own version for the holidays. Party Dress is a fancy cut rug made from the popular Fedora line of tiles. Or for the design-minded who are handy with a carpet knife, you could customize your own border. This modular, cuttable beauties boast eight contemporary colorways and are made from 80% post-consumer fibers. Oh the possibilities!

Filed under Multifunctional Design, Rugs+Carpet, Small Space Style| Tagged Biodegradable, Christmas, Decorations, Eco-friendly, Holiday Style, Interface FLOR, Ornaments, Reusable | 1 Comment

Ample Sample Contest Finalists

12Jun07

You may remember back in March we announced Tricycle’s Ample Sample Contest, daring interior designers to transform their stacks of carpet samples into an appealing, functional interiors product. Ample Sample contest hosts Tricycle, Bentley Prince Street and Floor Focus Magazine designed the contest to help promote the “rescue by design” of hundreds of thousands of carpet samples that fall prey to landfills each year. Designers across the country cleaned out their material libraries and produced an impressive range of clever, inspired concepts ranging from furniture to light fixtures, hand bags to wall dividers. Well, the finalists have been picked and are on exhibit this week at NeoCon, but if you’re geographically challenged like me, you can view new photos posted just today on the Ample Sample website. Continue reading

Filed under Furniture, Interior Design, Lifestyle Tips, Refashion+Refurb, Rugs+Carpet, Unique| Tagged Competitions+Contests, Eco-friendly | No Comments

Angela Adams' Sustainable Style

25Apr07

I’ve been a long time fan of Angela Adams’ designs–many of which have become modern day icons. Beloved not only for their whimsical yet sophisticated style, but also as Rugmark labeled (i.e. no child labor is used), they exude style with a conscience.

She’s taken her designs one step further into the world of sustainable style: a collection of textiles called Sustainable for Architex made from 100% post-industrial recycled polyester. They are intended for corporate, healthcare, education, hospitality and retail applications, which means they are durable enough to withstand heavy traffic and abuse.

The collection features 11 patterns in all; available in up to 9 colorways per pattern. To see and order from the full collection visit the Architex website.

Filed under Interior Design, Rugs+Carpet, Small Space Style| Tagged Eco-friendly | No Comments

TRICYCLE's Ample Sample Contest

10Apr07

Attention designers: Looking for a chance to showcase your creativity and support a good green cause? Caleb Ludwick and the gang at TRICYCLE dare you to design a fabulous piece of furniture or interior accessory using that stack of carpet samples slumbering away in your materials library.

Why? Cast-off carpet comprises a large portion of our landfills. Over 700,000 carpet samples are shipped to designers and architects each year. But what if they can be transformed into high-style pieces for an interior space? If you can dream it, you can create it. Here’s a peek at a few sample designs from the ample sample site spark your imagination:

Submission deadline is May 15. Winning designs will be promoted at this year’s NeoCon in Chicago, and featured in Floor Focus magazine. You can download an application here. Good luck!

Filed under Interior Design, Rugs+Carpet| Tagged Competitions+Contests | No Comments

Fab Friday | Interior Finds

16Feb07

Hot green finds around the web:

PEEK-A-BOO

Memento Rug by Norwegian company 2Form
100% wool felt, made sans child-labor, biodegradable
Spotted at Design Milk

SIDEBOARD STYLE

A gorgeous vintage modern collectible sideboard/credenza is up for sale at Brooklyn’s primo vintage furniture boutique Baxter & Liebchen.

Spotted at Design*Sponge

MODERN PLUSH

Esther Diamond Collection of throw pillows take their style inspiration from vintage modern fabrics.

Spotted at Hannah Pittman’s Style Hive

WINED AND DINED

Resourceful Canadian company Yellowknife Glass Recycler’s Coop brings second life to empty wine bottles. Voila–whimsical drinking glasses for your next foray into the bubbly!

Spotted at Great Green Goods

STYLE FROM THE STORM

Apparently it gets rather stormy in parts of Canada. Case in point: downed trees make up the main raw material for SMC Furnishings, a company that creates beautiful pieces like this headboard from reclaimed wood.

Spotted at Trendir

Filed under Furnishings, Furniture, Handmade, Indie, Interior Design, Refashion+Refurb, Rugs+Carpet, Vintage| Tagged Biodegradable, Eco-friendly, Handmade, Indie, Tabletop | No Comments

Sneak Peak: e bella's newest rug

17Jan07

Annie at e bella sent over some pictures from their newest product line and I fell hard for the new Rio Oro Rug featured above (the landscape ain’t too shabby either). What was the inspiration, I asked her. Apparently Nicole Linton (the founder-designer behind e bella) had found artistic inspiration in a river bed last summer and had sat down to paint. Several months later, her watercolor abstract found new life in this beautifully woven Rio Oro which means “river and rock” in Portuguese.

Only one has been made so it’s an exclusive piece, but custom orders can be taken. For more information, visit e bella designs.

Committed to creating “art without borders” e bella has worked with Peruvian artists since 1992 to design contemporary pieces using traditional techniques. Their mission has contributed to raising the standard of living for many weavers and their families.

Thanks Annie for the sneak peek as always!

Filed under Handmade, Interior Design, Rugs+Carpet| Tagged Biodegradable, Eco-friendly, Handmade | No Comments

FLOR Holiday Sale

13Nov06

FG favorite FLOR is having holiday sale–15% off of everything in their collections. We love them for their mix-and-match potential, easy breezy installation, and eco-friendly leadership in the carpet industry. Simply type in FSH1506 before Friday November 17 to take advantage of the discount.

Some budget-style options:

Fedora Carpet Tiles by FLOR
Fedora is truly an example of eco-modern style. You can design-your-own pattern from six contemporary colors. Plus it’s made from 80% post-consumer content and feels like brushed felt. $5.94 a tile ($2.21/sf) after 15% sale.

Heartfelt Carpet Tiles by FLOR
Heartfelt is a clean, minimalist take on the textured felt trend made popular by Ill-ustration, nani marquina, and Anne Kyrro Quinn. We love felt because it’s a natural fiber (no chemicals), it’s tactile, naturally fire-retardant and biodegradable (interior designers have health and safety issues to consider for our clients). Since it’s a tile, I personally recommend the darker colors if you want a clean, uninterrupted surface. $10.19/tile ($3.79/sf) after 15% sale.

Terra Carpet Tiles by FLOR
A playful take on neutrals, Terra offers another opportunity to get creative and mix and match your own pattern. It also takes advantage of textiles made from corn (in this case PLA to be specific). Considered green because it’s natural and renewable, though some eco-purists question possible downsides depending on how the corn is grown. Read more about corn-based textiles here. $11.04 /tile ($4.10/sf) after 15% sale.

Hello Doily Rug by FLOR
I love the Hello Doily rug for its ability to transform Victorian style into something urban and sleek. $322 after 15% sale.

Filed under Budget Decor, Interior Design, Rugs+Carpet, Sales+Shopping, Small Space Style| Tagged Biodegradable, Changeable Style, Eco-friendly, Non-toxic | No Comments

Vote for Interior Design's Products of the Year

03Nov06

For all you opinionated designers and design enthusiasts it’s time to cast your ballots in for Interior Design Magazine’s Best of Year Products. 13 contenders are vying for best Eco-Product but at least 10 other green style products are vying for top-nods in more traditional categories–indicating that eco-style is here to stay and not just for earth-friendly hippie mamas anymore.

FG doesn’t want to sway you too much, but I can’t help but share some of my personal favorite products of the bunch:

Inhabit’s Embossed Wall Flats. FG covered these fabulous wall flats in the You’re My Wonderwall entry. We fell in love with their looks, their content (bamboo pulp), and the affordable style. They’re as easy as painting a wall with extra Wow factor. You can tape them as is (or paint if desired) and voila–your space is transformed. Great for apartment dwellers and homeowners–my husband and I are getting some as part of our bedroom makeover. Up for best Eco-Product of the Year.

EcoSmart Fire
I fell in love with these hip, freestanding gas fireplaces when first researching fireplaces for a client last year. They’re sleek and smart–no flue or hard installation needed. These are freestanding move enhancers fuelled by a renewable energy (denatured ethanol) that burns clear. Up for best product Innovation
.

Angela Adams for Shaw Contract Group
Angela Adams has been the darling of the interiors world for years. Patterns like the Lulu rug we featured in our July 4th entry are newly minted icons that have popped up in all kinds of products from trademark rugs, to purses, stationery, and decorative tile. The Flaunting pattern designed for Shaw is up for best Soft Floorcovering .

Steel Tongue by PIE

Though we’ve seen tongue-inspired chairs before Interior Design called this one “pretty rebellious.” Designed by FG fave Bannavis Andrew Sribyatta for Project Import Export, Inc, it’s made of handwoven aluminum ribbons wrapped around a stainless steel frame. We love that it’s made from recycled and recyclable metal. Up for best Outdoor Furniture/Seating

Hollywood Hopscotch by Carolyn Ray Inc.
Zen meets a touch of Hollywood 20’s bling. Gold, silver and platinum rings are handpainted on 100% linen. The production process uses recycled industrial materials, self-sustaining fibers, and non-toxic inks. Up for best Residential Textiles-Sheers.

So what do you think? Hot or not? Or cast your votes at Interior Design now.

Filed under Furniture, Interior Design, Rugs+Carpet| Tagged Biodegradable, Competitions+Contests, Eco-friendly | No Comments

New Designs from e-bella

21Oct06

Annie over at è bella designs wrote in to give us a sneak peek into their new line of rugs and bags. You may remember seeing their beautiful pieces here before.

Orbit (in gray), Barron (in chocolate) and Myriad (in blue)

Leila, Olivia, Myriad (in blue) and Myriad (in Chocolate)

Olivia Bag

The Fab Factor: These rugs are handmade by Peruvian artists from alpaca wool and other natural fibers, designer Nicole Linton has developed a seven-year relationship with her artisans and supports the Quechua communities who craft her pieces. For more visit è bella designs.

Thanks Annie!

Filed under Bags, Interior Design, Rugs+Carpet| Tagged Biodegradable, Eco-friendly | No Comments

Fabulously Green