I saw this piece on artnet.com by one of my favorite artists-Jack Pierson. It seemed so appropriate for a Friday. The Sun Rose one last time to call you to duty but tomorrow, tomorrow you're free! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend...

I came across this Ferm Living Wallpaper the other day and it made me realize how chic eco-friendly decor can really be. It inspired me to build a little eco scheme around it, and I must say, I like what I found...




1. Eco-Friendly Driftwood Orb Chandelier from the Well Appointed House 2. "Tonecoon" lounger by Pie is made of rapidly renewable water hyacinth 3. I LOVE this custom jute rug by Eco Rug. I'd have it it any and every room of my house 4. When you purchase this Large Stringray Textured Cuff made of reclaimed metal by Alkemie, 8% of your purchase will go to your selection of any one of 46 charities! 5. This Jay Bird Round Table is composed of handmade papier mache from recycled materials by artisans in Haiti. It's available in an array of fun, eco-friendly low VOC paints!

Since I posted last week about the fabulous 390 square foot apartment designed by David Kaihoi, I can't get his fabulous vintage wallpaper out of my mind! Buying vintage is a great way to be sustainable. David pieced together the tattered wallpaper he found at an auction, and the result was stunning! I found some really GREAT vintage papers. Take a look...





Whether designing a sweet space for a little girl made of sugar and spice or a chic Jonathan Adler-clad pad, all of these papers are sure to make a statement!

From Upper Left: Antique Wallpaper from the early 1900's found on Ebay, Retro Wallpaper from the 1970's found on Hannah's Treasures,Vintage "Jackie" Wallpaper found on Second Hand Rose, 1970's Vintage Wallpaper found on Hannah's Treasures, Vintage Foil Celtic Knot Wallpaper found on Ebay, Late 60's Chrysanthemum Wallpaper found on Hannah's Treasures

I stumbled upon yet another great source for eco-friendly products in NYC. It's called Sustainable NYC and is located in New York's East Village. I was thrilled to find petroleum-free lip balms, eco-friendly nail polishes, and even an organic cafe within the space! Their mission is to support items that are local, organic, fair trade, recycled, re-purposed, biodegradable, and alternative-energy. If I wasn't in a time crunch, I think I would have bought out the entire store!







Soy-based candles and other goodies litter the shelves.





Priti NYC brand nail polish is made out of all natural resources and comes in almost any color under the sun!





Delicious organic treats to enjoy before, during or after your shopping...genius!





Petroleum-free lip balm!





A great selection of reusable bottles.





Haha! I couldn't resist posting this. Get rid of your plastic bags but hang on to your sense of humor!

The other day I was walking in SoHo and passed by an adorable boutique called Miss Hoe. I was in a hurry but I couldn't resist stopping in to see the curiosities that laid within. Not only was everything on the rack irresistible, but the decor was to die for! The saleswoman was so awesome and let me snap some pictures. I e-mailed the designer, Abby Hoe, to see if she would answer a few questions for me, and she obliged! Here's what she had to say...and let me say that I was so pleased to learn that she's being eco-friendly by using vintage materials and antique furniture! Brava!



Describe the person who you think is your target customer.
Miss Hoe is about a lifestyle where one is still in touch with their fantasy childhood dreams, playful, and quirky. We have people from as little as 3 years old to 60 years old that cannot resist to just come in with a smile.


Why did you feel that it was important to use older vintage materials in a new way within your boutique?
I have always had a love of collecting used or abandoned things since I was in college, some people called it "junk." I picked them up on the street and love going to garage sales and very recently I like to go to the auction in England. I think it's fun and also showing people how they can be creative , playful and to be green at the same time.





Where do you find the materials for your toys?
Materials for the toys are left over inventory fabric from suppliers that I have known for years in Japan and Hong Kong.





Do you use sustainable materials to make your clothes?
My clothes are all made from left over inventory from my suppliers in Japan and Hong Kong. Sometimes, I also mix in vintage lace and buttons that I find at auction.





Did you put the pieces that include doll parts together yourself? What made you think to do that?
I saw the baby doll parts at a garage sale and I just felt like I needed to make them live again. So, I brought them home and cleaned them. With all of the books I was collecting, I immediately thought that the arms and legs would be a lovely bookend and the head would be good as a lamp. So, with a little help from my contractor Tony, I was able to put the doll arms and legs into the books.





What's your favorite piece in the store and why?
It's so hard to say which is my favorite, because they are my dreams. But, if I had to pick, I would say the baby doll arms and legs bookend, and the book stack up from the floor to the ceiling...





What's the last book you read?
I have to say, I am not a reader. The last book I read was The Great Gatsby.





How did you go about making the tower of books?
My dear friend Tony Chin is my contractor who helped me to make this happen. It took us the whole day and three men to put it up! We have a wire running in the middle of all of the books.





What's your dream destination?
Back to the early 20's/30's in London before the ware.





What's on your iPod?
Lily Allen, Stereolab, Kings of Convenience, James Figurine, Clor, Anya Marina, Linking Park, Oasis, Lenka, Digitalism, Kings of Leon, Kate Nash, etc.





Tell us about the chandelier and clock table.
I had this idea of putting a coffee table upside-down on the ceiling and the shape and the little details of the table gave me the idea of turning it into a clock that always stays at 5 minutes before midnight.





We love the Mark Ryden piece that you have in the store! Who are some other favorite artists of yours?
Yes, he is my favorite artist! I went to his show a few months ago and his works just remind me alot of myself and of Miss Hoe.





How do you want people to feel when they walk into your store?
I want them to feel like they are in a space where they feel like they just step back into their dreams in a fantasy wonderland and appreciate the space and the elements while they are shopping, not just shelves afer shelves of merchandise. And last, to make them smile!

Happy Friday to everyone! Take a tip from my two-year-old and go do something this weekend that you've never done before!

THE GREEN DEPOT
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For those of you who don't know what the Green Depot is, the time has come for you to learn! The Green Depot is a leading supplier of environmentally friendly and sustainable building products, services and home solutions. Founded by Sarah Beatty, a mom of three, The Green Depot was born after not being able to renovate a nursery for her first child in safe and sustainable materials. So, I guess she is really a mom of four and The Green Depot is her second child. Anyone who has ever started a business knows that what I am saying is true. So, I'm working with them to "green" my plans for the very first house that I'll be building from the ground up. I was at one of their locations in SoHo last week talking with one of their project architects about my plans. I am hoping to film this project and share with everyone everything that I learn about building a green home. Check out some of the pics we took while perusing their very cool space. I was like an eco-friendly kid in an eco-friendly candy store!





You walk right in to this inviting light display! They are the Green Depot "leaf" logo and were made locally in NYC. The lights themselves are a combination of CFLs and LEDs.





The special Green Depot line of low VOC paints in any color you desire.





Insulation made of recycled denim!





Green Depot has the whole family in mind-even the little ones. They have a full-fledges eco line for babies including bedding, bottles, and even wipes!





Look what we saw...a chair, made of saws! The owner found this repurposed chair at an antique flea market.





When you walk in the front door, you are greeted by the station to the left where you can try carbonated water that's made by a machine as opposed to buying endless bottles of it. We tried it and I must say, it was pretty tasty! The next thing that you see is the "soaps on tap" station where you come to refill you cleaning products and buy in bulk! I can't wait to bring you more on this process and I hope that you are as excited as I am to learn!

One man's trash is another man's...

Reusing and recycling items to make them new again is one of the best and most creative ways to be eco-friendly. I came across a few brilliant examples of turning trash into treasure.




Architect Adam Kalkin sees used shipping containers as a way to contain...people. The architect arranged 12 containers under one roof for a retreat in Maine.











The brilliant minds at Studio Arne Quinze, an architecture firm headquartered in Belgium used many reclaimed items when building L’Eclaireur, a multi-label fashion store owned by the fascinating Armand Hadida. Amongst using plenty of reclaimed wood and cardboard, recycled aluminum priner plates were used to fashion much of the stores surfaces. Wow! Who knew that a printer plate could be so chic!









Starbucks-I'm pretty sure we've all been there...at least once...at least once today. Most Starbucks look the same until a new one sprung up late last year in Seattle's Capitol Hill area. It's part of a three-store test to see how more independent Starbucks stores fare. This particular Starbucks, known as 15th Ave Coffee & Tea is fashioned out of reclaimed barn wood provided by Pioneer Millworks who received two Grand Prize awards from the Association for Retail Environments (A.R.E.) for specialty food retailer of the year.

In a world where our bigger (ie gas guzzling, energy exhausting) homes are viewed as better, it was refreshing when I saw a 390 square foot apartment in the July/August issue of House Beautiful! What impressed me more than the fact that three people (Interior Designer David Kaihoi, his wife, and their daughter) live in this 390 square foot space was that it's one of the most well decorated spaces that I've seen in a while.This goes to show that less done right really can be more!



The family shares this one-bedroom apartment which they maintain with "organization, furniture with more than one purpose, and colors and patterns that engage the eye."



The corner banquette opens up for storage. The designer says that "Everything has to have more than one purpose." This is such a great theory when it comes to conserving the earth's materials.



Their daughter sits in the same chair as mine does-the Trapp high chair by Stokke. It's a great investment both sustainably and economically because it grows with your child.They can sit in it from the time they're 6 up until 36 months of age!



The big furniture in this room most certainly does make this room feel grand. I'd love to be invited over for movie night.



This antique's gentleman's chest is the definition of multi-purpose for this family. It serves as a desk, bar, child's bureau, and-when their daughter was in diapers, it was a changing table! Genius!



Hidden organization and storage can be found throughout the entire apartment. The designer even gave up half of his closet to make room for a washer and dryer-now that's sacrifice!



I think people forget that buying vintage is a great way to be sustainable. The designer bought this wallpaper at auction, pieced it together, and filled in the empty spaces. I absolutely adore it!



Some things are non-negotiable. It seems as though his wife still has a decent size closet for New York standards, and I love the brilliant shade of red and the way he used mirrors to make the space look larger.



Three is company in this 8x8 foot bedroom. The window sill acts as a bedside table and the trundle for their daughter comes out at night, and goes back in the morning.

In all of the research I've been doing over the past few months on ways to decrease petroleum dependency, I've come to learn that using plastic bags is one of the biggest contributors to unecessary petroleum use. I was shocked and appauled by some of these startling statistics:

• Plastic bags are made of polyethylene which is a petroleum product
• Four to five trillion plastic bags are manufactured each year
• Only 1% of plastic bags are recycled
• It takes 1,000 years for polyethylene bags to break down
• Approximately 1 billion seabirds and mammals die per year by ingesting plastic bags

While all information is extremely startling, don't worry, there is a light at the end of the tunnel...





REUSABLE BAGS!






Baggu makes these great shopping bags made of 100% Ripstop nylon. They hold the contents of 2-3 plastic bags! AND...best of all it comes in 34 different colors!





I own this bag in another color and I LOVE IT. It fits SO much and better yet, it's made of organic material. The company that makes this brilliant bag, Beau Soleil, uses fabric made out of bamboo, vegetable-dyed organic cottons and vintage, tencel, which is made from eucalyptus tress, as well as recycled leather trims.





Even if you bring reusable bags with you when you're shopping, that doesn't mean you can put plastic bags full of things inside of them! That's why it's important to be a few more steps ahead and get some reusable produce bags. These Flip & Tumble ones have a drawstring and come in sets of 5...PERFECT!





It's hard to find a comparable replacement for Ziploc bags but there are options out there. These Lunchskins are made of certified food-safe fabric, hand-sewn in the USA, lead-free, bpa-free, and phthalate-free!

You can literally make a statment by carring Blue Q's slogan-clad bags. Blue Q bags are made by taking old grain sacks and plastic water bottles, grinding them up, heating them into a type of thread, which is then woven to create a super-strong 95% post-consumer recycled polypropylene material.

LATELY, it's been hard for me to talk about priceless art and fine fabrics when there are serious problems going on in the world around us. I'm determined to find ways to decrease our oil dependency and artist and photographer Jane Fulton is in agreeance. Jane's most recent exhibition entitled "Crude Awakening" struck a chord with me. Here are her thoughts on the spill:

Living on the shores of Lake Michigan, I am acutely aware of the disastrous toll the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has taken on all forms of life, especially as our beaches opened to the 2010 swimming season. This environmental, social and economic catastrophe highlights a much larger problem that has inflicted untold suffering as we exploit the earth’s resources worldwide.

We are all responsible for leading lives that create demand for unsustainable energy. We are also all responsible for the solution and we must work together to protect the balance of life.

I couldn't agree more with her and hopefully her photographs will make you feel the same...

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I thought this video was interesting because it not only talks about the negative affects of the oil spill, but talks about how social media is and was used for people to express their anger and frustration.

Since the launch of Volume 3, I've gotten so many compliments on the shell table that was in the Guest Room in my Bridgehampton Guest Room. It amazed me that this was the piece that people were talking about because it was a rather inexpensive piece from a local furniture store!

Here are some more shell-tastic pieces to feast your eyes on:





This painted iron seashell garden set would be the perfect touch for an outdoor patio by the beach or a good way to bring the beach to your landlocked house!





These canisters made of mother of pearl could be used for storage or decoration.





Talk about a conversation piece, this vintage rotary phone is made of inlaid shell.





This house, fashioned afer a conch shell is owned by the famous artist Octavio Ocampo. It seems like a virtual fun house with a surprise around every corner!





This capiz shell drum light would be the perfect touch to almost any room, and I can image that it would give off a nice, subtle glow as well!





I love this simple framed arrangement from Barneys. I think it could speak on it's own, and also look great clustered together with other pieces.





Artist Blott-Kerr Wilson makes pieces of art, rooms, and entire houses out of shells. I would LOVE to have a room covered in her amazing work!





These 1920's tribal shell necklaces from Indonesia are so cool. They'd look great on a window sill or a mantle.





This oil painting by Richard Murdock has such a gentle feel to it. At 6 inches by 9 inches, it would be a great piece to hang in a Bathroom.

Pool houses are such a luxury! With Summer guests on my mind, I found myself trying to find images of the perfect pool houses. Here are a few that I came across:


Krakoff Residence in Southampton, New York by Pamplemousse Design








Shingle style pool house in Quogue, New York by Neff Architecture











Pool house by Todd Alexander Romano





Pool house in Chappaqua, New York by The Desk of Lola

If you've virtually "walked" around the Dining Room in our current issue, then you've seen our house guest gift ideas, including a fabulous monogrammed lucite tray from Iomoi. With Summer in full force, I'm finding myself both preparing for guests and preparing to be a guest. I think these trays and ones like it are the perfect gift! From serving hors d'oeuvres to catching fly-by items like car keys and cell phones--they're an eye pleasing and useful gift to give or receive.

Here are some of my top favs:






I love the preppy vibe and oversized monogram on this tray. It's absolutely perfect for a beach house. Available through The Paper Cottage.







Elephants are known to carry a heavy load, so hopefully this tray could do the same. Available through BurkeDecor.com







Simple yet elegant, this monogrammed tray would be a perfect fit out by the pool. Available through finestationery..com







This pinwheel tray is fun, vibrant, and has summer written all over it. Best of all, it's only $9.99! Available through Target







I had a house guest gift me with an ibride tray, and ever since, I've been enamoured with their fantastical nature-inspired prints! Available through Flora







This psychadelic print reminds me of my favorite hobby--spin-art! Available through The Well Appointed House







This tray entitled "Mother & Child" is by iconic designer Alexander Girard for Vitra. Along with using this as a traditional tray, I think I might even hang it on the wall! Available through Hive Modern







This luscious lacquer tray is by one of my favorite designers--Jonathan Adler. It's simple and chic and comes in several bright, happy colors. Available through Jonathan Adler







If any of my guests brought me this hand-painted Fornasetti tray, I might consider letting them move in! Available through Moss

After a long holiday weekend, I'm BURNED! ;)

If you have any noteworthy images from your holiday please send to us at info@lauradayliving.com.

Fourth of July equals family, friends, fun in the sun, and of course-FOOD. I'm planning a Sunday bbq and stumbled upon an adorable recipe for "Kupcake Kabobs." I'm going to make them this weekend but with my own organic low-fat spin. See below for my altered recipe and healthy substitutes.

INGREDIENTS:
Cupcakes:
1/2 cup Organic unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup Agave
2 Organic eggs
1 Organic egg yolk
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/3 cup Organic sour cream
2/3 cup Organic whole milk
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt




Pamela's all-natural wheat-free, gluten-free, and non-dairy vanilla frosting mix is a great alternative to traditional frosting.





Especially since I've become a mother, I always buy all natural food colour like Seelect.





The marshmallows look pretty awesome but I think I'd replace them with more fresh organic fruit! Best of all, so many fruits go along with the red, white, and blue color scheme (phew!)

I hope you all have a safe and festive holiday weekend-see you on Tuesday!

In my first issue I showcased the Hotel Le Bellechasse- an amazing hotel designed by fashion powerhouse Christian Lacroix. I was sad to see this month's issue of The World of Interiors which featured the items within his studio that will be auctioned off at Sotheby's Paris after the drastic cutbacks made within his label. But with all of the tantalizing colors and whimsical shapes, I can't help but hope he will transition into the Interior Design world...he sure knows his stuff!

















"For me, elegance is not to pass unnoticed
but to get to the very soul of what one is."
-Christian Lacroix