Organic Bedding from Pottery Barn

I just received a new Pottery Barn "Bed and Bath" catalog and was thrilled to find a fabulous selection of organic bedding. My favorite is the Avery Organic Bedding, shown below, which just happens to be on sale, too!

I love the simplicity of chocolate brown and white, which looks great with a punch of solid color. Although they've used aqua blue, you could certainly use lilac, yellow, pink, green or any bright color to complement the richness of the dark brown and the busy pattern on the duvet and shams. I would actually love to see this bed and bedding against a colorful wall, or perhaps with a pair of brightly painted vintage asian night stands, such as shown below:

You could also use the night stands I wrote about in my other post and not even have to change the throw pillow shown on the bed!  If you aren't into being quite this bold, they also have some great solid basics. I'm so excited to see stylish organic products hitting the mainstream market!

Craigslist: Recycling Gone Wacky

I love Craigslist for many reasons.  Reason #1:  the environment.   I applaud people who are willing to take the time to sell or give away things that otherwise would end up in a landfill.   Reason #2: the entertainment value. To this end, nothing beats browsing through the "Free" section.  I've noticed that the most voluminous offerings in the "Free" section are dirt, jacuzzis, and mattresses. This makes sense - these items are unwieldy to move and take up a lot of space. In addition to these obvious giveaways, there are always several more humorous offerings that make you realize that there really is something for everybody!

On that note, I present below an actual ad posted in the Craigslist "Free" section. This truly is recycling gone wacky. I hope this fills you with Halloween Cheer!  (If you are interested in picking these up, go to the original ad here.)

High-Tech Trash

America has been described by many to have a "culture of waste." We always need to have the newest, the best, the biggest. With technology rapidly developing and new products being released all the time, you have to upgrade to keep up. iPods, laptops, televisions - all become dinosaurs after just a few years time. How do you recycle these? Should the company who manufactures the product also be responsible for recycling it? This was the subject of a recent article and photo essay in National Geographic magazine. I was shocked by the amount of "High Tech Trash" that is generated and the difficulties presented by recycling it. I think this photo essay speaks volumes about the destruction we are causing: High Tech Trash.  You can read the complete article here.

Once you've been inspired to responsibly recycle, check out this great A-Z guide from Real Simple Magazine called "How to Recycle Anything."

Green Glass Company

I saw some recycled wine bottle glasses from The Green Glass Company featured in House Beautiful and had to check it out. They use recycled bottles to create beautiful vases and barware.  The following are photos of some of their product :

Great looking, well priced and recycled too!

Flea Market Fun!

A few weeks ago I decided to visit the Rose Bowl Flea Market. If you live in the Los Angeles area and haven't been, it is quite the scene.  They run the second Sunday of each month, and the next one is November 9. There really is something for everyone. Here are some highlights of what I saw available for purchase:

• beef jerky
• 4' x 6' oil painting of a Catholic bishop? deacon? high priest?
• taxidermied elk
• super-swinging acrylic bar
• more hipster-esque clothing than you can shake a stick at

If you ever need anything that falls into the category of "kitsch," this is your one-stop shop. But, I digress.

After ogling the vast assortment of creepy wares, I did find a really cool vintage furniture vendor, Caught My Fancy. One of the best ways you can be "green" is by reusing existing resources, and these guys have done a great job at buying and freshening up vintage pieces. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of "shabby chic" for an entire room or house.  However, I think some of their pieces, integrated into the right setting, could be really great. For example, the nightstands shown below would integrate beautifully with mirrored furniture to give you a truly feminine, glamourous, regency look:

Another great thing about these guys?  Their prices are super-reasonable.  The night chests shown above are just $415 for the pair!  Check out the link here: Drexel Night Stands.