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Posts Tagged ‘Pottery Barn’

Fun Green Goods to Spruce up Your Decor

Friday, June 26th, 2009

It’s always fun to update your home to match the season at hand, and if you can do so with green goods it makes the whole process that much more fun. You don’t need to spend a lot (or spend anything if you’re inventive) to update your home with sun-inspired finds that help bring the outdoors inside. With so many companies jumping on the “green” bandwagon these days, you can find the perfect set of sheets or fun frame to fill with this season’s memories for every price range. So check out some of my favorite finds, sit back and get ready to welcome summer in to your home!earth-friendly

If you’re looking for attractive mainstream furniture and accessories with a green twist, you need look no further than your local Pottery Barn. For the past few years Pottery Barn has focused on the impact their business has on the environment and has started operating under a series of Environmental Commitments.

From increasing the percentage of recycled post-consumer waste in their packaging to developing products that use sustainable materials and manufacturing processes, Pottery Barn has restructured their business to reflect a growing corporate concern for the environment. Look for the “Earth Friendly” logo on the Pottery Barn website – products marked with this label have been designed and developed using reclaimed and sustainable materials that include FSC-certified wood and organic fabrics.

tonal-stripe-sheet-setOK, let me start by admitting that yes, I love luxurious sheets and I also love the color green. I can’t help it, but when I see bedding like these Tonal Stripe 400-Count Organic Sheet Sets (to the left), I want to run out and buy them immediately. And while I can’t afford to drop $119 on a Full Sheet Set, I’m hoping that someone out there reading this can! If you’re a sheet fan like me, you might also like Pottery Barn’s Boathouse Stripe Organic Duvet Cover & Sham, or their Botanical Embroidered Organic Quilt & Sham in Porcelain Blue.

It’s also no secret that I am a big fan of Viva Terra – an eco-friendly store that sells clothing, jewelry, furniture, garden goods and accessories to beautify green-loving homes. If you’re looking for something quirky and different to display on an end table or desktop, consider these granite Owls. You can get a set of 2 for $75, or buy 1 large owl for $95. I also like the Porthole Mirror Collection (comes in a set of 5 mirrors). With frames crafted from ntea-setaturally aged, sustainable sheesham wood, these funky mirrors will light up your house with their shine. While pricey at $369 for the set, these mirrors are sure to last a lifetime and have been manufactured in a manner that hasn’t harmed the Earth.

If you’re looking for something to serve your summer visitors, try tea – and use Gaiam’s Pressed Leaves Tea Set to do the serving. This handmade celadon pottery set comes from Thhandblown-lanternsailand and includes a teapot, 4 teacups and a wooden tray to pull it all together. This $40 tea set is finished with lead-free glaze, and the product is manufactured under guidelines established by the Fair Trade Federation. And if you really want to set the mood while you sip your tea, check out these Handblown Glass Lanterns for $18 apiece. Handcrafted in Georgia, these one-of-a-kind lanterns come in blue, ruby or amber.

I know how challenging it can be to wade through the masses of stuff available online – there are so many well-made, eco-friendly, interesting products out there that deciding exactly what to buy can bring about a certain paralysis when it comes to making decisions. I hope that my pointing out a few of my favorite goods here helps you make your own decisions, and that you’re able to pick up a few new pieces to really spruce up your home this season without breaking the bank.

Happy Eco-Shopping!

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I Heart Organic Linens

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

OK, when it comes to my bedding, I can be somewhat of a diva. I don’t like to sleep in hotels unless the sheets are soft, clean and cozy (which rules out an awful lot of hotels), and I have shamelessly purchased bedding for boyfriends whose standards for soft linens hasn’t quite matched mine! Hey, if I’m going to spend 8 hours a night sleeping atop something, it really should be soft and comfy!

LOOP is an organic linen company that makes fine linens for the home and for hospitality/wholesale. With a focus sustainability (the company’s mantra seems to be “Sustainability is our core value,” LOOP is concerned not only with producing high-quality organic products, but also strives to educate consumers about the harm that is done to the environment through conventional cotton growing practices. While I do not own, nor have I ever felt LOOP linens, they look like they’re pretty soft. And if I were actually in the market for new sheets (and not just vicariously window shopping through the research I’m doing for this blog), the company sends out fabric swatches upon request.

LOOP sheets aren’t cheap, but their prices are comparable to those of other non-organically produced, high-end sheet sets. For about $200, you can buy a sheet set that includes a full sheet, a fitted sheet and 2 standard pillow cases (all sheet sets I’m listing are for queen-sized sheets). According to the website, these organic sateen sheets have a 250-thread count, are made by expert weavers, and are cut with deep pockets to accommodate mattresses up to 14 inches thick, with strong elastic around each end to ensure a tight fit. The company also sells handmade hemp linen accent pillows with a “birch” design that is screen printed for an antique sun-faded look.

I found some beautiful organic sheets in a most surprising place – Pottery Barn! That’s right – the mammoth, over-priced furniture company is going green (or at least greener), and linens seems to be one of their prime organic focuses. Although I am somewhat skeptical about the manufacturing processes involved in mass-producing anything organic, I will also admit that I like how these sheets look, they aren’t horribly expensive, and the fact that Pottery Barn is trying is a good thing that should be recognized and (possibly) rewarded with my green dollars. The design gurus at Apartment Therapy also wrote about Pottery Barn’s switch to organics in a local post which you can check out here.

Check out this Tile Organic, a 200-thread-count sheet set that is made from 100% organic cotton percale, which is grown without the use of pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. The Moroccan-tile inspired sheets are sold in sets that include a fitted sheet, a top sheet and 2 pillowcases, are machine washable and emerge “smooth and soft from the dryer” after each wash. Sheet sets range from $79-$129 and are only available through the Pottery Barn catalog or via their website. Eileen Fisher Pintucked Organic BeddingYou might also want to check out the Watercolor Organic Bedding Ensemble. On sale for $189.99-$269.99, this set includes a duvet cover, 2 shams, 2 pillowcases, a fitted and a flat sheet. This stripy sheet set has a 200-thread count and is made from 100% organic cotton.

Eileen Fisher is a designer best known for her women’s clothing line, but she has also started making luxurious organic bedding that’s beautiful and presumably soft too! While the sheet set offered on her website is a little expensive ($70 for one pillow case seems somewhat outrageous to me), the fitted and flat sheets retail for $80 each, which puts them on par with other high-end organic linens. The Pintucked Organic Cotton Bedding pieces are crafted with an attention to detail, have a 200-thread count, and are 100% organic cotton. Personally, I like how the comforter looks – it reminds me of my own (which is super fluffy and perfect for curling up underneath). Eileen Fisher is committed to working with eco-friendly fabrics in the production of her clothing and home goods, and has created a “Celebrate the Earth” page on her website that explains her company’s eco-policies.

If you’re looking for something warm and beautiful that’s also earth friendly, you might like this Organic Shaker Patchwork Quilt by Gaiam. Gaiam Shaker Patchwork QuiltI’ll admit that I’m kind of a sucker for quilts, though I usually prefer the handmade, personalized crazy quilts that my mom has been known to make. In this case though, the quilt looks so good that I don’t think I mind that it’s (most likely) mass produced and (definitely) imported. The quilt has a 180-thread count, is made from 100% organic cotton, and has matching shams that can be purchased separately. Priced from $240-$300, the quilt is fairly priced and looks like it could keep the most eco-friendly of us warm throughout the winter. Gaiam also carries a line of Organic Cotton Vintage Paisley & Solid Knit Sheets that are 200 gram-weight and made from 100% organic cotton, colored with low eco-impact dyes and finished without chlorine bleach or chemical softeners. The sheets come in muted hues like bark, mauve and green tea, and range from $15.99 (for 2 pillowcases) to $119 (for a set that includes a fitted and a flat sheet).

The items listed here include just a few of the many, many organic and eco-friendly linens I found online. Every time I write a post that includes eco-products I’m amazed at the wide variety of items on the market, and the growing number of eco-retailers and manufacturers out there who are committed to creating products using sustainable and eco-friendly practices. While I don’t have the time or the space to list everything I see, I am compiling a list (that will one day hopefully be a guide) of eco-products, so feel free to send me links to sites you like that offer the kinds of products I list here.

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