DAILY DANNY

Glowy Owl Eyes

There were a couple of things left behind by the previous homeowner that I'm still learning something new about each day.   Cast in point: These iron owl fireplace accessories. 

There's a whole matching set of tools that go along with these retro looking pieces.   They work with the house and I'm going to keep them with the house.

The other day, when there was a bit of a chill in the air, I decided to bring in some firewood and light up a cozy fire.   When I left the room and walked back, that's when I noticed that the glass eyes in the owls lit up with a slightly eerie glow.    It felt very Harry Potter movie-esque to me. 

Needless to say, I loved it.

You just don't find home products like this anymore.   

Here's a more detailed shot:

 

Quiz Week: How old is your toilet?

How old are your toilets?

A:   They are brand new.

B:    They are antiques that came with house.

ANSWER:   Any toilet made before 1994 is likely to be using a whopping 5 gallons of water per flush.     A

US

government mandate that began in 1995 requires that all new toilets installed in homes use no more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush. 

Even if your old toilets are in great shape, it's worth replacing them with a low-flow toilet.   In some communities, they are collecting vitreous porcelain and crushing them down for use in roads... but those instances are rare.    If you can't find a place to recycle it, send it packing to the landfill.  The overall eco benefits of a water saving toilet far outweight the disposal.

Today, even greener toilets are coming to market called Dual Flush toilets, which use just .8 gallons of water or the standard 1.6 gallons.  You push Button #1 when you need to flush, um, #1….and #2 when....  You get the point.

Quiz Week: Dry Cleaning Shirts

How many dress shirts do you dry clean every week?

A:    I wash and press them myself.

B:    Just a few

C:    My frequent dry cleaning punch card is full

ANSWER:  It’s well-known that dry cleaning is bad for the environment.    Almost 95% of traditional dry cleaners use a chemical called Perc, which is a solvent to get all the stains and spots out of clothes.    Perc, unfortunately, is a carcinogen which has been linked to bladder and cervical cancer and eye, nose, throat and skin irritations.   Even freshly dry cleaned clothes brought home, the perc residue can continue to offset into your own home.   And not to mention the waste of plastic bags and wire hangers for your clothes.

The solution isn’t wrinkled shirts:  It’s machine washable wrinkle-resistant shirts.    100% cotton dress shirts are woven with a resin---which gives the fabric “memory”---which minimizes wrinkles and gives it a smooth appearance after washing.    Many dress shirts are now made with this technology, so you can wash them in energy-efficient cold water at home along with an eco-friendly detergent.    No more dry cleaning and always perfect wrinkle-free shirts.   

Quiz Week: Fridge Running?

How old is your refrigerator in your apartment?

A:    It’s brand new and Energy Star rated.

B:    5 Years Old

C:    A Relic!   It’s as old as the building is.

ANSWER:   Since a refrigerator is on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it is one of the biggest energy hogs in a home.    If your refrigerator is more than 10 years old, replace it: it’s likely to be using twice as much energy today as the first day you plugged it in.  Most home improvement stores will recycle your old fridge properly when you buy a new one, so you need not worry about it going to a landfill.   

If your fridge is just a few years old, be sure to pull it a few inches away from the wall to allow for air to circulate, so it doesn’t work harder to keep cool.  Also, keep the freezer as full as possible, which helps it stay cooler with less energy.

And when you do look for a new fridge, look for the Energy Star logo, which identifies the most energy efficient appliances in their category and will be up to 40% more efficient, saving you money, too.

Quiz Week: Dishwashing

Is washing dishes by hand or being lazy and using a dishwasher better for the environment?

A:     Always by hand, because it saves water.

B:     In the dishwasher, because I don’t have time.

C:     I only use disposable plates.

ANSWER:  Clearly, disposable is not the greenest choice.    But believe it or not, using a dishwasher is actually the lazier and greener choice!    Washing dishes by hand can use up to 50 percent more water than a water-efficient, Energy Star rated dishwasher.    New models of diswashers today--- from companies like Bosch---use only 4 gallons of water and up to 41% less energy.       The best eco-solution is to fill up a dishwasher and run it when it’s full.

Quiz Week: Which is Greener?

Which is greener?  Paper or Plastic Bags?

A:     Paper: Because trees are a renewable resource.

B:     Plastic:  Because trees are not cut down to make them.

ANSWER:    Surprisingly, plastic is the greener choice, but by a very slim margin.  It takes less energy to produce plastic bags and they are technically recyclable.  Unfortunately, the recycling rate for plastic bags is very low and they are responsible for a myriad of environmental problems around the world.

More than 14 million trees per year are approximately cut down to make paper bags, but they are easily recyclable in most curbside recycling programs.    And they are not a petroleum based source, which gives them some bonus green points.

The real winner here is a reusable bag.   If you use a reusable bag just 11 times, it will already begin to have a lower environmental impact.  The more you use that reusable bag, the more you are saving.

Serena + Lily = Perfection

Pick-up the March issue of Country Home magazine and check out the gorgeous story of Lily Kanter's Mill Valley,CA home.   This is a story I produced a few months ago and had a blast putting together.

For all you moms out there of newborns, you may be familiar with Lily's company Serena + Lily; it's a stunning nursery line of bedding, blankets, furniture, paint and toys.    Absolutely gorgeous.  This summer, Serena and Lily will be launching an organic collection that all the eco-minded moms (are there any non-eco minded moms?) will love.

Lily's home is full of color, whimsy, charm and wonderful decorating ideas.  I just love every corner of her house.

The photo above didn't make the Country Home issue, but I love it.   We lined a bridge outside of Lily's home with all the wonderful sheets they produce.  I love how the giant redwood trees overwhelm the photo and just give the photo incredible height and perspective.   

 

Congrats JCPenney!

Many congrats to all my friends, colleagues, associates and friends at JCPenney for the launch of their biggest brand to date: American Living. 

I had the lovely opportunity to attend the launch party last night in New York City at Skylight Studios down on Hudson Street on the West Side.    The beautiful space was decorated superbly and the musical talent---the Rascal Flatts---was a wonderful treat.      

So chic and stylish!

Beautiful floral arrangements were throughout the event.    These giant forsythia branches looked so gorgeous in the room.

American Living bedding: quintessential Americana charm.  Love the hay bales underneath the bed.

The funny part?  I have those lanterns in my own house!   How funny to see these metal lanterns hanging from the ceiling; I have them scattered across my front porch and inside the house.      

Before & After

I recently had some of the indoor lights at the house replaced using fixtures that are designed to be used outdoors.    Let me explain.

The home I'm renovating has a mid-century modern feel to it, so very raw, unfinished materials like stainless steel, concrete, raw wood and aluminum fixtures seem to fit right in with he overall design.   I've been searching for new light fixtures for a very long time and found these $20 steel lights at Lowe's in the security lighting section of the store.     I just loved how they looked and I loved the price.  A very similar design was in a high-end lighting catalog and priced at $500 a light.  I. Don't. Think. So.

Here's what it looked like before:

The old fashioned tube lights were taken down and put into a giant bag of "scrap metal" to be recycled.   In went the new lights and I think the before and after is pretty dramatic.    My contractor used the existing lightbulbs that were in the old lights for these lights, so please don't comment or email me asking why I haven't installed energy efficient CFL bulbs.    Once these lights burn out, I will....trust me.

Speaking of before and afters, here's a clearer before and after shot of the wood veneer table project I've been working on.  I am so happy with the results and so thrilled it was so easy to to do.

BEFORE:

And After:

 

Veneering the old table

This scratched up table came with the house.   I loved the shape of the legs and how it worked with the design style of the house.   But it clearly needed to be rehabbed.   I thought about painting it... covering it with fabric... tacking upholstery tacks all over it in a decorative pattern.  Instead, I decided to play around with iron-on wood veneer strips instead.

This material could not be easier to work with.   Lay it down, place a hot iron on top, glue melts and adheres to the surface.    I chose a bunch of the wood veneer "tape" in a variety of widths and colors.

Each strip in different colors is ironed onto the table.   Once it's adhered, I took a rolling brayer to make sure it really was firmly in place.

This part I love: the veneer kit comes with a trimming tool that helps you get a perfect edge every single time.  Just run the yellow razor sharp tool across the edge and it shaves it down to a perfect look.

Finished table untrimmed....

And here's the table trimmed and finished.    All you need is the veneer tape, a hot iron, a trimmer and an old table that needs just a bit of TLC.

Modern Efficiency

We've all been there.    The one tiny annoying thing about home deliveries when remodeling a house is that the shipping companies give you very vague windows of time they're planning to come.  In this case, I was given the periods of time of 8AM to 4PM.      So, naturally, you do your very best to be there at 8AM, fearful that if you show up 10 minutes late, there will be a notice on the door reading, "We tried to deliver, but you weren't home..." 

But when the new, shiny appliances do show up, all seems to be forgiven.   It's like Christmas all over again.

I am really excited to be doing an all-Bosch kitchen and laundry room.    I've been following Bosch's commitment to sustainability for a while.    I've never had the opportunity to use Bosch appliances because of the size of the homes I've lived in.    Every kitchen or laundry room I've had has been very compact, so I always needed to special order mini versions of everything.    But this time around, I was allowed to go nuts with the appliances I've coveted for way too long.

The new washing machine and dryer, waiting to be installed.    The washing machine has a high-tech EcoSense feature that actually detects how clean or soiled the water is.  Then it decides how much fresh waster is really needed to get the clothes clean.  This feature can save a significant amount of water; as little as 4.4 gallons of water will sometimes be used to do a load of laundry!

Is it wrong to stare a fridge lovingly?   Maybe a little... but this Energy Star rated Bosch fridge makes me want to run to my local co-op and fill it with yummy organic snacks and drinks.   And here's an eco tip: be sure your freeze is as full as possible; a full freezer uses less energy to keep cool.   

Eco Moms

There's an interesting story in the New York Times today about "Eco Moms."   Definitely check it out.

It just re-confirms what I've been thinking all along: Moms have all the power to make the right eco-decisions for their household.  They love their children, the love their families, they care about their community and they ultimately care about the planet. 

I'm thinking about putting together a TV segment about Eco Moms and would love to know what kind of questions you might have about going green.    For example, in the Times story, one mom talked about creating a compost pile,but then it attracted ants into the house, so she got rid of it.   

Are you trying to go green but faced some hurdles?   Or do you wonder if what you're doing is actually the greenest choice?   For example, is buying organic yogurt shipped from Australia better than locally made non-organic yogurt?   

Would love to hear from you.

Steel Switchplate Covers

Sometimes it's the smallest changes that can have the biggest impact.   Throughout the house, there are the standard plastic switch plate covers that appear to have been put in place 30 years ago.  They were definitely used, dingy and needed to be replaced. 

Since I'm going with this all gray, stainless look for the house, I thought a simple steel switch plate cover would look fresh, modern and cool.   So, I headed to Lowe's and was surprised to find out that the best-looking covers were---ta dah!----the cheapest ones.   I love it when the best choice is the most economical one.

So, here's the after on a similar switch plate cover:

The best part is that the stainless steel covers are 100% recyclable.  If you need to ever replace them (and why would you?), you can just toss them into the curbside recycling bin for recycling.  Steel becomes steel which becomes steel.   Infinitely recyclable!

Drippy Lanterns

I really need to pay more attention when I'm lighting candles around the house.

The other night, I lit the candles inside the lanterns on the fireplace (pictured above).   A few hours later, I hear this drip, drip, drip sound.   What is that, I wonder.   

I check the kitchen sink.  Nope.   The windows... hmm...it's not raining.   Then I see drips of hot wax spreading all over the top of the mantel and down the sides onto the hardwood floors.    Yikes.

First step: Blow out the candles!

Second step: resist the urge to wipe up melted wax.   Let it cool.

The next day, I chipped away as much cooled wax as possible.  Most of it came up in big chunks.

Then the remaining pieces I covered with a paper towel.   Then I pressed a hot iron right on top, let the wax melt, and the paper towel absorbed the melted wax.   

Waxy mess... thing of the past.

Sweet Idea

Happy Valentine's Day!   Hope you're enjoying this day of love....

When you're done eating all the sweet treats your sweetie gave you, why not save the fancy chocolate box and use it for something just as sweet, too?

Here's an idea from my gift giving book Simply Green Giving: Fill it with jewelry as an organizer or to give someone else.

Collect vintage rings, charms, pins, bracelets and other sparkly treats.  Wrap them up with tissue or tie up small packages and place into each compartment.   Place the lid on top and tie with ribbon.

Floored by Carpets

A few weeks ago, I got the VIP treatment with a visit to the worldwide headquarters of Shaw Flooring down in Dalton, GA.   It was so much going through racks and racks of flooring choices that are available today, in the future and designs just in "concept" stage.

The above carpet sample is designed to mimic the design of hardwood floors.  It's a fun approach towards organic design that I think could work in lots of design environments.  I can see this in everything from country to contemporary homes.

And here's a really pretty, nature-inspired pattern that comes in a wide variety of eye-pleasing colors.   I am so over beige carpet and love the idea of using a timeless color and pattern for the floors.   This pattern was one of my top contenders for my own house, but it didn't make the cut.  I still love it though and might be tempted to order some and have an area rug made.

And a simple, but fun, checkered pattern.    This could work really well in a basement or kid's room...somewhere where you want to have a bit of fun. 

All of these carpets are made using something called Anso Nylon, which is a recycled nylon product made from old nylon carpets.    And when it's time to recycle these carpets (hopefully not in the near future), it can be recycled yet again into new carpet.   And again.  And again.   And again.

Bamboo Smores

I gotta admit: I have a soft spot for S'mores.

Here's a more grown-up and sophisticated way to enjoy oozy, goozy chocolate marshmallow goodness...

Fill a large bamboo bowl with all the fixings: marshmallows, graham crackers, Green and Blacks organic chocolate and skewers to toast them up.

Look for homemade gourmet marshmallows (usually at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's), quality graham crackers or even organic sugar cookies, and great chocolate.    Toast up a marshmallow and add a drop of real peppermint essential oil on top for a minty kick to the finished s'mores.

Look in the yard for real twigs, sharpen up the ends, and eat away....

(Photo taken from the JCPenney Simply Green press preview)

JCPenney Press Preview

We just had a wonderful advance sneak peek at all the lovely JCPenney "Simply Green" designated eco-friendly products in New York City.  It was held in the fancy Gramercy Park Hotel penthouse where a gaggle of paparazzi were standing outside in the freezing cold.  No, they weren't there to see our fabulous recycled glass vases and bamboo throws, but because right below our event were a gaggle of celebrities staying there.    But since this blog isn't People.com, I'll stay focused on the green goodies....

Above is a lovely floral arrangement done by the stylist Bryan Robert Hamecs, who runs a creative studio called Felt Etc.   I love the bright red color contrasting with the blue walls under the glass cloches.

The penthouse suite has these giant leather wingback chairs scattered all over the place.   The creative stylist Lynn Butler (who also runs an online store called The Product Gallery) threw a JCPenney bamboo fiber throw blanket over top.   The cream color looks so cozy and wonderful. And at just $19.99 a blanket, you can easily stock up.   

 

And one last sneak peek: the seagrass baskets.    I use the large one behind the mossy balls) as a hamper in my own house.   These large mossy balls were also created by Bryan Hamecs and I think helps show the versatility of the seagrass baskets.

More product sneak peeks to come....  but isn't it all lovely?

Stellar Stella

 

I've been a fan of Stella McCartney for a very long time.   She recently partnered with luggage/tote/handbag manufacturer Le Sport Sac to create a capsule collection made entirely out of recycled materials.

One of the cutest items to come out of the collection is this children's bunny backpack.   It's made from 100% recycled "eco polyester" material (which I theorize is respun nylon from plastic water and soda bottles).    It's a such a cute and fresh approach towards green design, isn't it?

Yes, it's a bit pricey ($120), and I can't imagine giving this to my 2-year-old niece to play around with... but still, it's moving green design into the right direction. 

Vintage Hazardous Waste

The other morning, I began cleaning out the crawl space/basement of my new home.   One of the interesting finds was a few decades worth of household hazardous waste.   It was everything from old paint to pesticides to mechanical lubricants tucked away in boxes, on shelves, behind boxes and everywhere else you can imagine.

My local township doesn't collect household hazardous waste until Spring, so I'm storing the cans on a tarp in the guest house for the time being.   But going through each container to make sure they are properly sealed shut, I loved the vintage look of the cans and spray bottles.

I love the color and design of this Benjamin Moore paint can.    I'm thinking of stirring up the paint and pouring it into another can to recycle this can as a paint brush holder in the craft room.

Okay, I'm not a spray paint fanatic, but I did love the honest and straightforward design of this mini bottle of spray paint.   There's something very professional and modern about it.   I might hold onto this as inspiration for future design ideas for products I'm developing.

Anyway, I do want to make a point about household hazardous waste: don't throw it away in the regular trash.   It is illegal to do so and it's easy to find a free drop-off point in your community where they will properly dispose of it.   Either visit Earth911.org or call your local municipality.   It just takes one phone call or web visit to to do the right thing.

Eco Bargain: Bamboo Throw Blanket

I am totally obsessed with these soft-as-can-be bamboo fiber throws from JCPenney.   They feel like soft cashmere, but are actually made from renewable and eco-friendly bamboo fiber.

I just ordered a a bunch of them online and found out they are on sale from $39.99 to a markdown of $19.99.    The jadestone color (top light blue one) is one my favorites followed by the white cream and dark chocolate brown on the bottom.

Anyway, thought this was a good steal and wanted to pass it along....

Trashy Issue

 

The other day, I spent the morning setting up the new utilities for the new house: electric, cable, telephone, oil heat (although that will shut off soon with the new system) and trash/recycling pick-up.

It's amazing how you forget how much individual services cost; sometimes the surprise can be "is it really that expensive?" to "it really only costs that much?"   Case in point: Trash pick-up.

I'm astonished it only costs about $31 a month for twice a week trash pick-up.    Correction: twice-a-week, unlimited amount of household trash PLUS one bulky item (read: refrigerator or sofa) pick-up.   That's $1 a day to throw away as much trash as possible.

Included is unlimited recycling of cans, bottles, tin cans, newspaper and cardboard, all of which (sans the paper products) must fit in a tiny, itsy, bitty blue container while all my trash can fit in a giant, oversized industrial can with giant wheels.

Do you think we're becoming a more wasteful society because it's so easy to throw everything away?   Should there not be additional charges for bulky items and additional charges when you throw away a specified amount of trash each time?    And should you get rebates if you take the time to sort your recyclables and put them out for recycling?

If people realized they could save money by throwing away less, wouldn't we become somewhat of a less wasteful society?

Demo Day

When you rip up carpets, take down walls and take away some memories of an old house, it can be really tough.   I purposely showed up 2 hours late for demo day at my new home because I knew I could not bear to watch the crew hammer, saw and sledge hammer their way through the house.    But I knew I had to be there eventually, because I---unlike the normal homeowner---had one more "to do" thing for the crew to do: sort the trash by recyclability.    I've written a full post on how I recycled all the scrap wood, appliances, metal and misc trash over at the Huffington Post and I'll let you know when it's up so you can check it out.  But until then, details of demo day.

I decided to knock down the wall between two bedrooms to crate one giant master bedroom.   Where you see the beam is where a wall divided the rooms.    When all was done, I was so happy with this little mistake: the built-in cabinets actually frame the double door opening quite well!   So the built cabinets stay.

   

I absolutely love the exposed beam now and I love how it has this wooden intersection up at the ceiling. It's so raw, but elegant at the same time.   I'm not going to paint the wood in the house, but will probably seal it and let it be as natural as possible.  I like this company called BioShield for all their non-toxic, very eco-friendly varnishes, stains and finishes.

This was the saddest thing I had to do: rip up the hardwood floors in the living room.   I am installing this very efficient, state-of-the-art heating and cooling system throughout the house called Acadia.   It's a bit pricey, but it's definitely worth the investment to save money and seriously cut back on the energy usage of this house.   To get all the duct work and ventilation in place, I had to rip up these floors.   I am able to send the shredded wooden floors to be recycled though, so at least that's one good thing I could do.  The new floors going in place will be a dark wooden floor that has a rich, walnut look to it.   But more on the new flooring choices later...

I am saving the kitchen cabinets, which seems to be everyone's dismay when I tell them.  The demo crew just looked at me like, "you have to be kidding."   Personally, I like them, but they need to be refinished and restored.  And anytime you can reuse what you have, it's seriously the greenest choice.  I have a very specific idea in my head how to use the existing cabinets that will keep the house's design integrity preserved, but be modern and functional, too.   It's all in my head.     The new appliances and Icestone countertops will go in soon and I have a really fun ceramic tile floor going in that I can not wait to share with you.   

Chandelier Choice for the new home

I have been fixated on choosing light fixtures for my new home for about two weeks now.   It's amazing how one pendant light here, one chandelier here and a sconce here can, like, add up to a helluva lot of money.   But I am a big proponent in the idea of investing in quality lighting from the start: if you get a well-made, timeless piece that you absolutely love and will keep in the house forever, then the long-term investment pays off.   Instead of a cheap fixture that breaks apart and will tossed away, I figure go for the gold.

So, I have to find something that A: I love B: is timeless and C: will last forever.   

I've decided to go with all-metal lighting fixtures inside and outside the home.   If I ever---God forbid--need to replace any of those fixtures, I know I can easily take them to a scrap metal yard and have them totally recycled (that is, if they are unrepairable or I can't donate them).  But maybe that's thinking too far into the future...

So, here I am with this chandelier I recently found.   It's a very large fixture that can easily accommodate these cool energy-efficient CFL chandelier bulbs.  So I can leave the bulbs exposed.    I was thinking it could work in the dining room.  Here's a before shot:

Thoughts?  I'm a bit torn because I think if I look hard enough, I can find a vintage one and just re-wire it... which is the greenest choice of all.   But I do love this chandelier....

Organic Style 2.0

You may not know this, but I was an editor at Organic Style magazine from 2001-2005...pretty much from Day 1 till the end.

For die-hard fans out there, you'll be glad to hear that Rodale, the publisher of Organic Style, sold the name to the online flower site organicbouquet.com.     They just released a digital magazine called---yep, you guessed it---Organic Style.

There's a great Q&A interview with Maria Rodale, the original founder.

Check it out at www.organicstylemag.com. 

Le Clean with le Method

I work with Method Home as their Healthy Home Partner.   It's a wonderful partnership to have because I love all of their non-toxic, eco-friendly cleaning products, I love the people who work at the company and I get a sneak peek at all the newest and great things coming out from the company.   Here are some of my favorites.

These really fun bathroom cleaning products are coming out in March.    I just love them.   "Le Scrub" is an all-purpose, creamy scrub that even comes with a mini microfiber towel that can stash right in the bottle's cap.  It has finely milled marble in it to act as an abrasive to really scrub away tough stains in the bathroom.   The cute little elephant shaped bottle on the left is Lil Bowl Blu, which uses lactic acid (I guess that's from milk) to dissolve metal stains and sodium lactate (the salt of lactic acid) to remove hard water buildup.     They will be around $5 each.

Some other Method news:

1.  The infamous Plastic Bag Rehab bag I designed for them is now for sale on their website for $15 each.  They were part of a holiday promotion that didn't allow for individual bag purchase only, but do to popular demand, they are now available for sale.  Stock up...they won't last!

2.  And Method is switching to 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles for their spray cleaners.  This is huge news.  Enormous!  Now green products in the greenest possible packaging ever.  The plastic you put out for recycling is made into these bottles: bottles from bottles.

Painting the Exterior

It's winter, it's dreary and maybe this isn't the time to think about painting the exterior of the house a different color.   But that's me: Mr. Plan Way Too Far Ahead.

I recently read a story showing how the actor Orlando Bloom painted the exterior of his Los Angeles a very, very dark gray color...almost a glossy black.   People complained...but I loved the look of the house.  I always tell people, choose a color you like to wear in your own wardrobe when painting your house.  I wear lots of black.   

So now I'm thinking of painting my house a very dark gray color.   Everywhere you see white on the house now (above photo), you'll see almost black.   I'll leave the posts in their natural color, of course.

Here are some shade possibilities.   Thoughts?   Crazy?  (And don't worry about the house absorbing heat in the summer; this home is shaded beyond belief).

Camo Painting

I carry this LL Bean camo tote bag EVERYWHERE.  It's so universal and so durable.   I also love the timeless colors in the bag, so I thought, why not color match one of the green shades to paint?  I took the bag to my local Lowe's Home Improvement store and had the handle color matched.   I chose a gallon of Olympic eggshell latex paint (which is low VOC and Green Seal certified) and watched them mix up a batch.

Here's the before photo of the living room wall.  White backdrop with the built in hardwood cabinets.   It is BEGGING for some color.   

And here's the after.   I'm thinking of painting the wall around it a khaki color to continue with the camo theme.   I don't want the house to feel like a war-zone, but I do think the timeless colors work.

New Chairs

Here are three chairs left behind in the house that I thought were A: pretty cool and B: ripe for reupholstering.

Remember a few months ago I posted a question on this blog asking what I should do with a bolt of hemp fabric I had in my craft room?   Well, here's the perfect solution to reupholster these chairs.

I don't think people reupholster chairs anymore; there seems to be this misconception that it's cheaper and easier to buy something new if, say, a chair gets a rip or needs to be replaced.   Could not be further from the truth.

First, these chairs have wonderful structure and are made from solid hardwood and metal frames.   Instead of being vintage replicas, they are the real deal.  And with reupholstering, I can choose exactly what fabric I wanted.  This natural color hemp fabric seems like the perfect choice.

I called my local upholstery shop and they came out to give me an estimate:

1.  Small metal green chair (with tape all over it): $60.

2.  Canvas back chair:  $50

3.  Office metal chair:  $125.

So, for just $235, I can have all 3 chairs professionally and perfect reupholstered.  They pick them up, they do the work, and they drop them off.