Recently making its debut at BKLYN Designs, this collection instantly won accolades, including the Inhabitat Editor’s Choice Award for best Kid’s Design & Newcomer.  And why not?  After all, not only are the pieces crafted entirely from sustainable materials such as FSC certified, no added formaldehyde plywood and soy based glues, but their great graphic punch is based on that icon of green – the tree.

Nicely bridging the gap between modern and playful that often exists in contemporary kids furniture, April Hannah’s debut collection hits all the right notes.

She was even kind enough to offer the grown-ups a desk in their own size.  For once parent’s don’t have to envy their kids having all the fun!

Click here to inquire as to availability.  And yes, April Hannah is based in Brooklyn.  With such amazing “trees”, how could she not be?

Luckily, it’s not my eyes, or yours for that matter, that need adjustment to look at this great B-Bit armoire.  The butterfly is purposefully pixelated and rendered in squares of several different wood veneers.  Open it up…

and the well organized white oak interior can be seen.

In many of their new pieces, animals of the air provide the charm, whether it’s the pixelated butterfly, the little bird on the Trees Graphic Tall Dresser above, or…

the slightly disconcerting bee hanging out on the Dandelion Graphic Tall Dresser.

For those not as into all things flying, there are also simpler designs like Scrappers Nesting, a neat set of nesting tables using scrap wood for decorative inlay.

To see more great pieces from Iannone Design’s 2010 collection, as well as previous work, you can go to their website.

Oh my, have things changed…

Oh So Faux

Consider the lovely patterns and colors available from decorative arts company, Alpha Workshop.

Kimono

Fun, colorful and handmade, these wallpaper patterns are everything 90’s wallpaper wasn’t.  But Alpha Workshop is more than just a maker of beautiful, handmade decorative wallpaper.

It is also the only non-profit, decorative arts organization dedicated to training and employing people living with HIV/AIDS.  Based in New York, Alpha Workshops provides a creative, flexible, supportive workplace for those dealing with the medical and social issues that come from dealing with a chronic disease.  They even keep an eye on sustainability…

Infinity

Says spokesperson Nora Schaddelee:

“While we don’t officially state that our wallpaper is “green,” we do strive to stay sustainable and we do whatever we can within our process.We use commercial wallpaper stock, not vinyl.  Unfortunately, it is very hard to find a supplier for recycled wallpaper ground, but we are always on the lookout. We use water-based Benjamin Moore paints with low VOCs.  Our wallpapers are made by hand, using no machinery. Thus, no toxic by-products and no emissions. Each wallpaper is made to order and in custom lengths so there is very little waste both in production and for the end-user.

Since we are a non-profit, we often receive paint and materials donations from the design industry that would otherwise be thrown away. Much of these materials get a second life within our training program where our students learn the basics of decorative arts techniques.”

Butterfly

Because Alpha Workshops produces all their papers to order, they are able to provide custom lengths and colors.  They also make lamps, tables, and can design props for retailers and event decor.  They even have a decorative finishing service.  All this as a way of providing gainful employment for skilled workers who might not otherwise be able to find a job.

So, like so many interior designers, I now run around pretending that I always knew that wallpaper could be cool.   I just never knew it could be THIS cool.

So please ponder the following posts I ran across this week, and leave a comment (or two or three) with your thoughts on what you’ve read.

Image by Robert Wright for the New York Times

First up, Treehugger writes about a designed to the teeth 178 sf apartment.  Is it good sustainable design because it is small, or bad design because it is cluttered with objects only there for appearances?

Next up…  Is it a table?  Is a child’s playroom filled with electronics really for play?  Is wood made to look like reclaimed wood still green?

Image via Chictip.com

Is it just me or does this table constructed of scrap walnut, seen on Chictip, look completely non-functional?  I will say that my dog would love to hang out under it during a dinner party.  Think of the scraps that would find their way through those holes!

Image via Interior Design

Demetra Moralis writes about the lack of space for imaginative play in modern children’s playrooms for the Student Lounge blog on Interior Design.  Would kids be better off with some sheets thrown over a card table (if anyone still plays cards), rather than the latest in electronic toy gizmos?

Image from Montana Ghost Wood website

Greenwashing is a constant problem, and debate, in the world of sustainable design, but this angle I haven’t seen before.  Thread Post asks, is”selling newly harvested wood made to look like reclaimed boards in order to save historical structures from being dismantled” greenwashing or not?  A very interesting take on the whole greenwashing debate.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!  I’m playing hooky this afternoon to see my son’s 2nd grade play.  He’s a narrator, and I’m a proud mama!

“I know”, they must have thought, “What if we use all this seaweed lying around on the sand, stick it on top of a coconut tree and call it a lamp?”*

Thankfully, the designers at Chista obviously waited till after vacation to put pen to paper, because the resulting lamps are quite elegant.  The bases are made of sustainable coconut wood, which gives them a wonderful grain pattern, as well as a pleasant warmth and character.  The shades are woven of seaweed and linen.  Yes, seaweed.  I admit to never having seen seaweed used in this way, but considering the results, I hope to see a lot more of it soon.

Founded in 1990, Chista’s designs are rooted in both primitivism and modernism.  They offer many styles of furniture and lighting, much of it from reclaimed wood or other sustainable sources.  They also showcase tribal art from Southeast Asia, which is on view at their website, or at their showroom in New York.  They are to the trade only.

As an aside, I would just like to say that I find it SO refreshing to get a nice, ad ready image of a lamp, and still see the cords showing.  So often, someone has either hidden them or Photoshopped them out.  Kudos to Chista for keeping it real!

* My apologies to the designers at Chista, because I’m sure that isn’t really how things happened.  I just didn’t get much sleep last night, and the scenario gave me the sleep deprived giggles, so I went with it.

If I ever do build that home of my imagining, I will ask artist Laura Spector to make me a stairway as enchanting as this one she created for the Singer Home in Pound Ridge, New York.

Crafted of Oriental Bittersweet, a beautiful but invasive vine found in the neighboring woods, this stairway took over four months of on-site labor to create.  It’s fluid shape was born of the artist’s passion and willingness to work within the vine’s gnarled and twisted limitations.  Because she was using found material, there was no ability to plan, making the entire stair rail truly organic in form.

Working in the European Rustic tradition, Laura Spector brings the whimsical nature of the outside in, to stunning effect.  Self taught, she works intuitively with her materials, guiding them into shapes that provide sound structure, without changing their natural grace.

When asked about her work, she said…

“Nature is all about energy.
Its not about “capturing”
Its about “embracing”

So take a moment to embrace nature.  You never know when a squirrel might run down that tree you’re hugging to say hello!

Cabbage Chair, prototype. Oki Sato, Photo: Masayuki Hayash

If you’re going to be in New York between May 14th, 2010 and January 9th, 2011, you must go to see “National Design Triennial – Why Design Now?” , at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum.

Intended to explore the role of design in solving the problems of our world, “Why Design Now?”

“… will explore the work of designers addressing human and environmental problems across many fields of design from architecture and product design to fashion, graphics, new media and landscape design. Organized by Cooper-Hewitt curators Ellen Lupton, Cara McCarty, Matilda McQuaid and Cynthia Smith, the Triennial will be global in reach for the first time, reflecting the connectedness of design practices and the need for international cooperation to solve the world’s problems.”

Heath Ceramics Tableware. Photo: Jeffery Cross

The exhibit will address eight different areas of design innovation:

Energy

Mobility

Community

Materials

Prosperity

Health

Communication

Simplicity

SunShade prototype. Rendering: Lianne van Genugten

A nice additional feature of this exhibit will be iPod Touches, with one-to-one interviews and behind-the-scene footage to supplement your experience.  They will be available for use free of charge.

Veil Curtain. Photo: Woodnotes OY

Begun in the year 2000, the Triennial Series showcases the most innovative designs from the previous 3 years.  In this, the fourth exhibition, they will show 125 projects exemplifying the best in environmental stewardship, social equity, accessibility and creative capital.

To learn more about the Cooper-Hewitt, and for hours and directions to get there, click here.

Peppered throughout with quotes like that above, “Downtown Chic”, from Sixx Design, is equal parts inspiration, design philosophy treatise, and how-to book.

Robert and Cortney Novogratz began their path into the design world as passionate amateurs, seeking to convert a dilapidated brownstone in Chelsea into a warm and eclectic home in time to welcome their first child into the world.  Now, many projects (and six kids) later they have developed a thriving design business in New York City and environs.

The book follows their journey of discovery, first with the brownstone, then onto warehouse spaces, country homes, and their first design commission.  Throughout there are tips and how-tos for both the design community and homeowners.  But the writing goes beyond just the basics of how to accomplish a remodel, by spending considerable time explaining not just the how, but the why of their design – and life – decisions.  While this may make the book sound like a vanity project, it is anything but.  Instead it reads more like a plea to not take life and design quite so seriously.  Playful and eclectic, yet ultimately practical, their designs are spaces to live in.

The Novogratz’s seem to have an instinctual understanding of eclecticism.   Their interiors are filled with color and light.  They favor bold statements, balanced with simple backdrops.  Finding a crazy amazing design element at a thrift store or antique market, and making it the focal point of a room is one of their signature moves. Whether it’s a cathedral window from Paris, or  an old exterior light emblazoned with the word “Police”, given to them by the precinct across the street from their SoHo home, each element becomes striking against its simple backdrop.

As a designer, I see and review books all the time that are filled with beautiful, inspiring images, but the text is often barely more than filler.  “Downtown Chic” had me curled up on the sofa, often chuckling out loud, as I followed the trials and tribulations of each new project.  With creative and interesting sidebars such as “How to Flea” and “Vintage Artifacts – The Agony and the Ecstasy”, the Novogratz’s have taken this book as an opportunity to freely share all the lessons they have learned along the way.

Although not strictly a book on sustainable design, the liberal use of reclaimed design elements, along with a “less is more” design approach makes this a terrific book for any designer or homeowner looking for inspiration for their own low-impact project.

Recommended.

Disclosure of material connection

Photo via Branch Home

The season of giving is approaching quickly, and Treehugger has put together a fun slideshow of sustainable furniture and other gifts to warm a green designer junkie’s heart.

Photo via 1a.m.

I had planned to write a post about this great, inexpensive headboard/wallband solution from Studio 1a.m., but re-nest did such a nice job with their post, I thought I would just let them tell you about it.

Photo via design*sponge

For a free, DIY wall design, consider this remarkably sophisticated looking sculpture made from toilet paper rolls – seen on design*sponge.

And last but not least…

If you are living or visiting Soho between now and Christmas Eve, you should definitely check out the temporary Here/Nau/NYC retail store at 69 Mercer Street.  It was created by Jean-Pierre Veillet, a project designer from Portland, Ore., utilizing all recycled materials.  You can read the New York Times article about it here.  And if you do go see it, feel free to email us with your impressions on how successful (or not) the use of so many discarded items is.  Maybe we can use it as fodder for a design strategy post.

Have a great weekend everyone!