Eco Luxury Home Decor: Tips from West Edge Design Fair in Santa Monica, including advice from Celebrity Realtor Madison Hildebrand

What a treat to attend the premier of West Edge Design Fair in Santa Monica at the Barker Hangar! I attended engaging panels and learned about many stunning eco products. I'm excited to share some of it with you.

Hi-Luxe Real Estate: Holding Value in a Dramatic Market" 10.5.13
Moderator: Ann Gray, FORM Magazine

Doug Burdge, AIA, Burdge & Associates Architects; Madison Hildebrand, The Malibu Life, Inc.

Sponsor: Benjamin Moore

One of the panels I attended, was "Hi-Luxe Real Estate: Holding Value in a Dramatic Market". A big takeaway was what top luxury architect Doug Burdge and one of the most esteemed luxury real estate agents in the nation Madison Hildebrand say about what the luxury home buyer wants:

• spaces designed for easy maintenance
• light colored wide plank flooring
• wall-mounted suspended vanities
• recessed baseboard
• radiant heat floors
• no granite

Over 100 exhibitors and so many beautiful eco elegant items!

Shimmering sconces with recycled glass from Astele.

 In a beautiful array of colors and patterns, The New England Collection's rugs are 
handmade with vegetable dyed natural fibers.

 Aviva's textiles are hand dyed and made in small batches with water-based materials, hand mixed dyes, and local materials whenever possible. 

The production results in no toxic waste and they re-purpose everything like taking leftover fabric and turning it into lavender sachets. In addition, the company supports micro businesses and Artisans who supply materials like Alpaca wool.

 Award-winning Egg Collective's timeless designs are sure to be tomorrow's heirlooms 

and are made with responsibly harvested wood.

 Skram Furniture uses responsibly harvested materials 
(like this cork bowl shown in plan view above), non-toxic adhesives 

and industrial-strength, low VOC, water-based polyurethane finishes. 

Plus, their veneered products are formaldehyde-free and made with  

LEED contributing 100% pre-consumer recycled content substrate.

Zia Priven's vintage and antique lighting collection is 

full of rare and whimsical items that are sure to top off any room.

 Satori's Harmony collection actually breaks down formaldehyde in the air! 

Plus, it counts for 1 LEED point and the sand is harvested without damaging the environment.

Ceramist Gregory Miller's organic wall sculpture included a shimmery layer that turned out to be metal filings from a neighboring metalworker, plus eco-friendly blue oxide.

 Mother nature proves again its beauty can't be matched in DLV Designs' L'Oeuf Round Mirror with a hand cracked eggshell finish made with organic eggs!

my adopted room's professional photos have arrived!

thanks to the fabulously talented photographer laure joliet who donated her time and the professional photos for all 18 rooms at the new family shelter for upward bound house!

thanks laure!

when i first saw this bunkbed, pre-selected by upward bound, it was in 'honey oak' and i was not excited. but then i painted it in snowfall white with benjamin moore's natura donation and it looks great! i will protect it in a clear coating to be announced soon.

the floor lamp is donated from hotel surplus, the mother-of-pearl curtain hardware donated from west elm via parent company williams sonoma inc. and the bed sheets are donated from gotcha covered with pillow inserts and comforters from kohl's.

i started planning the room concept with the beautiful eco-friendly elizabeth wallpaper in peacock donated from madison & grow which drove the palette. since it's such a small room, a whopping 130SF, i decided it needed to be light and bright, hence the white walls and bed.

the inspirational message on the wall is a cool removable sticker by ferm living.

the dark brown wall-to-wall carpet was also pre-selected by upward bound but it's a wonderful foundation actually. though dark rugs may hide dirt, be warned that they show threads, lint, and anything light, very easily so be prepared to vacuum regularly. on top of it, is an abaca rug, a highly renewable plant, from natural carpet company. the lounge chair was donated from a wonderful upholsterer and refinisher (who also sewed the curtains and pillows!) who had it leftover from a job in their warehouse!

the cute white wicker table was donated from a designer friend of bridgid coulter, a designer who also worked on the shelter and who also donated the mirror and side chairs!

that's me wearing eco chic linda loudermilk...look at that back! fabric was donated from f&s, duralee and another designer friend of bridgid's, plus pillows from dl rhein and french american paper. gorgeous silk drum pendants donated from zia priven, white vase holding the orchid donated from accessory preview (plus a beautiful green capiz wastebasket in the bathroom) and woven baskets below the air unit (and a throw on the bed) donated from pottery barn.

the woven window shade, made from rapidly renewable grass, is from the woven company. this detail shows how special these treatments are yet it was a simple solution. i re-purposed the "silk" panels from a donor by adding trim that although donated, came from f&s' outlet store and only sells for $2/yd!

out of sight at the moment, in the bathroom, are a beautiful polished nickel towel hook and wastebasket donated from restoration hardware.

on the table is a beautiful arrangement of succulents in a sweet little urn donated from grow on abbot kinney, along with an orchid in the bathroom.

the plant and planter donated from the talented group at inner gardens who not only offer landscape design services but have an amazing collection of new and antique containers!