Green Island - Environmentally Friendly products

Located in Traverse City, Michigan, Green Island is owned by husband and wife Sean and Lori Burns. I haven't been there in person, but their website has a charming, small store feel and products can be shipped.

So cute!

Green Island - Environmentally Friendly products

Located in Traverse City, Michigan, Green Island is owned by husband and wife Sean and Lori Burns. I haven't been there in person, but their website has a charming, small store feel and products can be shipped.

So cute!

Up a tree

photo courtesy of TreeHouse Workshop

My favorite Washington Post design writer, Terri Sapienza, has this piece in today's paper on tree houses. From simple platforms to full on second homes, tree houses are alive and well, and not just for kids, apparently.

Peter Nelson of TreeHouse Workshop in Seattle was interviewed for this piece. Here is some of their work:



There is a wonderful organization - Treehouses.org that is working to get at least one wheelchair accessible treeshouse in every state. According to their website, 13 down, 37 to go. Can you imagine the freedom these kids must feel - being able to get up into the trees? Here's a few images:


I didn't have a treehouse as a kid. But I know if I had, I know I would have wanted a palace in the sky. However, I also know my older brothers would have gotten there first and posted a "no girls" sign!

Did you have a tree house as a kid?

Up a tree

photo courtesy of TreeHouse Workshop

My favorite Washington Post design writer, Terri Sapienza, has this piece in today's paper on tree houses. From simple platforms to full on second homes, tree houses are alive and well, and not just for kids, apparently.

Peter Nelson of TreeHouse Workshop in Seattle was interviewed for this piece. Here is some of their work:



There is a wonderful organization - Treehouses.org that is working to get at least one wheelchair accessible treeshouse in every state. According to their website, 13 down, 37 to go. Can you imagine the freedom these kids must feel - being able to get up into the trees? Here's a few images:


I didn't have a treehouse as a kid. But I know if I had, I know I would have wanted a palace in the sky. However, I also know my older brothers would have gotten there first and posted a "no girls" sign!

Did you have a tree house as a kid?

Showhouse By the Sea

I did a post last week about the Jewish Community Center of the North Shore's decorator showhouse "Beachhurst". Today's Boston Globe Magazine - themed around water and summer fun - has a photo spread on two of the rooms in the showhouse. These two kids rooms both have unique and imaginative takes on water themed rooms.

Designer Cathleen Crist of Apogee Fine Interiors (apogeefineinteriors@verizon.net) in Marblehead, MA has created this amazing underwater/mermaid retreat. It's fearless, fun and fabulous! I love it when showhouse designers really let themselves go and create a truly one of a kind room. Chances are, most people wouldn't go to this extreme when creating a mermaid themed girls room. But, one could certainly take cues from this design. Instead of plunking down a bunch of Disney "Little Mermaid" themed items, one could easily create the feel of ocean waves with tulle and netting, a sandy beach with a textured carpet and the soft blue-green color palette of the water itself. This room is high end luxury with a creative twist - and worth the price of admission.



Liz Carlson of Joie de Vie Interiors in Nahant created this fun sailing themed boys room. It seems downright empty when compared to the mermaid room above, but it's deceptively complex. The designer commissioned her husband and father-in-law (both avid sailors) to design and build the boat bed, which is suspended from the ceiling. It's tethered to a "driftwood" piling and can be adjusted to either allow the boat to rock, or not. This room is simple and elegant. While not necessarily a bed that would "grow" with the child (who attends show houses for practicality, anyway?) the rest of the room could certainly be workable for many years. And the bed could be moved to a corner and used as a sitting area. Meanwhile, the room is fresh and breezy as a summers' day. Another point about this room, while it was intended to be the boy's room, I do think it would work equally well for a girl who is into boating.
The JCCNS showhouse is on through June 3. Click here for more information.

Photos courtesy of The Boston Globe.

Showhouse By the Sea

I did a post last week about the Jewish Community Center of the North Shore's decorator showhouse "Beachhurst". Today's Boston Globe Magazine - themed around water and summer fun - has a photo spread on two of the rooms in the showhouse. These two kids rooms both have unique and imaginative takes on water themed rooms.

Designer Cathleen Crist of Apogee Fine Interiors (apogeefineinteriors@verizon.net) in Marblehead, MA has created this amazing underwater/mermaid retreat. It's fearless, fun and fabulous! I love it when showhouse designers really let themselves go and create a truly one of a kind room. Chances are, most people wouldn't go to this extreme when creating a mermaid themed girls room. But, one could certainly take cues from this design. Instead of plunking down a bunch of Disney "Little Mermaid" themed items, one could easily create the feel of ocean waves with tulle and netting, a sandy beach with a textured carpet and the soft blue-green color palette of the water itself. This room is high end luxury with a creative twist - and worth the price of admission.



Liz Carlson of Joie de Vie Interiors in Nahant created this fun sailing themed boys room. It seems downright empty when compared to the mermaid room above, but it's deceptively complex. The designer commissioned her husband and father-in-law (both avid sailors) to design and build the boat bed, which is suspended from the ceiling. It's tethered to a "driftwood" piling and can be adjusted to either allow the boat to rock, or not. This room is simple and elegant. While not necessarily a bed that would "grow" with the child (who attends show houses for practicality, anyway?) the rest of the room could certainly be workable for many years. And the bed could be moved to a corner and used as a sitting area. Meanwhile, the room is fresh and breezy as a summers' day. Another point about this room, while it was intended to be the boy's room, I do think it would work equally well for a girl who is into boating.
The JCCNS showhouse is on through June 3. Click here for more information.

Photos courtesy of The Boston Globe.

Mini Me - kids furniture

I've been into mini-things recently. I always loved my Dad's mini rocking chair from his childhood, then passed along to me and my brothers. It always makes kids feel so special to have furniture sized just for them.

Here are a couple of wildy different styles of kids furniture that are based on well know adult versions.

Pamafurn.com

Panton Junior Chair at Genius Jones

Mini Me - kids furniture

I've been into mini-things recently. I always loved my Dad's mini rocking chair from his childhood, then passed along to me and my brothers. It always makes kids feel so special to have furniture sized just for them.

Here are a couple of wildy different styles of kids furniture that are based on well know adult versions.

Pamafurn.com

Panton Junior Chair at Genius Jones

Dreamy furniture for the "girly girls" out there

Since I was a little girl, I've loved formal, fancy, frilly furniture and fabrics. Especially in the bedroom.

I guess we can blame my parents. When I was six and we moved to a new house, they bought me a new bedroom set. What I recall is that they pre-selected two sets and gave me my choice. (This is a great tactic with kids, btw. Let them have their choice from items you have already approved of). One was antiqued white. One was green. Those who know me know that green is my signature color - apparently this was true at six as well. My new bedroom set had a beautiful dresser, big mirror and a canopy!

It's no surprise, then, that when I saw an ad for Bograd Kids furniture, I was drawn to it. They have pieces that are fabulously over the top (they also have some more down-to-earth styles, but that's not the focus of today).

Now, I know that most girls aren't all that in love with these styles today, which is fine. But for some, these are their princess fantasies come to life. There is no question that these are expensive pieces of furniture. But if you match the right furniture to the right child, there is no reason why it won't grow with them. When my childhood bedroom set was purchased in (dare I say it...) 1968, it cost about $600. That was a lot of money in 1968 and even today many parents aren't willing to spend much more than that on kids furniture.

circa 1972 (note the groovey smiley face!)

circa 2007, in my condo

Not a bad value for that $600.00 in 1968.

Dreamy furniture for the "girly girls" out there

Since I was a little girl, I've loved formal, fancy, frilly furniture and fabrics. Especially in the bedroom.

I guess we can blame my parents. When I was six and we moved to a new house, they bought me a new bedroom set. What I recall is that they pre-selected two sets and gave me my choice. (This is a great tactic with kids, btw. Let them have their choice from items you have already approved of). One was antiqued white. One was green. Those who know me know that green is my signature color - apparently this was true at six as well. My new bedroom set had a beautiful dresser, big mirror and a canopy!

It's no surprise, then, that when I saw an ad for Bograd Kids furniture, I was drawn to it. They have pieces that are fabulously over the top (they also have some more down-to-earth styles, but that's not the focus of today).

Now, I know that most girls aren't all that in love with these styles today, which is fine. But for some, these are their princess fantasies come to life. There is no question that these are expensive pieces of furniture. But if you match the right furniture to the right child, there is no reason why it won't grow with them. When my childhood bedroom set was purchased in (dare I say it...) 1968, it cost about $600. That was a lot of money in 1968 and even today many parents aren't willing to spend much more than that on kids furniture.

circa 1972 (note the groovey smiley face!)

circa 2007, in my condo

Not a bad value for that $600.00 in 1968.