the write idea

A certain number of us remember the days when the school blackboard suddenly turned white...when the boring white chalk (or sometimes pastel) was left behind for brighter shades of red, green and blue. Aah, the marker board. Standing in front of class became fun again. Okay, maybe not, but the absence of screeching chalk and the ability to fully erase that wrong math equation was pretty exciting wasn't it?

Well here is a new take on that genius. Paint. It's called Idea Paint and, you guessed it, it works like a dry erase board. You can paint it anywhere; classrooms, conference rooms, children's bedrooms, even replace the family chore board with it.

There are endless options and endless positives about this stuff. First of all it's non-toxic, a pre-requisite for anything I would suggest in your home. It can be painted over so there is no lifelong commitment and, best of all, it inspires creativity every time you pass by!
Who can resist a blank canvas?

not your grandmother's wallpaper

Most people have a pretty strong memory of their grandmother's house. The smell of cookies or bread and getting to stay up later than you were normally allowed brings back fond memories for many. But I'm going to venture a guess here that the design of the house didn't rank quite as high...tchochkes from floor to ceiling, faded carpet, outdated draperies. Am I on the right track? Well, some of the things from grandma's house are now finding their way back into the world of high design, and it looks like they might just stay awhile.

Wallpaper is one of these such things and I can attest to previously being on the other side of the fence. But thanks to companies like Farrow & Ball I have fully recovered from my wallpaper aversion.

Farrow & Ball is a British manufacturer of paint and wallpaper, but have showrooms all across this side of the pond.

The images here are beautiful, but even they don't do justice to the magnificence of the actual paper. The color palette is earthy and rich and the paper patterns range from funky to elegant so there are endless possibilities here. The papers are printed using traditional blocks and water based paints so they have a totally unique texture and quality. They make a bold statement no matter where they are and truly are timeless design.

Samples of both paper and paint can be ordered through the website and product can be ordered through me.

rubie green

Designers sometimes get a bad rap because many people think that all we do is pick out fabric all day. Well that isn't hardly true but I do have a certain fondness for the stuff. I get pretty darn excited when I walk into a showroom filled with wall-to-wall swatches of patterns and textures and colors, oh my!

So imagine my delight to have stumbled upon someone who seems to have that same giddy excitement, and a passion for green as well. Her name is Michelle Adams and she owns a textile company called Rubie Green. Her prints are bold and happy and come in the most usable colorways! My current favorite is Indian Lake (the fish).


These fabrics rank incredibly high on the eco-charts too. They are made in the US on 100% organic cotton fabric, whitened without bleach, and then printed with zero VOC water-based inks and finished without the use of chemicals. And because the printing process they use is so efficient they only use a gallon of water per day! That is pretty impressive.








Check out the company in all their eco-fabulousness at rubiegreen.com

I would also like to credit Patrick Cline, the photographer, for the stunning pictures. Take a look at his website (this guy is kind of a genius) Brand-Arts

flushing the competition

I do realize that it's a little bit odd to start out by featuring a toilet (is that some kind of symbolism? Or maybe just a sick sense of humor.) Actually, this product just doesn't get near the attention it deserves. As a designer I am fairly attuned to things that are well designed- or not- and this one is a winner in my book.

This is a dual flush toilet by Caroma. I think by now most of us realize the concept of the two-flushes, but just for fun I'm going to spell it out. Flush one is for liquid waste and flush two is for what we lovingly refer to as 'a number two.' Get it? Thought so.

An average toilet in this day and age uses anywhere from 1.6 gallons to 5 gallons (depending on when and where the toilet was installed) of water per flush. That is a little crazy, especially going back to the 'number one' use. So it seems like a good area to invest some time in creating new technology.

And so it is that Caroma, along with many other toilet manufacturers now, has come up with the concept of having a dual flush system, which uses only about .8 gallons on the one flush and 1.6 for the regular one. And the true design genious here is that they are virtually un-cloggable! Seriously, I tried this at a showroom. It's oh so un-eco, but we shoved wads of (recycled) paper towels in there without any problems. And I kid you not, we flushed a potato. I'm talking Idaho potatoes, not the little ones. It just sucked it right down. Amazing.

So to Caroma and friends, my hat is off to you. Thank you for making a great product that contributes to a solution rather than adding to the problem.