If you are a green interior design enthusiast, you have probably stumbled upon a blog called Green Your Decor. Recently I was visiting the GYD site and came across founder and primary blogger Jennae’s very personal piece about her four year old daughter’s heartbreaking battle with leukemia. In the article, Jennae touches on the difficulties that come along with battling a serious disease and the tremendous strength that her beautiful daughter Ja’Naya has exerted to overcome it.
Ja’Naya is now in remission, and Jennae and her family are celebrating the good news, however, they are still moving closer to Ja’Naya’s doctors. Uprooting your home is difficult under any circumstance, and since Ja’Naya will be spending much of her time home recovering, Jennae decided to make the most of a tough situation by surprising her daughter with a beautiful, positive and (of course!) sustainable new bedroom.
Jennae put a lot of time and effort into planning Ja’Naya’s new sanctuary and knew that she wanted a colorful, uplifting wool rug. After doing some research, she was particularly attracted to Merida’s Letter Lines wool kids area rug in Marker because of the fun vintage chic look, and also because she felt comfortable with the natural wool rug fibers and the socially responsible choices that were made to craft the area rug. When approached to contribute a Letter Lines kids wool area rug to Ja’Naya’s new room, Merida Home gladly accepted and we are proud to be involved in such an inspiring project.
We can’t wait to read about Ja’Naya’s reaction to her new room (how could she not love it?!) and see photos documenting how the room turns out! To read about the design and see mock-ups of Ja’Naya’s room design, click here.
My apartment is a constant work in process. I just moved in October, and while my roommate and I have the kitchen and living room pretty well set, there is one room that needs some serious work: my room. I have all of the furniture I need, but the walls are still completely blank. I still have all of my silly trite wall posters that I had in college, but I’m ready to move on from my Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe portraits. I want to do something a little more grown up, but still fun.
I do, however, have one wall poster that I absolutely love: a vintage travel poster. I love the colorful bold graphics of these types of posters and I have decided to look for a couple more to get framed for my room.
There are hundreds and hundreds of these posters that can be easily found and ordered online. http://www.art.com, http://www.allposters.com, and http://www.zazzle.com, have particularly large selections of vintage travel posters. That way you can pick and choose posters by color theme, location, or artist. Since my room is already a potpourri of colors, I’m choosing posters based on the location they are advertising and am picking only places that I’ve been (not necessarily the ones pictured in this article).
The original prints are more rare and expensive because they are collectors’ items and considered authentic and beautiful works of art. Originals can be found in high art museums such as the Louvre, the Met, and even the Library of Congress.
As always, when considering colors for your own rooms you can use Merida Home’s Area Rug by Color Search!
One of my favorite elements of interior decorating is light. Different types of light can transform the mood of a room despite the furniture or space. When my roommate and I come home after a long stressful day at work, we tend to turn off the bright overhead lights and turn on a softer side-lamp. We then sometimes light a few lavendar scented candles which creates the perfect ambiance to relax and unwind before we watch some tv or eat dinner. Since I enjoy candles so much, I want to make sure I’m making the smartest and safest purchasing decisions when I buy candles, and not get completely distracted by the pretty colors and scents.
However, there seems to be some debate over what type of candles are the most eco-friendly. I’ve heard some buzz about soy candles – some people love them while others don’t see a difference from regular candles. I decided to do some research and see what the deal was with all these various types of household candles. There are three main types of candles: paraffin, soy, and beeswax. Paraffin is the easiest type to find and is what most household candles are made out of. However petroleum is used to make paraffin wax, which means it isn’t necessarily the most eco-friendly choice. Soy has been popularly marketed as a domestic and fossil fuel-free candle choice. Soy has also been said to be a healthier option because it gives off less particulate matter as it burns, but studies have shown that the amount of particulate matter given off by paraffin candles isn’t enough to be hazardous to peoples’ health or safety.
The third popular type of candle is beeswax. Beeswax is slightly less popular than soy and paraffin, but these candles are obviously not made from fossil fuels (like petroleum paraffin candles), and if you purchase them from a local bee farm you can help support local agriculture and cut down on transportation emissions. Plus beeswax burns very slowly, so your candles will last a long time, therefore eliminating the need for you to use more resources and buy more candles. I’m looking forward to researching some local farms with their own beeswax candles; I’m intrigued by this traditional option.
Of course, with whichever option you choose, always make sure to use candles in a safe way….you know: keep them away from children, don’t leave them unattended, etc. and enjoy!
