4. Spruce up a vintage chair with hand-painted upholstery. Lauren Rossi Designs, lardink.com
5. Plant a hearty window box—or hire your favorite garden guru to do the same. Main Line Flowerpot and Windowbox Co., Wayne, 610-254-0220; mainlineflowerpot.com
6. Build a bouquet of locally grown, single-color blooms.
7. Explore architectural salvage warehouses: Some of the coolest finds come from old houses.
8. Invest in a reusable and fashionable tote — or two — for groceries. Gypsystyle.com
9. Look for logos: efficient Energy Star appliances, responsibly-made RugMark rugs, sustainably harvest FSC-certified wood. Shop at stores like Green Depot, Greenable and the Environmental Home Store
10. Leave the lights off (until you need them). Hurrah for daylight savings!
Posted by Lauren McCutcheon on 4/25/08 in Home | 1 Comment »
Among Philly Mag’s greatest hits of local designers, the peeps behind Two Paperdolls/Louella Press might as well win a lifetime “Best of Philly” for overall adorable-ness. The cutie-pie card makers always came up with the winning-est wedding invites, the darling-est holiday cards, the perfect-est baby greetings.
The sole caveat to their impeccable style record: The “dolls’” Wayne studio is just too far from our Center City offices. Never could we pop in on a Wednesday for the perfect gift enclosure or drop by on a Thursday for a most merci-ful thank-you note or swing in on a Friday for a preppy b-day cake on thick cotton stock (see here).
Until now. Now, with the launch for their new e-tail store, Louella/Paperdolls makes their irresistible stationery as close as the computer. (Which, for we office-bound editor/writer types, means always very close.)
Louella Press, 5 Louella Court, Wayne, 610-293-3690; louellapress.com
This week, I had the contradictorily unpleasant pleasure of moving into my first-ever very-own house. The actual move was bad enough. Now, the thought of unpacking and reorganizing all my worldly possessions — not to mention cleaning out the wretched basement, eliminating omnipresent drywall dust, I won’t bore you with more household details — makes me break out into purple hives. My only solace: The realization that, as a homeowner, I am duty-bound to fill my very own dwelling with righteously stunning furnishings and appointments.
My first mission: Reupholster a Sixties-chic couch and ottoman scored from Old City’s Reform. If I have my way — and, let’s face it, I usually do — I’d get Fishtown-based custom upholstery designer (and Philly Mag Home crush; check out her “Wings” pattern in our spring issue) Lauren Rossi to redo the honey blonde wood pieces with her absolutely one-of-a-kind hand-screened fabrics. Rossi’s new website recently launched. So addictive is it, with its splashy florals and organic geometry and stunning brights, that you’d think it was thesuperficial. Or, at least, bluefly.
OK. So, I’m tooting my own horn a bit here, but, as a minor cog in the wheel of Philly Mag’s newly redesigned Home magazine, I gotta say, our spring issue looks damn awesome.
Yes, I’m one of the editors at Home, so I could be slightly biased. But I doubt it. Aside from the prettiest-ever potting shed on the cover (the space belongs to Bucks County gardening guru and Martha Stewart buddy Jon Carloftis), the mag features the perfectly modern house of the cutest ever Radnor family, a brilliantly made-over Chestnut Hill manor (that’s not at all fussy manor-y), three super-amazing city lofts, a huge, utilitarian guide to the green life at home, dozens of the region’s best landscape designers, and products you’ll wanna buy way before the crocuses rear their darling purple blooms.
The issue’s officially on sale Monday. But everyone knows that bookstores, Whole Foods and Wegmans love to sell magazines as soon as they get them. So keep a vigilant lookout this weekend. (By the way, if you’re shopping in a Barnes & Noble, you’ll likely find it shelved among the regional magazines.)
Go. Run. Quick! I may be partial, but I’m predicting a sellout.
Home pamperers, your chariot awaits. As soon as I entered Haverford’s Nancy Koltes at Home — the few-months-old light and airy showroom of high-quality, Italian-crafted linens and sweet goodies like tableware, candles and even men’s boxers and comfy loungewear for gals — worries about thread count numbers dissolved. I was immediately encouraged to throw around pillow samples (the clever way they show the lines’ colors and patterns) in an effort to mix and match my way to the bed dressing of my dreams.
Beyond the sheets, there was enough to bedeck an entire home with a thoroughly inviting, romantic-without-being-cloying style that made me recall a party I once attended in the suburbs of Paris where an evening of too much red wine, chocolate, bread and cheese was adieu’d with a spread of fizzy water and clementines.
Outposts of the first-in-New-York life-wares store have been popping up nationwide, from Charleston to Beverly Hills, but we got lucky because linens designer and founder Koltes (who has been selling her chic sheet sets for over 20 years through other retail outlets) hails from Chestnut Hill and wanted to see a signature shop installed in her old stomping environs.
Advance copies of our spring issue of Philadelphia Home arrived today, and I’m particularly pleased with “Our Definitive Guide to The Green Life.” It’s packed with stories about people and goods that make eco-living easy (and very pretty) in our region — and includes our promise to give you even more info online.
So here’s the first tidbit that didn’t make it into print, but that I love just as much as everything that did: Carousel Farm in Bucks County (carouselfarmlavender.com). Simply looking at the website photos of this gorgeous, organic lavender farm is akin to a cup of chamomile tea on a February day. Plus, they’ve got lotion, lip balm, cream, soap and candles made from their purple crop … so even on a frigid day like today, you can shop local and still keep the feeling in your cheeks.
I’m mildly — okay, totally — obsessed with coffee table books. Massive, hulking tomes so heavy they’re nearly impossible to lift. Books with thick, shiny pages and splashy, larger-than-life pictures. Volumes about fashion, design, art, architecture and beauty. Books that — while you may not lug them to bed for late-night reading — make for seriously yummy eye-candy.
No coffee table is complete without books from superluxe publishing company Assouline. My fave page-turners? Nick Foulkes’ The Trench Book (yes, an entire book devoted to the iconic coat), the Chanel set (a slipcase covering the brand’s fashion, jewelry and perfume), The Carlyle (176 pages chronicling the history of the legendary hotel), and François Baudot’s Compendium of Interior Styles (a deliciously large, apple-red volume about interior design and decor).
And, really, dog-eared paperbacks are so last year.
Assouline books are available at Petulia’s Folly, 1710-12 Sansom Street, 215-569-1344, petuliasfolly.com.
Lately, I’ve been obsessing over shelves. Not stuff to put on them — you know, vases, picture frames, books — but actual shelves.
In a world of assembly-required, particle-board-backed shelving, West Chester-based Iola Design is creating bamboo wall-mount shelves with sleek designs, Mondrian-esque lines, and plenty of space for your stuff. The minimalist, geometric units are really more like sculpture — which is precisely why I love them. Either load them up with your precious objets d’art, or leave them artfully bare.
Better yet? Iola will custom design shelving for your home. For a (free!) conceptual design and price estimate, email a few digital pics and dimensions of the room to info@ioladesign.com.
Iola Design, LLC, West Chester, 610-836-1535, ioladesign.com.
How can a blog about the Good Life get into such mundane and un-goodly matters as laundry? When I’ve discovered a weekly-chore helper as brilliantly simple as Dropps detergent, which comes in teensy eco-friendly cleaning packets and is made by Philly-based Cot’n Wash, Inc.
No measuring: one packet = one load.
Not much waste: the plastic packet dissolves during the wash cycle.
And, yes, a stylish shopping trip for city-dwelling pedestrians: A 10-ounce box of 20 Dropps packets will fit in your handbag. (Which means no hauling 100-ounce Tide bottles from CVS to your home in a clackety, wheeled contraption.)
Want to try? To order an almost-free sample — you’ll pay a $1.94 for shipping and handling — click here.
They’re handmade. They’re also amazingly soft. And they’ve got the distinctive sheen of handwoven silk. But we really love Siw Thai Silk’s pillows for four reasons:
1. The Yardley-based company focuses on eco-friendly, sustainable manufacturing.
2. The refined designs prove that easy-on-the-earth can also be easy on the eyes.
3. Each item is handmade (sometimes even hand-painted) by artisans in Thailand, which means that the cool pillow you bought to complement your couch is also contributing to the prosperity and self-sufficiency of Thai artisan villages.
4. In case you need to justify buying yet another pillow for your already overcrowded loveseat, you can just say that with each pillow purchase you’re helping Mother Earth. And, hey, who can argue with that?
Siw Thai Silk pillows, $60-$300, available at retailers including Kellijane, 1721 Spruce Street, 215-790-0233, kellijane.com, and Gracious Living, 5828 Rt. 202, Lahaska, 215-794-4118, graciousinteriors.com. For other area retailers, call 866-900-7455 or visit siwthaisilk.com.
1. Shop locally: area lumber houses, mom-and-pop hardware stores, local cabinet and furniture makers, regional manufacturers, designers, architects, builders, and indie shelter shops.
Among Philly Mag’s greatest hits of local designers, the peeps behind Two Paperdolls/Louella Press might as well win a lifetime “Best of Philly” for overall adorable-ness. The cutie-pie card makers always came up with the winning-est wedding invites, the darling-est holiday cards, the perfect-est baby greetings. 
This week, I had the contradictorily unpleasant pleasure of moving into my first-ever very-own house. The actual move was bad enough. Now, the thought of unpacking and reorganizing all my worldly possessions — not to mention cleaning out the wretched basement, eliminating omnipresent drywall dust, I won’t bore you with more household details — makes me break out into purple hives. My only solace: The realization that, as a homeowner, I am duty-bound to fill my very own dwelling with righteously stunning furnishings and appointments. 
OK. So, I’m tooting my own horn a bit here, but, as a minor cog in the wheel of Philly Mag’s newly redesigned Home magazine, I gotta say, our spring issue looks damn awesome. 
Home pamperers, your chariot awaits. As soon as I entered Haverford’s Nancy Koltes at Home — the few-months-old light and airy showroom of high-quality, Italian-crafted linens and sweet goodies like tableware, candles and even men’s boxers and comfy loungewear for gals — worries about thread count numbers dissolved. I was immediately encouraged to throw around pillow samples (the clever way they show the lines’ colors and patterns) in an effort to mix and match my way to the bed dressing of my dreams. 
Advance copies of our spring issue of Philadelphia Home arrived today, and I’m particularly pleased with “Our Definitive Guide to The Green Life.” It’s packed with stories about people and goods that make eco-living easy (and very pretty) in our region — and includes our promise to give you even more info online. 
I’m mildly — okay, totally — obsessed with coffee table books. Massive, hulking tomes so heavy they’re nearly impossible to lift. Books with thick, shiny pages and splashy, larger-than-life pictures. Volumes about fashion, design, art, architecture and beauty. Books that — while you may not lug them to bed for late-night reading — make for seriously yummy eye-candy.
Lately, I’ve been obsessing over shelves. Not stuff to put on them — you know, vases, picture frames, books — but actual shelves. 
How can a blog about the Good Life get into such mundane and un-goodly matters as laundry? When I’ve discovered a weekly-chore helper as brilliantly simple as Dropps detergent, which comes in teensy eco-friendly cleaning packets and is made by Philly-based Cot’n Wash, Inc. 
They’re handmade. They’re also amazingly soft. And they’ve got the distinctive sheen of handwoven silk. But we really love Siw Thai Silk’s pillows for four reasons: