July 28, 2010

Color Trends in the Home for 2011

Interiors

My choices in color for the home are rarely driven by trends, but I always love observing them anyway. They often reflect economic or global trends that help you see design within a larger context. And integrating a new color is one of the easiest ways to make a space look fresh. Since I’m in color consideration mode, I recently talked with Jackie Jordon, director of color marketing for Sherwin-Williams, to get her take on the colors she sees coming into the fore next year. Here’s part of our conversation: Jean: Which colors or color combinations do you see emerging in … Read Post

July 22, 2010

Using Color to Create Character in a Room

Interiors

Since I’m on the verge of repainting several rooms in my home, I’ve been thinking a lot about color lately. I’ve also been talking to a lot of color experts to get their insights on how they use it to create a mood and enhance the character of a room. When designer Nestor Santa Cruz showed me this room in a home he designed in Washington D.C., which appeared in Elle Décor last year and was just republished in a Portuguese magazine called Casa Claudia, I asked him to share his thoughts on how the color scheme evolved. Here’s a … Read Post

July 21, 2010

Cleaning Hardwood Floors Without Lifting a Finger

Interiors

The wood floors in my home may be water damaged but at least they’re clean. When Swiffers came along, keeping them that way got a whole lot easier. But a new device called Mint promises to make cleaning wood and other hard floors even simpler. So simple in fact that you just have to switch it on and it does all the cleaning for you. Developed by Evolution Robotics in collaboration with renowned industrial designer Yves Behar, Mint is a sleek robotic appliance that relies on internal sensors and advanced navigation technologies to circulate around and into every nook and … Read Post

July 15, 2010

Beautiful Eco-Friendly Baby Bedding

Interiors

When I saw Serena & Lily’s new summer catalog, I knew instantly where I’d be shopping for a shower gift for my niece when her baby is due this fall. Started by designer Serena Dugan and philanthropist and entrepreneur Lily Kanter, this California-based catalog company and its complementary online store offers the prettiest bedding and bedroom furniture not just for nurseries, but for children’s, guest and master bedrooms, too. For babies, Serena & Lily offers a wide range of bedding collections for boys and girls, including sheets, skirts and bumpers. For each collection the Web site also offers extra design … Read Post

July 13, 2010

Coping with a Hoarder

Interiors

Shortly after I wrote my post Clearing Clutter on 6/2, I received a comment from my friend Jo Maeder, who doesn’t believe I have issues with clutter. Compared to the home of her mother, who was a hoarder, Jo says my home is the picture of neatness. Jo wrote a memoir called When I Married My Mother: A Daughter’s Search for What Really Matters and How She Found It Caring for Mama Jo (Da Capo Press), which chronicles her experience of caring for her mother through the final years of her life, including the episode of clearing out years of … Read Post

July 6, 2010

Beautiful Indoor/Outdoor Fabric and Custom Bedding

Interiors

After talking to the designer Joe Ruggerio on the phone recently, I went to his Facebook page to take a look at a photo of some of his newest soft furnishings, which were introduced at the last furniture market in High Point, North Carolina. When I saw the bed hangings in this totally uplifting bedroom setting, they made me want to put a four-poster daybed like the ones you see on the beaches in the Caribbean on my terrace. Since the bed hangings are made from an indoor/outdoor fabric from Sunbrella, this fabric would be perfect for a project like … Read Post

July 5, 2010

Window Treatments That Promote Healthy Sleep

Interiors

Since the sun is rising early and setting late these days and my husband, Anil, has trouble sleeping unless the room is dark, I realize I really need to focus my attention on replacing our bedroom window shade with one that has a blackout backing. My husband thinks I’m too busy to sew one myself right now, so I’ve started looking around for reasonably priced custom or semi-custom alternatives. One window treatment company I worked with while I was the editor in chief of a group of decorating and design magazines was Budget Blinds. I visited its site recently and noticed … Read Post

July 2, 2010

Organic vs. Eco-Friendly Mattresses

Interiors

It often happens that what I want and what I get are two different things. Usually, that’s because the price of the thing I want is more than my husband, Anil, thinks we should spend. And that’s why, even though I’d love to have an OMI or Coco-Mat mattress, I’m continuing my search for an eco-friendly mattress at a lower price. What I really want is an organic mattress—one that’s made of 100 percent natural materials that have been cultivated mostly from plants grown sustainably without pesticides or chemicals. I also want it to be manufactured in a hygienic environment … Read Post

July 1, 2010

Beautiful Eco-Friendly Bedding

Interiors

If I’m going to sleep on an eco-friendly mattress, then I think I should have some eco-friendly bedding, too. And a couple of the blankets and throws in Eileen Fisher’s new line of natural bedding for Garnet Hill are just what I want. They won’t be available until the first week of August, but when they are I’d to get the Link Stitched Cashmere Throw and the Cotton/Linen Blanket. The throw is great because it’s made of un-dyed, unbleached cashmere, but I really love the Cotton/Linen blanket because artisans at Brahms/Mount Textiles made it working on antique looms in their historic … Read Post

June 28, 2010

Eco-Friendly Cleaning Supplies

Interiors

When my husband, Anil, told me he wanted to launch a new brand of eco-friendly cleaning products with his business partners, I was thrilled. Many consumer and industrial cleaning products are loaded with toxic chemicals that pollute our homes and our waterways. But the new Eco Clean line of household cleaners is not only free of toxic chemicals like phosphates, bleach and ammonia, it’s packaged in easy-on-the-eye recyclable PET bottles, too. Made in Denmark from solutions derived from sustainably grown renewable sugar beets, the products in the line include bath, kitchen, glass and all-purpose cleaners as well as dish and … Read Post