HGTV Green Home 2009

This beautiful Spanish style home is located in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Of course, to me the best part of this home is it’s TOTALLY eco-friendly. The decor is absolutely STUNNING! I also LOVE the house is a good size and it is not overly done. Another great example of not compromising your style or luxury to go green.

Front View of Home

Foyer

Kitchen

Dining Room

Living Room

 

 

Lounge

Half Bath

 

Laundry Room

 

 

Master Bedroom

 

 

Master Bathroom

Sitting Room

 

Child’s Room

Guest Bedroom

 

Child’s Bathroom

 

 

Screened Porch

 

To see more amazing photos of the HGTV Green Home 2009 please visit HGTV website.

Will you enter to win this home? Contest starts April 17th.

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Exclusively Yours Interiors LLC

Beautiful AND Eco-Friendly Hotel

The Nines is a new luxury hotel located in Portland, Oregon. Not only is this hotel beautiful, it is also ECO-FRIENDLY! The Nines expect to be LEED Silver Certified from US Green Building Council. Low-flow faucets have been installed to save 400,000 gallons of water each year, products used for daily housekeeping are “Green Sealed” and 50% of its energy is from renewable sources (see full article). This is a great example of how you can go eco-friendly without compromising your style.

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Green Home Inspirations

Going green does not mean you have to compromise on your design style or the quality of your design. Nor does it mean you have to spend a fortune. Due to the increase demand of consumers wanting to live healthier lifestyles, the cost of going green has decreased. For example, you can now go to the local hardware store or the big chain store to find eco-friendly paint at a reasonable price.

You are not quite ready to go green? Start small use no or low-VOC paints and water based finishes on your floor or use wool carpets with natural rubber backing. Making these changes alone drastically improves your air quality.

Here are some green home inspirational photos:

This home was designed by Kimberly Rider. The original red-oak floors were refinished with a water-based urethane. The fireplace mantel was built with formaldehyde-free MDF (medium-density fiberboard).

The use of low-VOC, the refinished kitchen cabinets and hardwood floors, halogen lighting, and energy star appliances complete this eco-friendly kitchen.

The pillows are made with vintage recycled fabrics and natural materials. The bedding is made from organic hemp, linen, and cotton fabrics that were dyed with soy-based inks. The lamps are made out of recyclable glass. Isn't the chandelier beautiful??

Here the designer and homeowner, Trudy Dujardin opted to use shutters painted with low-VOC paint. A shutter is an eco-friendly solution because it is much easier to wipe away dust that cause allergens than draperies. The use of live plants also aid in improving air quality.

The fireplace mantel and built-ins are made out of solid wood. The furniture have natural fabrics cover and custom-made cushions filled with cotton and wool.

The existing cabinets were painted with low-VOC paint and this island is made out of solid wood. The granite was finished with non-toxic sealer. The wood floor was finished with water-based urethane.

Designed by Vasi Ypsilanti and Margreet Cevasco. This home is a great example of not compromising on the quality of the design. The floor is made out of bamboo. The solar-reducing shades are made from reeds, grasses and bamboo.

My favorite photo, this antique chest was recycled and then a wood top was added to create a stunning breakfast bar.

Hard to tell from this photo, but the wall is made of out low-VOC emitting vinyl covering. The vintage table was refinished with beautiful benches to match. The seating is made from natural fabrics. The flooring is made out of natural cork.

The walls are made out of renewable bark of cork trees and most of the furnishings were recycled.

I hope these photos have inspired you to start going green!

photos are from Traditional Home.

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Eco-Friendly Nursery

One of the areas I specialize in is Green Design (I will tell you about my other area in a later post). Specifically, I cater to first time parents who want to create an eco-friendly nursery for their baby. Below is a list of basic tips you can do to make your baby's nursery eco-friendly:

• As I mentioned in my previous post, painting is the easiest and cheapest way to update a room. In this case, you want to use a paint with no or low VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds). Pretty much all home improvement or paint stores now offer this (reasonably priced). One brand that is highly promoted on HGTV is Mythic Paint. This paint is more on the expensive side (avg cost $50 a gallon) but after reading their site, I must admit I am impressed. I will use this paint in the near future and report my findings to you. If anyone has used this paint already, please share your thoughts.


• Infants spend A LOT of time on the floor. Consider using bamboo, cork (which is great if you have allergies), or wood that is certified by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). If using carpet is a must, you want to use natural materials like wool, jute, sisal, sea grass, coir (coconut husks), and recycled carpeting. Also, use 100% natural wool carpet padding. A popular choice is Earth Weave Carpet Mills. A GREAT alternative to using carpet is using carpet tiles. Two reasons that make carpet tiles a better solution than carpet is you can skip carpet padding altogether and you can easily remove any tile instead of replacing the entire carpet. It's also fairly easy to install. The most popular brand is FLOR. With FLOR if you want to replace a tile or totally get rid of all the tiles, FLOR will pay for the shipping of the old tiles so it could be used for recycling.

• You want to look for furniture that is formaldehyde-free. A furniture company that received high ratings is Pacific Rim Woodworking. Another option is to buy unpainted solid wood furniture and stain or paint it with low or no VOCs.


• Choose organic bedding (Pottery Barn Kids offers great organic bedding that are reasonably priced) and mattresses made out of natural latex rubber.

• Lastly, invest in an air purifier to free your space of allergens. Also, be sure to open a window everyday to let in fresh air and circulate out the stale air.

If you start with these few basic tips, you will be well on your way for creating a healthier environment for you and your child.

Coming soon....Going Green in other areas of your home!

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