Size Matters.

Recently, I've started expanding my "green thinking" to include not only WHAT I live with, but HOW I live with what I have. I have become enamored with the entire "Not So Big House" collection of books by Sarah Susanka.


I love the way Sarah looks at living spaces and the books are a great read. They also look fabulous on my coffee table and in my bookshelf. The collection covers everything from interior design to remodeling to outdoor living spaces. There is even a book called "The Not So Big Life" which has been added to my reading list. If you are interested in making your own life-footprint smaller, take a look at the NSB and see site for yourself here.

De-stressing the Eco Way

Let's face it, stress happens. It happens to all of us, no matter how calm we are or how we try to avoid it. My favorite way to de-stress is to have a healthy dinner with a glass of wine, take a nice bubble bath, and fall into a super comfortable bed for a solid 8-hour slumber. Since the green movement has steadily spread to all corners, just about anything you could possibly want is now available in "green".

After a particularly stressful day, I love to prepare a quick dinner (or cheat and pick something up) from the organic section of my local grocer or the farmer's market. A glass of organic wine finishes the meal. If you can't find organic wine locally, order yourself a bottle or two from The Organic Wine Company. Check to make sure that your state allows alcohol shipments before you order, though.

The Green Glass Company has a wonderful array of eco-friendly glassware. From tumblers to goblets, they've got it all! I'm a big fan of the clear goblets!!!


Like so many of my fellow greenies, I have eco-sins that go against my passion for living a green life. Among them is my love of the bath. The area around my bathtub looks like an apothecary with all of the products I use, but I try to negate a bit of my impact on the earth by using organic products. Check out The Daily Green's article on green bath scrubs.

Anna Sova makes an incredibly comfortable and still affordable set of organic cotton sheets.

The Bella Pura sheets are available in 4 colors and come in queen and king sizes.

Nothing combats stress like a good night's sleep! So next time you're stressed, feed your body well, take some time for yourself and sleep it off!

So Fresh!

Leisure reading time is rare these days, but I like to take Sunday afternoons to sit out on the porch with a tall glass of sweet tea and a stack of magazines. The pile generally consists of the usual...Garden and Gun, Southern Living, Architectural Digest, you know the routine. This Sunday, there will be a new gem in the pack. Today, as I was headed to a tiny restaurant tucked inside one of our bookshoppes, I stumbled (quite literally) across Fresh Home magazine.


The cover was so enticing that I picked it up and couldn't put it down. Cover to cover, the periodical is loaded with terrific advice and how-to's and even includes a section on conserving energy! If your local bookseller carries the mag, pick up a copy for yourself.

The Green Project

No matter where I live, Louisiana will always be home. I remember spending many weekends of my youth in New Orleans eating in the French Quarter, hanging out on Magazine Street and seeing the sights and sounds of the city. My favorite part of New Orleans has always been the architecture. Not surprisingly, I find myself mixing pieces of Louisiana architectural salvage into my own home. The Green Project has just made that easier and even more eco-friendly!

From their website:

The Green Project operates a warehouse store that resells high-quality, salvaged building materials at low cost to the community. The store is dedicated to helping the environment by reducing the amount of usable materials placed in landfills or disposed of improperly. You may bring reusable building materials to our warehouse store, or we can pick them up for a small fee.

The Green Project also supports others who salvage or deconstruct damaged or collapsed buildings by hand, in a way that saves between 45 and 70 percent of the materials. This preserves New Orleans' unique architectural history and benefits New Orleans' residents by returning their ruined building materials to use elsewhere in the city.

Next time you're in the market for building materials, consider shopping somewhere like The Green Project or Habitat's ReStore.

Welcoming the Heat

After seemingly endless days of rain in Nashville, the weather is finally turning brighter and the past couple of days have been absolutely beautiful. I don't know about you, but weather like this makes me giddy for outdoor gatherings. Whip up some lemonade, throw some goodies on the grill and chill the ice cream for dessert...it's time to break out the shorts and flipflops! If you're going to have an outdoor shindig, you might as well use cute tableware. Amy Butler's eco-friendly table goods are just the ticket!


You can view the pieces here.

Amy's collection also includes some great 100% organic bedding. EcoSalon's article on the adorable pieces is here.


Now go enjoy the weather!!!

Don't Walk in the Attic: A Cautionary Tale

When I was small, every major rule was accompanied by a cautionary story that proved why the rule was not to be broken. I can remember going up to the attic with my dad and being allowed to play in the part of the attic that had been converted into usable space. Though the fluffy pink insulation was tempting, I knew never to walk on it. Why, you ask? Well, because if you walk on the insulation, you might just fall through the ceiling. The story went like this: When we moved from Memphis back to Baton Rouge, before you were born, the movers came to pack us and one of them was packing boxes in the attic and walked on the insulation. Before I knew it, there were two legs dangling through the ceiling right above my head! I don't know who was more startled, me or the man stuck in the ceiling!" My mom still loves telling that story. Much to her satisfaction, I never walked on the insulation for fear that my own two legs would be found hovering above someone in the den.

Fast forward 27 years. When the movers arrived to pack up the Philadelphia apartment to prepare for the trip down to Nashville, I was shocked to open the door and find the legendary Coco, the very same man who had fallen through my parents' ceiling when he was barely in his twenties. Coco and Charles, who was also present at the great ceiling fall-through and had to pull his coworker from the sheetrock or whatever it is that ceilings are made of, were almost as startled to see me as I was to meet them. The guys were terrific and in less than a day, the entire place was carefully packed and ready to be loaded. On Friday, when they arrived in Nashville, they were reunited with my mom who had come to help me drive down and set up the new place.

I'm not sure what gears of the world were turning to make such a thing happen, but I'm sure glad it worked out that way! I cannot say enough good things about Armstrong Relocation. Kevin, Tami, Charles and Coco went above and beyond to make my move as painless and easy as possible and I am so glad I used them. If you need movers, I give my wholehearted recommendation.

And just in case you're wondering, Coco didn't fall through the ceiling this time.

A Most Fabulous Blog

Haskell Harris, Associate Editor of Garden and Gun magazine, publishes a fabulous blog called Belle Decor. Recently, Ms. Harris posted about a friend of hers in New Orleans who has his own carpentry business. Matthew Thompson does a wonderful job of taking ordinary run of the mill pieces and turning them into decor statements. Take for example this reclaimed set of stadium seats:

Aren't those just fantastic???

EcoManor

When most people think eco-house, they think boxy and minimal. If you're like most people, prepare to have all of your eco-house expectations shattered. Meet the EcoManor.

The home of Laura and Rutherford Seydel is a beautiful showplace that's green from top to bottom. The EcoManor website even gives great links to the household and decor products that they used that are eco-friendly. Among the fabulously appointed rooms is a pink and green girl's bedroom. Talk about putting the green in pink and green!

Where Does the Other Sock Go?

The construction of the Pyramids, the Bermuda Triangle, the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. These are indeed some of the world's greatest mysteries. But the mystery that trumps all of these is the missing sock. You know the one. You put pairs of socks into the dryer and when they're done, mysteriously, you're left with a single sock from one or more pairs that you put in. Instead of trashing the spare sock (if it's cute), consider making a plant cozy out of it. Just cut it down to size, put the sock around and over the edge of a cup, and voila!

Eco-Exercise

Spring is here and it's time to get back outside and get some exercise. Running or walking outdoors is a great eco-friendly way to get your workout mojo going. If outdoor exercise isn't your thing or if there simply aren't enough hours in the day for you to fit in an outdoor workout, consider an eco-friendly indoor workout.

One of my favorite indoor workout tools was originally intended to be a winter substitute, but I've liked it so much that it's taken up permanent residence in the Eco-Prep house. If you're a cyclist, consider an indoor trainer that requires no additional energy other than what is produced by pedaling.

Because I come from a place where temperatures below 40 are highly unusual, I have a difficult time adjusting to winter up here in the north. Cycling or running outdoors during the chilly winters is pretty much out of the question. My indoor trainer has been a saving grace and has kept me on track with my cycling program.

Other great options include rowing machines or self-powered treadmills and elliptical machines.
For more eco-exercise tips, check out these links for GreenYour.com and Dummies.com.

Eco Alma Mater

The coupon from my last post is also accepted at A-List Furniture and Decor and Accents in the Garden.

They have some great eco-friendly college needlepoint pillows that are 100% handmade and dyed with 100% vegetable dye. Sadly, they don't have some schools (including my beloved LSU), but if you cut your tailgating teeth at Alabama, UGA, Tennessee or Auburn, you're in luck!

More Sales on Sails

The good things in life are always better when they're shared, so I decided I'd share with you the coupon I found in my inbox this morning. Newport Nautical Decor is having a 15% off sale. That's right, 15% off of EVERYTHING in the store. Use coupon code "marchsale" when checking out. The coupon is valid until March 15, 2009. They've got some cute items like this anchor pillow.

Branch-ing Out

Though the organic cotton bar towels I love are no longer available from Branch Handmade, there are some other great things in the fun little Etsy store.

The nautical prints are available on an assortment of clothing and textile items, like this tshirt:

Branch Handmade also has great hand-printed pillowcases in nautical and equestrian designs:


What a great way to add some handmade character to your home or your closet!

Welcome Back Gant!

I have a love-hate relationship with my mailbox. First of all, it is far too small. Nothing larger than 4 inches wide will fit in the box. Secondly, it is far too deep. Things get lost in the bottom of the box (which opens from the top) causing an assortment of problems. In spite of the trials and tribulations of mail retrieval in my building, I do love getting the mail every day. Today, I successfully pulled all of the mail out of the tiny box without my arm getting stuck. The challenge was certainly worth the reward when I realized that Gant Magazine arrived today! Part catalog, part magazine, Gant Magazine is aesthetically pleasing from beginning to end. Get your own today at the Gant website! If you're the type that looks once and throws magazines and catalogs out, the site offers two planet-friendly options. You can download the magazine to your computer or you can look at it on the website.

Gant, the all-American clothing company (based out of Sweden, oddly enough), was on hiatus for a while, but the classic brand is back and in a big way!

The Spring/Summer collection has plenty of old favorites and some new additions. To boot, Gant is debuting a line of organic bedding! Three cheers for old favorites!!!

Meanwhile, Back in Nashville...

RPD and I met up in Nashville this past weekend and we did the usual rotation...Musician's Hall of Fame, The Country Music Hall of Fame, Pancake Pantry, The Charlie Daniels Museum, The Pie Wagon, Loveless Cafe, Printers Alley, and the all-too-famous "Buy one, get two free" sale at one of the boot shops on Broadway.

But the highlight of our trip was our visit to The Green Wagon, the precious little store I mentioned in a blog post a while back.


We got to browse the store and chat a bit with Jen, the owner. I can't wait to get back and do some more shopping at The Green Wagon!!!

More Recommended Reading

Next time you're at your local library, check out some of these eco-picks to expand on your knowledge of all things green:

Ready, Set, Green
Cradle to Cradle
Dreaming Green
Urban Eco Chic
Choosing Green
Your Eco-Friendly Home

Philadelphia Home Show 2009

I had the pleasure of attending the Philadelphia Home Show today. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of eco-friendly booths in the Convention Center. My favorite booth was Strictly Bamboo which featured 100% bamboo sheets and towels. These were by far the softest sheets and towels I have ever touched in my life! Bamboo is a great sheet/towel option because it's naturally anti-microbial and antibacterial. Good for your body, good for your health!

Another highlight was the Gerhard's Appliances booth where this fun teal Eloctrolux washer and dryer were on display. I spent about 20 minutes playing with all of the neat energy and water saving features!

I also got to check out the Swift Microfiber (a chemical-free cleaning option), Touch of Purple cleaner (an all-natural cleaner/polish that you can use on jewelry, boats, glass, and whole bunch of other things), Solatube (skylight alternative that cuts down on heat from sunlight), EnviroTek green finishing systems (environmentally friendly basement/garage/bonus room finishing), and East Coast Power Savers (a tiny little plug-in that reduces power surges and spikes). There were lots of other green booths and a contest where you can win a $300 gift card just for voting for your favorite green product at the show. The Philadelphia Home Show runs through January 25.

When Fashion Becomes Decor

I've always thought there was a direct correlation between how a person dresses their house and how they dress themselves. Designer Mary McDonald proves my point in this month's Domino Magazine. I love her boldly preppy den!

If you want to put some preppy pop in your own den and you want to do it with eco-panache, consider using low- or no-VOC paints and secondhand or sustainable furnishings.

Free Green! Free Green!

Are you thinking about building a new house? Or maybe remodeling the old one? For so long, "green" houses have been ultra modern loft-style homes which work for some people, but the prep in all of us longs for a cottage or a bungalow or a Colonial or a Cape Cod style house. Free Green to the rescue! Free Green offers house plans of all varieties for free (that's right, free!) and you can customize any of the plans available on the website to your specifications.

The Comfortable Cape Plan

Check out the Free Green blog to learn about green building and watch the progress of a green house as it is being built here. The Go Green Now section is also great and offers tips on what you can do now to make your life a little bit greener.

The Dish on Repurposed Dinnerware

Sarah Cihat's line of dishware could not be more fab! She's taken the concept of reusing and repurposing to a whole new level...CHIC! The plate below is just one example of her amazing work. Check out the rest of the collection at her website.