Like I’ve said before, sometimes eco-friendliness is right under my nose. Today I was looking reading the newsletter and was enamored with the charming designs of makelike design. Particularly, this wallpaper designed by Topher Sinkinson, called pointy dark:

This two–color wallpaper is hand–screenprinted using water–based inks on recyclable paper.This one comes in two other more subtle colorways, incase the bold brown and green is a little too much for you!

They also offer some wonderful prints and teatowels. I hate to be biased, but this one designed by Mary Kysar, called Forest, in green, is my very favorite:

To see all of makelike design’s designs, click here.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! We hope to help you avoid the doorbusters tomorrow by letting you log in and shop online while you continue to digest your dinner and watch football! Until then, enjoy your families and your food!

-The Design Public Crew

Hey All!

I know it’s Wednesday already and my Thanksgiving week of blogs is a jumble, but I have to ask: Do you Rue? I just wanted to make sure you know that the new issue of Rue Magazine is live. I’m triple dipping, as it’s great for Inspiration Monday:

Environmental Tuesday: It saves on paper and those pesky carbon footprints the mail truck makes because it’s online.

Finally, Organization Wednesday: It contains beautiful images of my personal most-coveted closet, that of Sea of Shoes’ Jane Aldridge and her mum Judy Aldridge. I envy their (sometimes shared) wardrobe more than any other in the world. If you love fashion and you haven’t checked out the Sea of Shoes blog, I promise once you visit once you won’t be able to stop! Here’s a peek at how Judy curates her closet like a museum display. To see the rest (and there is a LOT more, you’ll have to go Rue – it starts on page 110)

• Image 1: photographed by Manny Rodriguez for Rue (interior designer is Samantha Reitmayer-Sano)
  
• Image 2: photographed by Michael Wells for Rue (it’s a Windsor Smith designed room)
• Image 3: photographed by Manny Rodriguez for Rue (interior designer is Samantha Reitmayer-Sano)

Recently I had the pleasure of chatting with the creative brains behind IndiB, a venture that grew out of design firm Indidesign in L.A. Frustrated by a lack of good quality rugs and bed linens available on the market, Architect, preservationist and interior designer Beatrice Girelli decided to take matters into her own hands. Partnering with Tim Smith, an audio engineer and A/V designer whom she’d met while working on a high end restaurant project in Germany, IndiB and its beautiful hand loomed rugs were born. Stay tuned for more products as this company grows, including bedding and other linens.

Please take us on a bit of a virtual tour of your studio. What’s the neighborhood like? What were some of your priorities when finding a space where you need to be creative?

We work towards the east end of Venice and we border with Culver City, most of our team members live nearby. We are in a transitional neighborhood that so far has been spared by large chain retailers and has attracted artists and independent professionals (mostly in the creative and entertainment  field) looking for medium creative spaces. Our neighborhood has an eclectic population mix and a wealth of small restaurants with cuisine from all over the world. Parking is not bad, which is a big bonus!!

How do you stay inspired? Please walk us through your design process.

Travel, colors nature and childhood memories! Fashion comes into play often, especially for color choices, because fashion is always a step ahead compared to home textiles.
Please tell us a bit about your current line of rugs.

We are particularly proud of our Childrens collection, because we believe it brings a new perspective and language to the market place. We especially love the new round rugs!

Do you have any advice for anyone suffering from a creative block?

1) Focus on the positive. Always.

2) Take some distance from the everyday routine. Take some time for yourself: spend time outdoor, rediscover the neighborhood, rediscover nature, talk to people, read.

3) Ask yourself: “what do people want”? and then find a simple answer with a personal perspective

Do you have any words of wisdom for creatives who are ready to make the leap into a building a business?

We will not lie: it is HARD. Setting up a business takes an enormous amount of commitment, determination and nourishment but it brings enormous satisfactions. You can work until midnight  for 30 days straight, work every weekend and feel freer than you have ever been.

Obviously a priority for you is to be ecologically and socially conscious. Can you please tell us a bit about a) the materials and production process and b) How to ensure that fair labor practices are used in production?

Our first concern has always been ensuring that our rugs would be 100% natural. We have been able to eliminate latex from the backing and produce durable hand tufted rugs made using 100% wool of the best quality and cotton backing. As we were crating our collections and working on prototypes we initiated immediately the GoodWeave certification process of our manufacturing studios to make sure that our manufacturing practices are constantly monitored and endorsed by an impartial third party.

Every single one of our rugs is certified and not only there is no child labor involved, but we monitor actively the waste and water disposal process and our manufacturing practices . A percentage of our manufacturing costs is donated to the GoodWeave fund to promote education and we are taking the first steps towards creating an IndiB program to foster and support women’s education and women’s manufacturing in the effort to empower women and promote physical, financial and psychological independence. We are also about to introduce a new collection (available starting next month) of dye-free or 100% vegetable dyed hand woven and carved hand loomed rugs, which will be completely unique in the US market and that will be an ideal choice for nurseries and beyond.

We look forward to seeing it! Thanks so much for taking the time to let our readers get to know you a little better!

…that six old folding chairs could look SOOOOO beautiful when placed in an all white loft dining space? Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the flower arrangement looks like a MoMA-worthy work of art! Thanks so much to Danielle de Lange of The Style Files for sharing this photo on Flickr!