Wood Pallet Designs

"Reduce - Reuse - Recycle" has really taken on a whole new meaning with wood pallets ...........
Old wood pallets available at most stores or shipping yards end up being reused for deliveries for a wile but then they just end up in a land fill. 
Check out some of these amazing design ideas for both home and garden that not only keep the wood pallets out of the land fill, but also can become some incredible designs ..........
Leaving them unpainted gives a rustic quality but once painted (with eco-friendly paint) it completely changes to contemporary and cutting edge.
I'm going to try a few myself ........ I'll keep you posted!!!!

L-shaped couch for indoors or out

Bird and Bee habitat - great idea in urban parks & spaces where our bees are rapidly declining

Partitions and room dividers

Green walls 

A great way to create planter boxes for the wall or patio

Painting the pallet adds a modern feel

Beautifully Designed Veggie Gardens

In light of this article about a woman in Michigan possibly going to jail for planting a veggie garden in her front yard, I thought it best to discuss some great ideas on how to incorporate fruits and vegetables into your landscape design that are attractive and efficient!!!

Here is the link ..........

http://www.takepart.com/news/2011/07/08/michigan-woman-faces-jail-time-for-planting-vegetable-garden?cmpid=tp-fb-2011-07-8-Jail-Vegetable

Gardens filled with fruits and vegetables is a great way to eat locally, stop pesticide use, preserve native soil and share with your neighbours. According to this article, this woman's neighbours didn't like the look of her traditional vegetable garden so they are taking her to court ......... I know, I know, I too cannot believe that with the fountain of information that is out there that people still believe that lawn is a good idea!!!!

In order to create a veggie garden that is efficient, does not need pesticide, and is beautiful to look at and one that your neighbours will LOVE, follow these few simple tips:

#1 Mix your fruits and vegetables with different types of flowers. Traditionally in kitchen gardens, many types of flowers including marigolds, bee balm and roses were planted as companion plants around veggies to either keep pests away or attract them from your food crops.

#2 Design your veggie garden on paper before you install it, this way you can have a proper visual of what the end product will look like. Try to create a pattern of some sort, either formal or random but it should make sense to the eye

#3 Out line each garden bed with a type of hedge. Traditionally it has always been boxwood, but depending on where you live, you can use, Jasmine, Rosemary, Sage or Lavender.

#4 On the pathway between the garden shapes, use an attractive bark mulch or cocoa mulch, a scented ground cover such as thyme or Corsican mint planted between flagstones is always a great option, or if you feel you would still like some lawn, you can plant strips of lawn between the garden beds.

#5 Plant multiples of each plant so you can allow some of your herbs and veggies go to flower while you use the others for food.

With these few steps, veggie gardens are a great way to create a stunning garden ......... hopefully this woman's neighbours can see it the same way!!!!!

Hawaii's first and only Living Building!!!!!!

Its so nice to see that the Islands are ahead of the rest of the wold in our sustainability!

Go Hawaii!!!!!

Check out this school on the big Island ............ lots of great ideas to try to incorporate into your own reno's!!!!

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/category/6743/videoclipId=5890537&topVideoCatNo=91610&autoStart=true

Shoes, Shoes and more shoes!

Women have a soft spot for shoes ............ thats a given, but what if you could get new shoes and help the world while doing it .......... well that's just a given too!!!!!

Tom's shoes has a movement that for every pair of shoes you buy, they will donate a pair to children in developing countries.

Follow the link below and start your shopping ...........

http://www.toms.com/our-movement

Feel good about your new shoes and feel good about yourself at the same time!!!

Branching out .......

Ok!!! So normally when you think about using wood as a lamp, you have a 70's flash back to heavy dark wood and a giant seagrass lamp shade on top ......... well not anymore.

Branches, driftwood and old trees are being used in many contemporary designs and are not only sustainable by using reclaimed wood, but are eclectic and a fabulous focal point for any room.

Look at some of the great designs that are available and most are an easy DYI project.

Use branches in many different ways to create interest in a room, in a vase in the corner wrapped in lights,hanging from the ceiling, twined together to create a globe light or even as a table lamp with a contemporary shade.

Try it out ....... branch lights are not just for old dated homes anymore!!!!!!!!

Contact me with your projects and help for your DYI lamp .........

Why have a lawn when there are so many other options!!!!

Did you know that the mowing of lawns creates more than 5% of our worlds greenhouse gases?

Not to mention the water consumption and how much pesticide and fertilizer leach into our waterways and oceans. ...... Ugg, it sickens me to even think about it!!!!!!

Today there are so many other options to create a beautiful outdoor space, why settle for such a passe thing like lawn!!!

Here's a couple of options to think about when designing or redoing your garden .........

#1 Meadows

Most people have lawns because well ...... isn't that what your supposed to have? and besides that, it's what people know, have a green space surrounded by garden. What if we incorporated the green space as part of the garden by creating meadows? These can utilized just like a lawn and are much more interesting, environmentally friendly, lower maintenance and beautiful!

John Greenlee from California has a book out on how to create different types of meadows called the 'American Meadow'....... and I have to say, his work is breath taking.

#2 Ground covers

There are many plants that can be used instead of grass that tolerate foot traffic,are scented, flower, are drought tolerant and can live in all types of situations. Check out this web site for what would work in your garden!

http://www.stepables.com/

#3 Interesting gravel, sand and stone

Gravel, sand and stone can be used in so many ways and can turn mediocre garden into a stunning one ..........

replacing grass with sand is great for children and pets and requires virtually no maintenance, while using different types of stone and gravel can create multiple styles of gardens from Japanese to contemporary.

Pamela Burton Landscape Architects created this award winning garden with drought tolerant plants, native plants and natural sand pathways.

http://www.pamelaburton.com

And Andrea Cochran uses pea gravel and native california grasses as ground cover.

http://www.acochran.com/

There are so many ways to beautify our homes, no matter what your design style may be so have fun with it .... think outside the box ...... and lets see what you can create, all the while preserving our precious earth!!!

Post your designs on this blog or on my facebook page and show others how its done.

Up in the Air!!!

New design trends are everywhere, but one that has really caught my attention recently is some of the designs that have been created with Air Plants. aka. Tillandsia

Air plants are easy to grow, environmentally friendly, great to design with and are super easy to maintain.

By nature these plants do not need soil and can survive indoors with minimal light and the occasional misting of water. There are many species that can be used for different purposes for example Throw them in a bowl in the middle of your dining room table for interest, use them in a green wall or as shown in the picture above you can even add them to a light, these plants can multitask!!!!

They are pretty easy to find at your local nursery or garden center .......... so have fun and design away!!!!!