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!

brilliant batiks from bali

i have a thing for textiles, especially when they're handmade!

look how terrific these pillows are, mixed up, NOT matching (matching is one of my biggest pet peeves!)

this works partly because they are a similar value and all share the same white.

i just received an exciting email from a wonderful batik company in bali, katherine rally textiles!  it's a husband and wife team, katherine and rally, he's an architect and she's an interior designer - so cool and romantic!  they live in bali with their two children and there, work with a small scale batik production facility that is family owned and operated, making batiks for generations.  everything is sourced locally, minimizing the oil consumption typically used to ship materials.  in addition, no machinery is used and in fact, the batiks are patiently crafted by hand, piece by piece.  the only source of energy used is local renewable wood to heat and remove the wax.  and even the wax is recycled to be used again for the next piece!  then, the finished pieces are dried on a clothesline in the sun.

i love how the patterns are colorful and bold yet are soft and warm (part of the allure of batik).

again, notice how well these bright bold batiks look against the patina of old furniture!  

i love how katherine rally textiles takes an ancient craft and makes it fresh for today.

imagine an afternoon nap snuggled in all those wonderful pillows!

owners katherine and rally also live a sustainable life.  for example, they don't own a car or motorcycle and instead get around their little city of ubud on a bicycle.  plus, their son attends a green school which is made entirely out of bamboo!

i'm so excited to decorate with these batiks for curtains, roman shades, headboard, seating, and table linens!

information about where to buy all these gorgeous goodies is on their website including retail via some showrooms selling the pillows and tableware and trade representatives like nicky rising in LA.

*i just found out from rally dupps, the husband of the fabulous team behind katherine rally textiles, that the factory not only recycles the wax, but also the dyes, and because they don't toss harmful chemicals into the Balinese rivers, they are officially licensed by the indonesian government, a privilege of which the factory is very proud!

impressive treasures at ford & ching

last week i attended a spring cocktail party at the ford & ching furnishings and fashion showroom in downtown la at the historic kimsing theatre. as always, there were fabulous finds including many with eco-friendly elements.

i got to meet one of the furniture designers, george bergere of go build studio. this dresser is zebrawood made with sustainable veneer harvested from plantation-raised poplar trees.

this next item caught my eye because of its beautiful wood finish. geneva sound systems creates a unique and more effective speaker solution eliminating the need for 2 separate speakers.

skram furniture are responsible for this cool cork stool.

samuel moyer crafts these tripod stools out of offcuts of various species.

eric clayton's striking coffee table is made with reclaimed poplar table with a recycled steel base.

ango's rattan and steel pendant.

eco-friendly faux wood flooring that looks real and is maintenance-free

interior design magazine's feb issue highlights a floor covering made with recycled content that is ecolabel certified called bioessenze by nemo tile.

it looks like wood but is actually porcelain! you may be wondering why someone would want to use a faux wood floor but consider that it's resistant to wear, maintenance-free, impervious to moisture, and withstands atmospheric agents, scratching and mechanical impact.

it's perfect for commercial applications.

eco and elegant glass railing and tile

ever think about using a non-porous material in high-traffic areas?

check out this glass tile as a backsplash for a bar and this glass railing, both from deverre!

it's a patent-pending, handcrafted process using recycled materials and

a low-emission, low-energy manufacturing process.