Dwell and Method have teamed up to offer a fun, creative challenge – what can YOU design using an empty Method bottle?

Here’s how they describe the contest:

Dwell and method, two arbiters of style that aim for pride of place on your shelves, dare you to defy us with your concepts and creations for upcycling, recycling, rethinking, and deconstructing—beginning with your empty method product bottles. This design contest is about celebrating the effervescence of the everyday, because we think real creativity is about taking a second look, and breathing new life into the old. We’re looking for imaginative, innovative and inspiring concepts and creations that give method product bottles and packages a sexy new lease on life. Whether it’s an empty method bottle that now holds bouquets of blooms, a collage created from thousands of pieces of deconstructed method materials, or a conceptual rendering for future method fish bowls, we want you to submit a photo or rendering that shows how you’d move from method-everyday to method-extravagant, and we’ll shower you with fabulous prizes.

The Grand Prize is $300 worth of Method products, so put on your thinking caps and see what awesomeness you can come up with!  You have until June 30th.

Oh, and if you do submit an entry, make sure you tell us all about it in the comments below.  We’ll be rooting for you!

I am so looking forward to this weekend!  Why you ask?  Because this is where I am going to be on Saturday…

I’m absolutely giddy about it, which I’m sure leaves some of you wondering about my sanity.  For those of you who share in my enthusiasm for all things “woady” I promise will give you all a full report next week.

And don’t forget!  We are giving away a great Adesso Reach LED desk lamp this week!  You have until Saturday at midnight to enter.

Meanwhile, here are some of the things that caught my eye this week:

1. This tutorial for recycling porch light fixtures into terrariums is so brilliant. I’m definitely adding this to my list of things to incorporate into my new office space. (design*sponge)

2. Here’s another great giveaway, this one for some lovely Amy Butler organic bedding. (Green Bag Lady)

3. We are all so used to the idea of flatpack furniture, what with IKEA and all, but when designer Kem Weber pioneered the idea with his Airline Chair, people thought it was weird and he only managed to sell about 200 of them. Man, what I wouldn’t do to own one of those amazing chairs. (Boing Boing)

4. And speaking of IKEA, they recently made a pledge to transition to 100% “better cotton”. It looks to be a step in the right direction, but is it really enough? (Inhabitat)

5. I’ve always liked cheery yellow in a traditional kitchen, but never figured it would look right in a modern one. Here is a super sleek, modern kitchen with bright glossy yellow cabinets, and I have to admit, it looks great! (Trendir)

6. Wood is becoming an increasingly popular element in many interiors. This lovely home takes that idea to the nth degree. (2Modern blog)

7. And now I’ll leave you with two fascinating videos. The first is an interview with a woman who lives in a 90 sf “apartment” in New York. She’s managed to make it quite livable, although I could never sleep in a bed like that!

The second video I’ve included just because it’s so darn peaceful, even if it is a commercial.

Wishing all of you a wonderful weekend!

Happy almost weekend everyone!

Image via Yanko Design

I realize I might be stretching things a bit to include tree planting robots on an interior design blog, but, they’re so eco-friendly and CUTE!  And besides, isn’t it better than the usual apocalyptic robot future we usually see?  (Yanko Design)

Lot’s more to look at this week…

How about a garden made of 40,000 books? (Inhabitat)

Speaking of Inhabitat, they’re having a back to school contest.  Get your eco-academic groove on with $150 worth of green school gear. (Inhabitat)

Green interior design pioneer, Penny Bonda, details the ups and downs of her own recent kitchen renovation.  Turns out even the experts can make the occasional mistake. (Design Green Blog)

Check out these trippy LED embedded wood stools. (re-nest)

Renters, it’s still possible to live green! (Los Angeles Times)

And, since I ran out of time last Friday to do a Wrap-up, here are a couple of good articles from last week that you might find interesting -

Is this the best use of 500 SF in New York City? Possibly anywhere? (Treehugger)

And what is our devotion to cheap, easily broken stuff really doing to us?  How did we go from a toaster that could last 50 years, to one that only costs $5 (and lasts about as long as it takes you to get it home).

I’ll be working on a Habitat for Humanity build tomorrow, and then collapsing in a heap Sunday.  How about you?  What kinds of fun things do you have planned now that Summer is winding down?

Giveaway!!!

To celebrate the publication of their brand new book, “Just Green It!”, healthy living advocates Ron and Lisa Beres have offered me two autographed copies to giveaway to you, dear readers.

Filled with tips on how to save the environment and your wallet at the same time, this book is designed to make it easier to navigate through the sea of conflicting information and green-washing we all run up against on our journey to sustainability. Read the rest of this entry »

Now this looks like fun!

The Sustainable Furnishings Council and World Market Center Las Vegas are proud to once again bring you One Good Chair Design Competition.

“Beauty rests on necessities. The line of beauty is the result of perfect economy. The cell of the bee is built at that angle which gives the most strength with the least wax. The bone in the quill of the bird gives the most alar strength with the least weight… There is not a particle to spare in natural structures.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Intro

The world of green design is pulled in two directions, for the aim of sustainability has been described alternately as “doing more with less” and “celebrating abundance.” The third annual One Good Chair competition challenges designers to do both.

This year’s theme, “Minimum/Maximum,” embraces the idea that smart design can both preserve natural resources and amplify human delight. We’re not asking you to “balance” or “compromise” these two apparently different aims—we’re pushing you to go as far as you can in both directions at once. Trade-offs are for sissies. How little material can you use to make the most of a chair? How little packaging can you use to reach the most people? Can you design a chair that is almost nothing and almost everything at the same time?

What a week!  Things are really starting to come together here at theinterioRevolution, and I want to thank one and all for being a part of that!  Most especially, I would like to thank this weeks guest blogger, David of Sidecar Furniture, who has done such an amazing job of informing us all about artisan wood furniture!

So here’s what caught our eye this week…

Image via design*sponge

Spied on design*sponge, this set of nesting tables, made of recycled wood and old rebar.  They are really kinda cute, which is not something I usually say about things made of rebar.

Next up, a cozy blanket giveaway and some great sale items seen on Green Your Decor, as well as musings on printed countertops and why existing buildings are greener… Read the rest of this entry »

Giveaway details follow are at the end of the post, but we suggest you read the review first!

When I first started to focus strictly on sustainable design five years ago, the pickings were thin when it came to green interior design books..  As in, there were exactly two books, only one of which was really any use.

Even as I watched the list of available books grow, I still considered writing one of my own, because I didn’t find anyone addressing the subject of green residential interior design the way I thought it should be.  Luckily, I never got around to it because Sunset Design Guides has just released the book I probably would have written (if I had the talent!).

Taking full advantage of Sunset Magazine’s wealth of images, author Bridget Biscotti Bradley has created an inspiring collection of sustainable design ideas and arranged them in her easy to understand book, The Green Home.  Assisted by a “design panel” made up of such green design luminaries as Eric Corey Freed, Kelly LaPlante, and Michelle Kaufman, Bradley makes a compelling case for the ease with which green design principles can be woven into any remodeling project. Read the rest of this entry »

Didn’t get the romantic evening you hoped for on Valentine’s Day?

Assuage a little of your disappointment with a romantic 100% natural, hand poured soy candle from Green Nest.  They are 7.5 oz each, and come in a gift box as shown.  I have two of these to give away this week.

Read the rest of this entry »

Area Declic has announced their second annual international interior design competition – “A Green Place to Sit”.

“A double challenge for ONLY FOR WOMEN’s second edition, the International Design Award dedicated exclusively for female designers: searching for new products to enter the contract market and promoting a thinking about sustainability. This is the meaning of the title, which talks green as nature and green as green issue. Area Declic wishes to investigate into these themes all around 2010. With the help of women designers.”

Deadline to enter is March 3, 2010, so get your design engines revved ladies!  For information on rules and how to enter, click here.

For the final Friday Wrap-up of 2009, I present you with some lists of last minute sustainable design gifts and a peek at some holiday decor – plus a fun giveaway I spied!

image via re-nest

Win a fabulous WoollyPocket from re-nest!  I saw these at Dwell on Design this summer and fell in love.   A garden you can hang anywhere!

Read the rest of this entry »