Home Decor Goes Green - Part II

Last month I highlighted some IDT members who have chosen a "green" approach to making handcrafted home decor. As promised, this is Part II of that posting - more highlighting and praising the resourcefulness of these IDT artists!
Many things confront an artist who is making an effort to use greener, more sustainable materials. Namely, the cost of using harder-to-find materials can stop you cold on the path to eco-friendly goods. Hopefully, these items will encourage the discouraged to look for resources that are green and affordable!!

First up is this gorgeous, handcrafted bench from Artistic Lifestyling. It is painted with non-toxic, biodegradable milk paints (milk paints are a personal favorite of mine). Be sure to have a look at the beautiful keeping chests from Artistic Lifestyling, as well! Note: Milk paints come in powder-form, which lasts longer than pre-mixed acrylic paint - mix as you go is a great way to save money and resources while using products that are friendly to the planet!


Jalex Studios has a lovely collection of upcycled vases and lamps that reuse / recycle such things as a computer hard drive (as in the case of this chic modern vase), window brackets, bamboo flooring and napkin rings! There are so many quality products that are discarded for obsolescence - hurray for the creative spirit that can give these items new life and new purpose!

I had to add this lovely lampshade, created from old slides, from honeysucklecreations. As a photographer, I understand the commitment involved in toting around boxes full of slides that I can neither use nor depart with. I have one of these lampshades in my bedroom and it is one of my favorite pieces of functional, recycled home decor!

I just found this plant table (ooh, ooh, the top turns for easy, even sunlight exposure!) from Turnadaisy. It is made from upcycled, recycled heavy oak and at $65 is precisely the "affordable green" I'm talking about!

Just in case you don't know what to do with all of those shot glasses you've collected during your travels but no longer drink out of because you can't bear the smell of bourbon... The folks at homeECOnomics knew just what they were doing when they whipped up these fully functional, recycled candholders - sweet!

You can also find unique handforged steel hooks, rings and towel bars for your bathroom from 18th generation master blacksmith, Smythe Boone, of Boones Hooks. Not only are they stunning, but they are made from 100% recycled steel!


Last but not least (and, really, I could go on and on and on here), is a lovely sunburst glass panel made from recycled glass by The Looking Glass to spice up your west-facing windows!

I've had such a blast searching out these eco-friendly designs and I hope you have as much fun checking out their stores for other enticing, earth friendly home decor!

Home Decor Goes Green

The movement toward greener living is creating a market for homes built with sustainable, non-toxic (read: formaldehyde free) materials, painted with voc-free paints, outfitted with energy-saving appliances and equipped with solar panels. If this sounds like your current interior design/decorating project, then be sure to have a look at the following earth-friendly, recycled, upcycled, sustainable home decor from some of the Interior Design Team's eco-conscious creators/designers.

This round flower night light from Mariposa Avenue is a perfect example. It is made from a recycled tuna can, cut with a flower design, powder coated and finished with a glossy top coat. See more of Mariposa Avenue's lamps, sconces and night lights...

This beautiful, distressed-look frame is made by Second Line Frames from wood salvaged from Hurricane Katrina...not only a great use for this recycled wood siding, but a portion of sales also go to help in the rebuilding effort!


Collaging is one of my favorite ways to use what would otherwise be thrown away. Art Studio makes these beautiful fine art collage pieces from recycled newsprint and other collage elements. This stunning piece, titled "Round and Round" is mounted on heavy paper and ready to frame. Aside from geometric shapes and patterns, Art Studio offers a variety of lovely abstract pieces as well.

This woven rag table runner by Ron's Rag Rugs is woven from recycled fabrics on heirloom looms. Rag Rugs offers a great variety of colors and patterns, from table runners to throw rugs!

This lovely candle holder by Oak Studios of Design is made from stained glass pieces set into a recycled glass base. Oak Studio of Design also creates mosaic lighted bottles and many other home accents and gifts from recycled materials.

Decoupaged bowls by Bombus, using recycled world maps! Another wonderful accent piece and so earthy! Bombus also makes a colorful postage stamp bowl that I love!


After nearly a decade of making clocks from a variety of materials (including recycled vinyl records), last year my husband (and partner) and I discovered SDF - sustainable design fiberboard - as an alternative to the mdf (medium density fiberboard) we'd been using for our clocks for many years. SDF is a wonderful material that is made from 100% recycled wood pulp and is formaldehyde free (one of the big drawbacks of using mdf is the formaldehyde off-gassing). We also switched from using acrylic paints to milk paints, a non-toxic, sustainable (as long as there are cows) and biodegradable alternative.
I don't want anyone to depart with any tightly held secret sources, but I'd love to hear comments about any sustainable, earth-friendly resources being utilized by our talented team - great info for artists who want to go green!!!
To see more beautiful, recycled, sustainable home decor, go to etsy.com and search "interiordesignteam" and "recycled". Also, there are so many more IDT artists utilizing earth-friendly materials that I may do a Part 2 next month!
Cheers!