A friend of mine who lives in Paris and is always on the edge of all things chic and fabulous sent me this article from the New York Times about a man making affordable houses in Huntsville, Texas out of recycled goods. Some of his ideas are really interesting and could be great additions to a home. Others, well, just aren't my cup of sweet tea.
In my estimation, here are the five best from incredibly fab to delightfully fun:
1.
"Stained Glass" Dutch Door. I have not been able to stop thinking about this door since I saw it. I love the shabby chic stained glass effect of the wine bottles and I can't get enough of the dutch door style. This is a definite yes and look for an off-shoot in an upcoming house. I am geeked. And isn't the homeowner attractive? Her face is perfectly symmetrical!
2.
Wood Slice Counter top. This counter top is rustic without being old-fashioned. I could see it bringing a grounding warmth to a streamlined modern stainless steel kitchen. I'm pretty sure I would not be able to get any of my contractors to do this within budget, but I really like the look -- anything to free me from the monotony of granite and granite-look laminate.
3.
Wine Cork Floor. I really had to struggle to decide whether this cork floor should be #3 or #4 on my list of faves. I think it would be so witty in a wine cellar or entertainment room that it won out over...
4.
Mosaic Tile Bathroom Floor. I am a sucker for mosaics. While I don't particularly love this mosaic, I do like where he is going here. Talented and imaginative artists can make so many pieces of broken tile look a million times more luxurious and unique than the best pre-packaged tile. Plus, this could be really fun to do. Imagine laying out a design of yellow fish or duckies with your child for your child's bathroom. Fun! Bonding! Eco!
5.
Picture Frame Ceiling. This one had to battle its way into the top 5. Of course, what you see before you is fuggerific, but imagine if all those frames were shades of lightly brushed gold and silver? That would have a very pretty and striking effect.
And now for the 3 pieces that make me never want to recycle again, listed from the worst to the merely unforgiveable.
1.
Cow Skeleton Chair. Seriously? A chair made out of cow bones? Tim Burton would be creeped out by this and it's his genre! I mean really, it's far too literal to rest my bones in bones, to match a cow's spine vertebra to vertebra with my own. Gross.
2.
Cow Bones Address Numbers. Second only to the dead-dry-bones-as-art chair are the dead-dry-bones-as-art house numbers. Al Gore just called. He said that recycling *everything* is a terribly obtuse way to interpret "An Inconvenient Truth" and that he can buy carbon offsets for his private jet but there isn't yet an offset market for creepy. So just stop already.
3.
"Story Book" Roof. I really wanted to like this. But no matter how I tried to reimagine it, the only fairytale his "story book" roof reminded me of was how the witch's house in Hansel & Gretel must have looked to her juvenile victims as they were gorging on her gingerbread shingles and gumdrop trim. That crazy zig zag rag tag roof would be the last thing they saw before falling into a sugar crash coma and becoming a witch's dinner. Not appetizing, is all I'm saying.
There you have it folks. Pop over to NYT to check out the rest of Dan Phillips' save the world design elements.
1 comments:
so i like the idea of the wine cork floor, but i think its uneven-ness would drive me crazy. could you imagine trying to walk across that floor in heels?
i'm kind of really digging the picture frame ceiling - but i think that is because it really works in that particular room.
the cow skeleton chair is GROSS and looks really uncomfortable anyway
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