2012: the year of living smaller

A new year is here and I've been thinking lately about my lifestyle. I'm not super materialistic, though I do like nice things. I'm not a pack rat, though I do keep things for sentimental reasons. And I am not messy, although I wish I was more organized. One thing I certainly am, however, is a consumer.

As an interior designer I do a lot of shopping for myself or for others. The nature of my profession calls for people to buy furniture, change paint and fabrics, and otherwise alter their spaces. New design means change. And that's definitely not a bad thing! But it can potentially cause a lot of waste. And that's not what I'm all about.

don't wanna be this person.

I feel responsible, as a designer, to produce design that will last. I will specify green materials and processes where I can. I will keep materials out of the landfill by recommending high quality products that will stand the test of time.  And I will reuse or repurpose products that have already been loved* where appropriate.  As a designer, 2012 brings for me a new commitment to produce truly creative and eco-conscious design.  

I feel responsible, as a human living on planet earth, to take care of the planet.  I think we should nurture nature  and not be selfish with resources.  Plus, I think I am personally happier when I'm taking care of the earth.  When I garden, when I'm out in nature, when I see a beautiful vista.  Happy.  And all of those are brought to you by the letter H.  Ok, joke.  But really, I couldn't do those things if our earth was covered in trash.

So in 2012 I'm giving myself 3 goals to live by, for my personal life as well as my design profession. I'll go into more detail in the next few weeks but here are the basic rules:

1- buy smarter.  here's where i want to be less of a consumer and produce less waste.  i want to cut out my impulsive buying to buy only what i need.  i also want to keep the "buy the highest quality you can afford" mentality.  beautiful (furniture, clothing, accessories, gadgets) that i know will last forever (or at least a long time!).

2- live smaller.  i don't want to be a space hog when i don't need the space.  this doesn't mean that i'll be living an  uber-minimalist lifestyle.  i love the way it looks, but i don't think i could ever live a super-minimalist life.  it's just not my personality.  mostly, this goal is going to entail monthly purges to donate unneeded stuff, scaling back, etc.

704 square foot house.

small and simple

3- more green.  more $$??  sure, hopefully...  but not what this goal is about.  i love plants and i want more of them around me.

Sometime soon I'm going to give each of those rules distinct parameters so I can measure if I am "living smaller" or not...You know...a mental checklist to go through before I buy something.  If you have any good ideas on what could or should go on that checklist, I'm all ears.  Goal #1 is a hard goal to narrow down to a simple checklist.

 Yes, you can expect many posts about these 3 ideas coming up real soon.  I'll post about how I'm doing on my goal of living small and would love to hear your thoughts on the challenge, too!  Maybe this will turn into a huge project of mine and I will change my life.  I do like the idea of living simply...  Maybe it will be easier than I think to live small.  And maybe you will want to join in on this quest?  Any takers?


*I ended up buying a great red poang chair for $40 off craigslist until we save money for a Scandinavian rocker.

all images on pinterest.

go green: would you FLOR tile?

our home has all wood floors.  except on the first floor where there are ceramic tiles (don't get me started on those wacky tiles...)  wood floors are beautiful and easy to keep clean, but with an ever-more-mobile baby around i need some floor coverings, stat!  at first i was thinking of traditional rugs - they're classic and easy to find, but then chris said, "what about FLOR carpet tiles?"  (i think he secretly flips through my magazines and catalogs when i'm not around.)  it was something we'd talked about a while back but i'd sort of ruled them out  for some mysterious reason.  but now i'd like to consider them again.



carpet tiles are a completely different beast than traditional rugs.  i have no idea how i'm going to decide which to use, but i thought i'd make a pros and cons list for starters and then open it up for conversation.  


so here's the big question: would you use flor tiles instead of a traditional rug?  why or why not?





PROS:
-FLOR is made with renewable and recycled content and is recyclable.  and FLOR is also an amazingly green company.  they reduce their carbon footprint in every area- from packaging and shipping, to their dyes, to using pre- and post-consumer recycled material.  awesome.  
-along that vein...they'll recycle your old flor tiles - and even pay for the postage!
-these tiles are super kid-friendly - they're amazingly stain- and moisture-resistant and if you get a stain that you can't get out, all you have to do is swap the single tile - not the entire rug.
-i can customize the color and pattern that i want.  and i can rearrange the pattern whenever i want to change it up.

CONS:
-whereas i can find highly discounted rugs, FLOR carpet tiles seem to have a price floor (haha, punny...) of about $12 per 20" tile.  that means for a 5x8 rug i'll need about 15 tiles and it'll be about $180.  ok, after calculating it out...that's actually not a bad price.  put this one in the pro pile.  i guess the con would be that the prices go up from there.  they can be upwards of $40/tile.
-yes, they have lots of options, but let's be honest...in the world of floor coverings, i can find waaaay more options if i look at traditional rugs.   since i've got a lot of straight lines and geometrics going on with my artwork, sofa, and table, i was hoping to bring in some softness through a pattern with some curve to it on the rug.  FLOR does offer some patterns, but most of them are graphic and linear.  cool if i hadn't already bought my artwork and sofa.  i'm just not sure i'll find the pattern that fits just right.  

i seem to have made a pretty convincing argument for carpet tiles.  any other pros or cons you can think of?  any other reasons i've overlooked?

here are the 4 FLOR designs i would consider if we decide to go this route.  which one would you pick?