Red-Hot Trends in Green Design

Express your personal style with eco-friendly interior decorating.

by Michelle Porter Tiernan

Looking for ways to incorporate “green” home furnishings in your home? Here’s a roundup of the latest trends in eco-friendly products that bring heart and soul to your hearth and home.

Wabi-Sabi

Reclaimed wood is one of the hottest trends in green furniture design, says Cheryl Terrace, owner of New York City eco-decorating firm Vital Design Ltd. “Handcrafted, reclaimed wood is wabi-sabi—the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection.”   At the contemporary end of the reclaimed wood spectrum you’ll find the Paris Loft collection from French Heritage. It offers traditional touches like dovetail drawers and finger joints, all crafted from reclaimed teak wood. The collection is hand-finished with water-based pigments and natural pumice.

Creature Comforts

Going green doesn’t mean giving up comfort. La-Z-Boy’s EcoComfort™ collection includes sofas, recliners and chairs that feature soy-based foam cushions and arms made of renewable rubber wood. La-Z-Boy is also introducing 22 eco-friendly fabrics in a variety of prints, solids and cottons, and has five eco-suedes made from recycled plastic bottles.

Paint with Pizzaz

Eco-friendly isn’t limited to just furnishings. While at one time, chemical-free interior paint meant only a few color options; today the full spectrum of hues is available.  Benjamin Moore’s Natura™ is a zero-VOC (volatile organic compound) interior paint available in thousands of colors. It includes a primer and three sheens—flat, eggshell and semi-gloss.

Warm Glow

Compact fluorescent lighting is the eco-friendly choice over incandescent lighting, but it casts a cold, bluish light. The next generation of energy-saving lighting is on the horizon. Global innovation firm Frog Design has developed an LED light bulb that looks and works just like the old incandescent bulb, even down to the same aluminum socket. But this eco-friendly bulb saves energy, burns for 30 years and gives off a warm light.

Community Connection

Supporting local communities is another way to embrace an eco-friendly decorating philosophy. For example, buying a beautiful, handmade rug sewn by a small group of women in Tibet is a socially responsible choice over a mass-produced rug, says Terrace.

Furniture manufacturers such as Cisco Brothers in South Central Los Angeles provide jobs to local craftspeople who learn lifelong furniture-making skills. Its Inside Green collection is made from sustainable wood and upholstered with natural choices like hemp, flax, jute and yak blend. Buying products such as these help support the environment on many levels.