Sunday, December 14, 2008

From Fashionista to Recessionista

Seeing the countdown to Christmas at right about gave me a heart attack this morning. I was going to do another post on decorating for the holidays, but since there are only a few days left, I've decided to skip forward to the new year instead.

To start 2009 off right, I thought I'd launch a series on value. With the economy the way it is, we're all searching for the best way to get the most from the dollars we spend. One really easy way to do that, is to develop a list of priorities for yourself so when you buy something it works with your lifestyle. Mine are:

Durable materials and construction
Easy to clean and care for
Hard to destroy
Fits with my color palette of red and neutrals
If I buy something that's a fashion statement, I rarely spend more than $100 on it

I have to admit to a few weak moments, but for the most part I stick to my list. Since I've developed this list, there are very few big investments I've made that I've regretted. A few little ones maybe, but the big money has been well spent. The iconic example that fits almost every requirement on my list was my kitchen table, which I've referenced often in this blog.

It's classic in design, so it looks great and I'll still love it in ten years, it's got a rustic finish that gets better with use and abuse, and it's easy to clean. I think we paid about $2000 for it, which seemed like a big price tag at the time, but after six years of constant use, the table is still one of my favorite things in my house and looks better than it did the day we bought it.
I can't say the same for some of the holiday decor I've bought over the years, but that's a post for another day.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

The Best $15 We Spend All Year

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we always go to the Christmas tree lot and pick out our tree. But for me, the season really starts when we hang our wreath on our front door. Every year since Katie was born, we've had a Boy Scout wreath covered in tiny silverplate ornament frames filled with photos of our family.


One year we spent the holiday at our condo in Sun Valley, and instead of putting up a Christmas tree we transported our picture wreath with us and hung it on our door. Just like home.

The kids always help me pick out the perfect wreath, we pick out the perfect ribbon to hang it from, we cover it in white lights, and we pick out the pictures we'll use this year. Then the best part: unpacking the frames and comparing this year's pictures to the previous year's. Each year flies by so quickly and that project is always like pushing the pause button for me. I look at each picture and remember the moment it was taken.

Then all season, no matter how busy or disorganized our days may seem, the simple act of walking through the front door reminds us of the all the happiness and joy we have in our lives. That $15 Boy Scout wreath is the best money we spend all year.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Has Anyone Seen My (fill in the blank)?

My husband and I had a revelation Friday night -- the entire Furber Family social calendar can no longer be housed in JP's head. We had scheduled all of the following:

A sleepover at our house with Jack's friend Conway
Andie's end of the season soccer party
Katie to attend a birthday party

JP had scheduled one of the events, I had scheduled the other, and the soccer party worked its way in somehow. All happened roughly at the same time, and required pickup, delivery or both.

We also have been tracking Jack's Outdoor Education permission slips all over the house -- they've traveled from the kitchen table, to the office, to Jack's room, to Jack's backpack and back to the kitchen table. Always when we need them, they're not in the first place we look, or the second, and usually not the third.

We need a new system that involves a calendar, a to do list for each kid, and a holding pen for all the papers that spend the week in limbo on our kitchen table (and roam around the house so they're not on the table when you need them).

We've decided to make a hard-working, no nonsense command central in our laundry room that includes:

A good old-fashioned Stendig calendar. This design was created in 1966 by Massimo Vignelli and is a classic. No pictures of cats or flowers to distract from our serious task of scheduling.


A chalkboard for each of the Furber family members so we can keep track of our stuff. We bought these magnetic chalkboard tiles from Pottery Barn a few years ago and now have have the perfect use for them.

They're extra useful because you can write notes on them with chalk, or you can stick things to them with magnets. First thing that's going up is Jack's Outdoor Education stuff.

Cannisters like these that stick to the chalkboards and hold things we always seem to need at the last minute: hair bands, barrettes, chapstick, lunch money.
A weather clock so we can keep track of the time and dress ourselves as we walk out the door.


Once our Command Central is all installed our household should run like a well-oiled machine. Or at least we'll be able to find our Outdoor Education permission forms when we need them.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

There is a Method to my Madness

In spite of all evidence to the contrary, there is a system of organization that holds the Furber house together, and it's about to be put to the ultimate test. We're looking forward to the arrival of eleven relatives for Thanksgiving. During the week of November 23rd, the occupancy of my house will range anywhere from 0 to 16 people, depending on time and day. This is the week when all of the various organizational and space saving tricks that I employ all year round come together to pay off big. For example:

My giant 120" kitchen table is too big for my family of five most of the year, but will be just the right size for the extended family.

Those Tolix french stacking chairs that I bought on sale in June will now come off the back porch, and sit around my table for the week so there's always room for everyone at the table.


My refrigerator will be filled with cleaned and chopped fruit and vegetables so everyone can help themselves throughout the week. (See post "I Love My Fridge" May 2008)

There's plenty of room for everyone (or nearly everyone) to crash. (See post "Welcome to Casa de los Furbers. Checkout is at Noon." August 2008)

We have lots of tiny bars of soap and tiny bottles of shampoo that we've collected. Perfect for guests. (See post "I Bought My House for the Bathtub." June 2008.)

I can find anything in my linen closet at a moment's notice. (See post "A Linen Closet Expose" May 2008)

I invested last year in Pottery Barn's Caterer's Box dessert plates and wine glasses, which will be put to good use as we blow through three meals worth of dishes each day. That will save us from the temptation of using paper plates and plastic glasses at every meal.


The foundation of my house is mostly white, so when everyone leaves, all I need is some hot water and bottle of bleach to get it all spotless again. (See post "Life in the White House" June 2008)

I expect the week of Thanksgiving to be fun and happy, with very little stress related to the care and keeping of the house. I still wish I had that cement floor with the drain in the middle, though. (See post "Get the Hose!" June 2008)

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Is it November Already?

Halloween is over, and now the freight train of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's starts rolling. Most of my girlfriends are appalled to see Christmas in the stores before Thanksgiving is even here. I love it though -- it gets me in the mood to get a head start on all my Holiday chores. With three kids in the house, I've found that planning ahead and staying organized are essential to having a calm and fun Holiday season. I've also found that I spend less money on the little things when I plan ahead. There are a few things I like to do the weekend after Halloween to make the rest of the season much easier. They are:

Put away my Halloween Mugs and get out my Reindeer Mugs. Drinking my coffee out of a Reindeer Mug every morning puts me in a Christmas-y mood.

Get my centerpiece on my dining table all pretty so I don't have to think about it through the rest of the season. This year my leaves, pumpkin candles, and vintage glass jars should hold me over at least through the end of November. (See post "T-6 Weeks to Halloween" on 9/16)

Make about 10 dozen sugar cookies that can go into the freezer so we can pull them out and decorate them whenever the kids need a fun activity. I like to stock some spare reindeer plates in my cupboard, then when the kids are invited to a Christmas party, they can take a reindeer plate full of cookies with them for the hostess.











Stock up on my favorite hostess gift of the season so when we are invited to a party we're ready to rip. My Mom taught me never to show up at someone's house empty handed. However, when left to the last minute, the joy of gift giving can become the nightmare of rifling through your cupboards an hour before the party. This year I think it will be a bottle of wine, and these pretty bottle stoppers:




Plan ahead for the Advent Calendar, which comes out right after Thanksgiving. I've found that it's much easier (and cheaper) to buy all 25 gifts that go into the Advent calendar way ahead and stash them away for later. I can't show you what I'm thinking this year -- as you know, the Furber children are extremely involved with Suburban Zen.

Have the kids draft the first round of their Christmas list. That way they have a little time to add, subtract and narrow it down to their top three contenders before JP and I start our shopping in December.

Orchestrating a holiday season with three kids in the house is not for the faint of heart, but JP and I are pros. Bring it on Santa -- we can handle whatever you've got!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Welcome to the Family, Jasper. Please Keep Your Feet Off the Table.

We've added a new member to the Furber family: Jasper, a 10 month old yellow lab. Since we had our last dog Shelby put down at the ripe old age of 13, I'd forgotten about many of the quirky habits of big dogs:

Jumping on the furniture
Eating off the kitchen counter
Running through the house with muddy feet
Crashing into things and breaking them
Eating things that aren't food

In fact, Jasper shares many of those habits with my children. I'd also forgotten about the decorating challenges that go along with having a dog. The moment my husband suggested Jasper's cage (which is about the size of an office cubicle) should be placed permanently in the family room, I knew I had to get it together.

We needed a bed and a bowl that looked cute in my house, or it was going to be like the early days with the kids when Decor by Playskool ruled my family room. Lucky for me, and for Jasper, I live in San Francisco where we have George, a really great pet store. They have a website with lots of good stuff:

Here is the perfect bowl for Jasper








And the mat for it to sit on so he doesn't chase it all over the kitchen floor while he's eating. Have you ever tried to read while a dog is eating out of a bowl that's moving across the kitchen floor? Makes it hard to concentrate.








And the perfect bed for Jasper so he can hang with the family while we watch movies in the family room








Now that Jasper has moved in, and all his stuff looks good in the house, we can concentrate on teaching him some of the basic rules that apply to Furber children and dogs alike:
Come when you're called
Put your toys away
Don't eat something if it's not yours
Leave the room when you fart

Sunday, October 12, 2008

If I Were Stranded on a Desert Island, I'd Want My Husband, My Children, and My Two Bushel Rolling Hampers

A recent visit to our condo in Sun Valley reminded me of the single most useful tool that exists for a family with kids: the two bushel wheeled hamper from The Museum of Useful Things in Cambridge, Mass.

We have three of them in Sun Valley and use them for everything from holding toys (and moving them from one end of the house to the other), transporting laundry around the house, moving groceries from the car, and best of all, moving luggage from the car to the house when we come to visit. One winter, Jack took one of them ouside and filled it with snow so he could transport the snow and his shovel to the location where he was making a snowman. When Katie was a baby, the big kids used a hamper like a wagon and pulled her around the house in it. As I said, very useful.

I must warn though -- The Museum of Useful Things is not too big on mail order. It took several weeks, several phone calls and about $100 in shipping to get my rolling hampers packed, shipped, and delivered. By the time I had received my shipment of rolling hampers, I think I was in for about $500.

Best $500 I ever spent.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Get in, Stay in. That's My Motto. by Guest Blogger Andie Furber

One thing that my mom always says when we're in a public restroom is "Come on, hurry up, I don't want to stay in here all day!" or "Get in, get out...." As you can see, she's not the biggest fan of bathrooms. But I love my bathroom. I feel it's an essential place to keep all your stuff.

In my bathroom, I have a designated place for EVERYTHING. By the sink I keep all of my daily things, like toothpaste, a hairbrush, deodorant, etc. I have a little green jar to hold my toothpaste (My mom and I have switched to Tom's All-Natural toothpaste) and toothbrush. On the other side of the sink, I have some handsoap and a towel.

One thing in my bathroom that my mom got me that I absolutely LOVE is a double-decker shelf of jars to hold my stuff. And every jar holds a specific thing:

Jar 1: Chapstick
Jar 2: Hair clips and rubber bands
Jar 3: Bracelets
Jar 4: Necklaces
Jar 5: Q-Tips
Jar 6: Miscellaneous

It's an essential for me. I use it everyday, and I always know where to find everything.

I have 3 drawers in my bathroom. Each one is organized so I can find everything. The top drawer holds things like spare toothbrushes, and since I'm in a theatre group, all of my stage makeup. In the middle drawer, there's things like headbands, and soap, and pretty much everything you can think of. And the bottom drawer holds my blow dryer and straightening iron.

Even though my mom doesn't like bathrooms much, I take pride in my bathroom, because it's neat, organized, colorful, and Cute.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Get in, get out. That's my motto.

I have a love/hate relationship with my bathroom. I know the bathroom is a necessary part of my house, but I really don't like to acknowledge what goes on in there. I like to display my pretty bars of soap in my shell soap dish, I love pretty hand towels, but up until now, extra rolls of toilet paper have been completely out of the question. Don't even get me started on the subject of magazines in the bathroom.

I've realized recently though, that my children (one in particular) may or may not choose to use toilet paper if there's none available. So my design challenge in recent weeks has been to figure out a stylish way to store extra rolls of toilet paper in the bathrooms that don't have built in cabinets. The solution is obvious:






but I just can't do it.

I've decided, instead that I'm going to pretend my toilet paper is something it's not, and display it proudly like I would display beautiful flowers. I've narrowed it down to three choices, all from Pottery Barn:






All of these vase collections have a size that's about 7" in diameter and 20" high, which will fit about four super fluffy rolls (I've been doing my research.) I'm leaning toward the white glass, so no one has to know what's in there.

On second thought, I may want to be more obvious about it -- if Jack can't find the toilet paper, he may not be inclined to use any.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Save the Ghosts! by Guest Blogger Jack Furber

My Mom's right. I don't like change at all. When she moves stuff around the house, I always put it back. When she throws stuff away, I get it back out (don't ask.) All this talk about changing the candles on the kitchen table makes me feel sick.

I'm an 11 year old dude. Things are changing all the time in my life. New teachers. New clothes. I strongly dislike new clothes. (My Mom doesn't like me to say "hate.") What isn't changing? If my Mom is going to change something, she knows my room's off limits, but I still worry anyway that one day I'm going to come home from school and find my room has been turned into a sewing room or something girl-y like that.

I'm happy to read in my Mom's blog that Mr. and Mrs. Bones are not on the chopping block. But is it too much to ask to expect that every Halloween, the same old ghost candles come out, and I get to see them on the kitchen table every day?

Save the Ghosts! Don't let the man bring you down!

T minus Six Weeks to Halloween. Time to Decorate!

Because I'm in the mail order business, I tend to start shopping and planning early for holidays. Halloween is still six weeks away, but feels like it's right around the corner to me.

My kids are big into decorating for each holiday, and so the boxes are about to come out with our Halloween mugs, our big hairy spiders, and Mr. and Mrs. Bones, the plastic skeletons that hang out on our front porch throughout the month of October. Each year we add a few new things to round out our decorating statement, but they have to work with spiders and the Bones family -- they're non-negotiable.

I've decided the focus this year will be to replace the centerpiece I always have on my kitchen table. For several years it's been black slate tiles with ghost candles on them. I think it's time to enhance the level of sophistication, as the ghosts are looking pretty sad after five long years of spending 11 months of the year in a box in the garage. I've decided to do a pumpkin centerpiece that will be a mixture of real pumpkins and pumpkin candles on vintage breadboards. My kids love pumpkins.
When I started shopping, I was surprised how many good pumpkin candles there were in the market.
I found these at Pottery Barn:












I found these at Williams-Sonoma:












and I found these at Crate and Barrel:












When I mix these pumpkin candles up with some real pumpkins and gourds from the Farmer's Market, I think this centerpiece will be worthy of the kind of status Mr. and Mrs. Bones hold in my house. My son Jack, who does not like change at all, says I cannot retire the ghosts. However, I think when Jack sees my fabulous ode to pumpkins, he will change his mind. I'll let you know how it goes in a later post.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Five Boys or 50 Boys. Same Thing

I've always prided myself in having a house that goes back together very quickly after a party. My husband and I have a place for everything, and very easy care surfaces and materials in all the rooms. We usually can clean up in about 20 minutes after all our guests leave, even the 13 and under set.

However, we threw a party last night that presented new and interesting cleanup challenges -- some that we're still scratching our heads over. I took five 11 year old boys to the Giants game, then brought them back to the house for a movie and a sleepover. They were all very well behaved, but I can't help but wonder:

What they were doing when they got chocolate on the wall in the hallway
Why every ball in our garage is now on the roof
What they needed all those towels for
What that is on the rug in the family room and how it got there
Really, five boys and not one of them can hit the toilet?

The party was fun, and the boys had a great time, so we don't mind the little extra elbow grease to get the house back in order. However, for our next party, we'll have to play a little better defense. I'm thinking:

Sleeping in tents outside (the boys, not me)
Serving food that's not quite so delicious -- alfalfa sprouts and lima beans maybe
Giving each boy one towel and a box of clorox wipes instead of a goodie bag
Awarding a prize to the neatest kid -- probably a car

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Cupcakes for 40

Slightly off my usual topic of interior design for people with kids, but the subject of baking for a small army is very topical at the Furber house lately, as I have three kids with birthdays all clumped together. Andie turned 13 on August 9th, Jack turns 11 on Thursday, and Katie turns five in early November (and between Jack and Katie, I usually make about a million eyeball cupcakes for Halloween).

Those who have nothing to prove usually send store bought treats to school. Because I am a working mother, I succumb to the pressure (mostly self-imposed) and bake from scratch all the treats that the kids take to their classrooms on their birthdays. That means I make about 140 cupcakes between September and November. I have a recipe that I love from the Alice Waters cookbook "Simple Food" that is easy, fast, stores great and makes about 30 cupcakes from a single batch. I thought I'd share it today for those working mothers like me who need a little help.

Alice Water’s Chocolate Cake

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
6 tbsp. cocoa powder
8 tbsp. (1 stick) butter, softened
2 ½ cups brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs, at room temperature
½ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 ¼ cups boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 9-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter the paper and dust the pan with flour or cocoa, shaking out the excess.

Put the chocolate into a heat-proof bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water (The water should not touch the bowl. Turn off the heat. Stir the chocolate from time to time until completely melted and smooth. Remove the bowl from over the pan.

Sift together cake flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.

In a large bowl or a stand mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add brown sugar and vanilla and beat (cream) until light and fluffy. Beat eggs into mixture one at a time.

When egg are fully incorporated, stir in the melted chocolate. Add half the dry ingredients to this mixture and combine. Then stir in buttermilk. Stir in the rest of the dry ingredients.

Gradually pour in 1 ¼ cups boiling water, mixing just until incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the pan on a wire rack and allow cake to cool completely.

Run knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Remove the cake from the pan and peel off the parchment paper. If not using the same day, store the fully cooled cake in the pan, tightly covered.

Variations:
For a sheet pan, prepared a half-sheet pan as above. Pour in batter, smooth the top and bake for about 20 minutes.
Or, bake in two 9-inch cake pans for a two-layer cake.
For 24 individual cupcakes, bake for about 30 minutes.

I find the recipe makes 30 perfect sized cupcakes, and I sneak in whole wheat flour in place of the white flour the recipe calls for -- in a chocolate cake, no one notices.

There's a batch in my freezer right now, waiting for their big debut in Jack's class on Thursday.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

You Can Have Your Table Back, We Have Some Better Ideas!

Study Nirvana, by Andie
Being an almost-8th Grader, I know I'm going to have A LOT of homework, projects, and tests to study for, so I'm going to want the best possible place to do it all. My ideal study space would have EVERYTHING I would possibly need. My desk right now is huge, and has lots of space to spread out my projects, so I think that would remain in my study nirvana. I'd have lots of fun colored bins to put pens, pencils, markers, scissors, and everything else in. There would be a fun colored lamp for late-night study sessions. The last thing that I would have is a bin for my folders, and put one for each subject. But a giant to-do list wouldn't be so bad either!
My study nirvana would be a place that's organized, colorful, and totally stocked with supplies. Even if I have my perfect study space in my room, I'd still want my whole family around me, so sorry Mom, I'd probably still study at the kitchen table!

My Crib's Already Boring Enough, by Jack
My dream study space would be a place where every kid can feel like a kid. There would be massages every day at 4 o'clock, an ice cream man, a mini fridge right next to my big vibrating chair, a slushee machine, and a churro machine, cubbies to hold all of my study stuff, my own bathroom and room service. I would be extra great if my little sister would bring me a pizza once in a while. If I had a study space like that, well then, Sayonara Mom! See you when I graduate.


I Can't Wait For Kindergarten, I'll Study All The Time, by Katie
In my kindergarten study space, there would be.....a notebook, a lamp, a comfy chair, and a homework book, and a pink table. And.....that's it.

Can I Have My Kitchen Table Back, Please?

School is approaching, and I have to say I'm looking forward to getting back into our school year routine. During the school year everyone wakes up and goes to bed at civilized hours, everyone eats three somewhat nutritious meals each day, and best of all, during the school year, everyone reads more and the TV doesn't seem to always be on.

As we get ready for the school year, study time seems to be the thing that takes us the longest to settle into. Each kid has a study space in their room, but the Furbers all like to be together, so they tend to gravitate toward the kitchen table looking for company. We have our family office, but that seems to be used more for pleasure than for business.

I will now turn Suburban Zen over to the three Furber kids to describe the perfect study spaces that would inspire them to retire to their rooms to do their homework each day.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Welcome to Casa de los Furbers. Checkout is at Noon

My littlest is about to start Kindergarten in 15 days (she's been counting down all summer). Along with all the obvious stuff that comes with your baby going to Kindergarten, there's also another milestone -- sleepovers. We love sleepovers because we really get to know the kids' friends, we make pancakes in the morning (which always makes me feel like Carol Brady), and having them makes our kids happy.

While our kids are big fans of sleepovers, they would rather have them at their own house than at a friend's house. They get to sleep in their own bed, they know where the bathroom is, everything they might possibly need is here, and they're familiar with all the scary nighttime noises at our house. We expect that Katie will feel the same way, and when the invasion starts, we're ready.

When we re-decorated all three kids' rooms three years ago (Jack, who was 8 at the time, still had a bed that was shaped like a boat) we paid special attention to two things -- how to accomodate sleepovers and space to study. We had a different solution for each kid, but each room can accomodate extra kids at a moment's notice.

In Andie's room, there's a double bed so she and two other friends can snuggle in and gab all night.








In Jack's room, there's a single bed with two mattresses on it. When one of Jack's buddies visits, we pull the top mattress off, and they both have a nice, comfy spot to sleep. Or at least a homebase to come back to as they prowl the house all night. If Jack has more than one buddy visiting, we pull both mattresses down and make one big sleeping spot on the floor.



In Katie's room, there's a single bed with a trundle under it. So far the trundle's only been used by Andie on especially stormy nights when Katie needs company to help her sleep. But with Kindergarten coming, Andie will have to step aside and make way for Katie's new Kindergarten friends.




With Katie starting school, I know I can look forward to twelve more years of weekends waking up to a houseful of noisy, happy, pancake-eating kids. Hooray for sleepovers!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

I AM Like My Home Office-Helpful and Colorful by Guest Blogger Andie Furber

Well, it's not really a home office. It's just a desk in a corner of my room. But still, it has many uses and I love it. It's not just used for studying and projects. It's the central collecting area for all my stuff in my room.

I have the PERFECT desk for someone in their last year of middle school. You have WAY too much stuff to know where to put it all! You have your textbooks, your papers, handouts, homework, supplies, and also just books to read. Normally, I'd think there's no WAY that I can put it all in one little desk. But mine, is perfect to hold all these things.

This desk is from Pottery Barn, and is the same one that I have. It's perfect for everyone.

My desk has 9 little square compartments on each side, so I have 18 places to put everything!! I put all my school supplies in one side, and all my other things in the other. The thing that takes up the most space, believe it or not, is books! I have 7 compartments all devoted to books!

But sometimes, there isn't enough room to hold everything! If that happens, put some jars on top! I have 3 that hold markers, pens, and other things on top of my desk.

And also to organize everything, use colorful bins to hold everything, like these, from PBteen:
For everyone who likes color, these are perfect!

My desk is good for everything: storage, school, books, and supplies. The best thing about my desk is that next year, when I go to high school, it will still be super great. I may replace my markers with ballpoint pens, and my Harry Potter books with more serious literature (no, maybe not), but I'll still spend many hours hunkered over my fun desk, working, thinking and reading, just like now.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

I want to be More Like My Home Office -- Smart, Gorgeous, and Organized

If the kitchen is the heart of my home, the home office is the brains. Like most families, we've got homework, bills to pay, projects to do, research to complete, and varying special interests that come and go, most centering around the computer or office supplies of some sort. Jack went through a paper cutting phase a few years ago that involved multiple reams of construction paper and a box full of scissors. Now that's a project that needs its own special room!

When my husband and I bought our house five years ago, the two rooms that sealed the deal for us were the family room and the home office. We were moving from a house that had huge rooms, but not very many of them, so our home office had to be squeezed into our master bedroom. The excitement of having a room dedicated just to our home office was so exciting, we made an offer that day!

We started out thinking the home office would be just for the grownups, but then we quickly came to our senses and created a family office with a place to do serious stuff for the grownups, a place for the kids to do their stuff, and most importantly a place where any Internet surfing would be done out in the open under our watchful eyes. We knew we needed two workstations, lots of storage, and a central area that could be shared by everyone. We started by lining three walls of the office with modular file cabinets. We love the Bedford collection from Pottery Barn for a few reasons:


It has a corner desktop that allows us to go all around the room with our desk
The file cases are cheap and very functional
The system is modular so we can keep adding to it as our needs evolve
The black finish is great because it doesn't show dirt or marks

We've posted the grownups in one corner with the grownup computer, and storage for all the grownup stuff, kids in the other corner with the kids computer and storage for all the kid stuff, and shared storage in the center for office supplies, stationary and other important stuff.

Right in the center of the room, we have a big black dining table with a bench on one side that has become the central gathering place when everyone's in the office.

We love our home office for all its' functional qualities, but we also love that the kids tend to gravitate toward that room when we're in there working. Andie is kneeling on the floor next to me right now helping me write this post. Our office will continue to evolve as our lives evolve, but it will always be smart, gorgeous and organized. Just like me.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Who Needs Walls?

Since it's high summer, I thought I'd dedicate a few posts to the outside of the house. My family is lucky to live in California, where it's summer most of the year, so our backyard has become an extension of our family room. We eat, lounge, sleep, and play outside almost all year round. My favorite feature in our backyard is a doublewide chaise that's situated by the pool. My three children and I can all fit very comfortably in the chaise together, and have spent many sunny afternoons lounging and reading in that spot. In order to make it perfectly perfect, we have a big umbrella to shade us from the sun, big beach towels to cover the cushion and make it nice and soft, and nice, big pillows to make it extra comfy.

So far this summer, my family has logged approx. 1,962 hours in the back yard, most of them on the double chaise by the pool. I'm thinking about treating my backyard like a fine resort and charging my children for the use of the chaise. Perhaps I should charge them for towel service also.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Athens Beach, Where the Water is Cold and the Women are Hot

I just spent ten days with my family at my in-laws' house on the beach. There's nothing like the peaceful sound of waves, and the smell of the salt air to relax a girl. Those of us lucky enough to have a family house on a beach somewhere know that there is a unique decorating challenge that goes along with the sea and salt air: how to make the house comfortable and usable for the whole family along with their sandy feet and wet swimsuits.

My sister-in-law Kristen has a simple, but failproof formula that's worked for years. It's a combination of easy care materials inside the house, and tricks to minimize the traffic in and out of the house.

When the summer starts, and the families start to invade the beach house, Kristen sets up the following:

A big galvanized bucket by the back door that serves as both a place to collect shoes, and a reminder to everyone to remove their shoes before entering the house

A bucket of clean water at the top of the stairs leading from the beach -- from the time they can walk up the stairs by themselves, the kids know to stop and dip their feet to remove the sand before coming up to the house

The outdoor shower is stocked with shampoo, soap and big beach towels

The outdoor refrigerator is stocked with drinks, fruit and popsicles so the three major summer food groups can be accessed without entering the house

A hammock hanging under the deck right on the beach, so afternoon naps can be taken outside instead of inside. My son Jack and I have spent many hours swinging in that hammock and reading. Last summer we both spent a week in that hammock reading Harry Potter 7.

Kristen has made the outside of the house an extension of the inside, with many of the same conveniences. My mother-in-law is happy because the invasion of sand and saltwater in the house is kept to a minimum, the kids are even happier, because they don't have to interrupt their beach time for boring pursuits like food, water, or rest, and Kristen and I are especially happy, because our bikini time far outweighs our housekeeping time.

Friday, June 27, 2008

C'mon Dad, Help Me Out

I'm off this morning for my summer vacation in Olympia, so will be neglecting Suburban Zen for the next few days. While I lounge on the beach, I thought I'd send a question into cyberspace for loyal Suburban Zen readers (that's you, Dad) to ponder and discuss:

How do you store all your games, toys, art supplies so they don't become the primary decor statement in your house, but are still easy for the kids to access and put away by themselves?

Some moms, like my two sisters-in-law, are lucky enough to have a separate playroom. Casa de los Furbers is not quite so spacious, so the struggle to store all that stuff so it's out of site, but easy for the kids to find and put away by themselves is ongoing. Toy chests are not my favorite because they tend to be designed for kids, so don't look so great in the shared family spaces, and I always worry that the lid will slam on some body part while I'm not looking.

I'll be meditating on the same question, and hope to come back to the holy grail of storage solutions. C'mon Dad, don't let me down!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Life in the White House

My friend Sheryl stopped by the other night to pick up her son after a playdate with Jack and we were discussing the new slipcovers I had just bought for my family room sofas. When I told her they were white, she said "WHAT?! White? Why would you do that?"

I realized then that it's time to share a secret with all my fellow moms: white is the most under-used and under-rated color in the interior palette of a family home. Unlike bright colors, or other non-white neutrals, white can be washed in hot water and bleached. I buy everything that gets tons of use in white: I have white sheets and a white duvet on my bed, white bathtowels in my bathrooms, white floursack towels in my kitchen, white slipcovers on my sofas, white table linens in my linen closet.

I don't worry too much about spilling. If I did, I'd be in a straightjacket -- I've watched my son Jack wipe his face on the sofa. Whenever something gets messy, I just give it a warm, sudsy, bleachy bath and it's good as new. When something needs a little extra brightening, I make like my Mother-in-Law and put it out in the sun for an afternoon.

Because my basics spend lots of time in the pool, I've learned to always have a few extra sets of everything, and to pay a little more for quality base fabrics so the items last longer. Here are some rules I live by:

For sheets and towels, I always buy combed cotton when I can, because carded cotton pills.

For slipcovers, I always buy denim or canvas when I can, because those fabrications have more body, and don't get too wrinkly in the dryer.

For kitchen towels, I always buy the classic floursack towels made by Ritz. They're the best, they don't leave lint on your glasses, and they're cheap -- you can get 4 for about $10 from any restaurant supply or kitchen store.

For table linens, I always buy classic hotel linens. The good ones have a really thick, mitered border all around, so they don't shrivel up in the wash, and whatever that fabrication is, it lasts forever. Best of all, the hotel linens don't really need to be ironed. Which works for me because the last time I had an iron out, my daughter Andie said "what's that?" The time before that, my Mother-in-Law took a picture of me with the iron because she wanted to have it on film.

Waiting until the kids are out of the house to indulge in white is for wusses. I've got a Maytag Neptune and a bottle of Clorox. Bring it on!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I Bought My House for the Bathtub

The bathtub is one of the best features of my house. It's big, it has jets, and it's got a pretty window over it. It not only functions to clean my children, but also sometimes as a hot tub, or as a library. Sometimes it functions as a holding pen. I was discussing with my friend Janet yesterday how useful a big bathtub can be when your house is full of kids -- yours or others. Just fill it up with some nice, warm and bubbly water, pull up a chair and a magazine and relax for at least an hour.

To truly make my bathtub a draw for my kids, I have a few tricks:
I keep a natural sea sponge filled with smelly, fruity soap by the bathtub. I especially like the soap from Humaine Made . They have so many great fragrances that kids love, they look pretty, and they last forever. Unlike the soap in the shower, my son Jack actually cleans himself with the soap I keep by the bathtub.

My husband and I collect tiny bottles of shampoo from the various hotels we visit and keep them by the bathtub. The bottles are plastic, so they don't break, and the kids love the novelty of all the different bottles. When we're not travelling much, I buy little bottles from Philosophy. They smell delish, and look great.

We keep big beach towels in the bathroom. They serve multiple purposes: making a sidewalk for our soapy kids from the bathtub to the shower, soaking up sudsy water, and best of all, wrapping up warm and clean kids after the bath. Organic Style has a great organic beach towel that works perfectly.

The best part of making the bathtub an attraction for the kids is that, after a good bath, they're warm, clean and quiet, and all I have to do is sit in the big chair in the bedroom and I'm guaranteed at least one kid on my lap until bedtime. That alone is worth the price of the house.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Just Call Me Charles Darwin

Survival of the fittest is my philosophy when it comes to choosing decorative things for my house. Anything that breaks, chips, hurts when it's dropped on a foot, or doesn't look better when enhanced with crayon or marker is out. Anything that bounces, can be knocked over without breaking or can withstand being stacked as high as it will go just to watch it tip over is in.

In the early years, I wasted a lot of breath on sentences that began with "don't." "Don't throw that in the house," "don't pick that up, it will break," "don't move that, it's fragile." One day my daughter Andie turned to me and said "well, what can I touch?" and I knew it was time for my accessories to evolve and adapt to their environment.

There are certain characteristics that enhance a decorative item's chances of survival in my house. They are:

Items that the kids like and don't want to see harmed. My number coasters fall into that category. I keep a few sets on the coffee table in a big bowl and my little Katie lines them up and counts with them. Even though they're ceramic, they've never broken. She's very careful because she loves them.


Things that you couldn't break if you tried, like the bowl of dried gourds in my family room. They look pretty, and are completely kid proof.


Things that look good when they're messy, like my favorite decorative device, the stack of books. You can't beat a pretty stack of books as a space filler -- they look great on a bench behind a sofa, under a table, stacked on shelves. A nice side benefit to having books everywhere is that it seems to send a subliminal message to my kids and they are big readers.


Things that are too heavy to move, like the vintage steel birdbath that's on my coffee table. When the kids are strong enough to pick that thing up, they'll also be coordinated enough not to drop it on their foot.


Our house has evolved to the point where the San Francisco Giants could play in our family room, and they wouldn't break anything. Now that's progress.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Only the Boring are Bored by Guest Blogger Andie Furber

A kid's bedroom can often seem, well, boring to them after a while. To make it more interesting, add a picture wall! I have one in my room, and whenever I look at it, it cheers me up.

Devote an entire wall to it, preferably facing your bed, so it's the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning.

There is a delicate balance to which pictures to choose from, and they can't all be the same kind of thing. You'll need three different things:

1) Photos: They bring back memories, and they remind you of your family and friends. For these, use plain white frames for them. They'll balance out a color photo, and complete a black and white one.

2) Posters: If they're very colorful, they look really good on your wall. I have two posters from the plays I was in: Seussical Jr., and Stuart Little. The Seussical poster is bright and colorful and pops, and the Stuart Little poster is more neutral. For these, don't even bother with a frame. My mom buys some blue clay-like stuff from the store, and you put it on the back and it sticks.

3) Artwork: Use some artwork from your elementary school days. (You know you still have it.) They remind you of those days, and they look great on a wall! For these, use colorful frames with patterns and cool colors, and try to match the frame with the art.

My Mom always says "only the boring are bored." So if your room is boring, don't let that define your personality. Take control of the situation, and express your creativity with a picture wall.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

My Digital Camera Ate My Pictures

I had a party at my house yesterday for my son Jack's 4th grade class and I heard two things consistently from the Moms in attendance:

"Thank goodness school's almost out"
"I have got to frame some pictures. All mine are trapped in my digital camera"

To the first, I say "Amen, sisters." To the second, I have a few words of advice -- as you know from yesterday's post, I am the gal who frames anything and everything, so I have some experience in the area of getting the pictures out of the camera and onto the wall. Here are some simple guidelines for building your own gallery wall from scratch in a day:

Pick a blank wall that you can cover, and that you can stand far enough away from to see the whole thing in one eyeshot.

Pick at least two common elements that you want all your pictures to have so the wall has some consistency to it. Doesn't matter what -- frame color, frame size, frame profile, mat, photo type -- just pick two so your wall has some order.

Figure out a way to add some drama . I use huge blown up photos to anchor my wall, but you can use anything -- use only close-ups of faces, or paint your wall a pretty color. If you want to blow your photos up to be huge, Kinko's is a great resource. The quality of photocopies is so good now, and they can blow something up to the size of a poster if that's what you want.

When you have everything framed and you're ready to hang, this is the one and only place that I'll ever say "do it the hard way." Follow these steps, and you can't go wrong:

Lay your pictures out on the floor so you can get the composition right before you start with the hammer. It's best to put the largest items down first, then let the smaller frames either radiate out from the big ones, or fill in around them.

Now, stand on a ladder and take a picture of your floor of pictures. The camera will see things in the composition that you won't see with your eye until you hang everything up.

Trace the frames onto kraft paper, cut them out, and tape the frames to your wall in the same composition you designed on the floor. Don't forget to mark on your template where the picture hook is on the back of the frame -- that's where the nail will go. Use a level, and use blue painter's tape -- everything will be straight, and the tape won't peel the paint off your wall.

Now stand back and take a picture of your wall of paper. The camera will see the blank spots or any imbalance that you won't see with your eye.

Once you've done all that, you're ready to hang. Just hammer your nail right into the paper, tear the paper off the wall and hang your picture up.

If you want to make sure your husband is available to help you on picture hanging day, do what I do: make a habit of getting out whatever huge honkin' nails you can find and pound them into the wall with your shoe. My husband has seen me rampage through the house pounding nail after nail until I get everything just like I want it. Now, whenever I start making noises about hanging some pictures, my husband clears his calendar and doesn't let me out of his sight.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Art Schmart

It's funny that my last post contained so many references to art. The truth is, I have no art in my house. When my husband and I bought our first house, we thought we'd collect some art when we got more established, but we started collecting kids instead.

Now my house is the best kind of gallery, filled with memories of our family's life. We collect photos, maps, cards, art made by our kids, and proudly frame and hang it all. And I mean all.

Some of our very favorite installations are:
Our entry hall that's completely covered in photos of the kids. The gallery has evolved with time, so it's a fun time capsule showing the kids at all ages and stages. We always frame in black frames, with black or white mats, and convert our photos to black and white so we can add to the gallery whenever have something new.

Four 4' square frames in our living room with our favorite pieces by our house artists Andie, Jack and Katie. When presented in the right way, kids' art can look like beautiful pieces of modern art -- great color, and kids seem to have a natural eye for composition.

A world map my husband gave me for Christmas a few years ago. He marked all the places we've visited, together and apart, with different colored pins before he gave it to me. The map has come in mighty handy in our elementary school phase for geography lessons, and the kids love to hear our travel stories. For now anyway.

A big pinboard at the end of the hall where we pin postcards, letters, leaves collected by Katie on her nature walks, stuff from our various roadtips. We add to and subtract from the pinboard all the time, so it's a rotating chronical of our family adventures. It's very fun to stand in front of the pinboard and meditate on our happy family life.

I've resigned myself to the fact that, unless one of my children grows up to be a professional artist, my art collection will remain only sentimental in value. However, I love the confidence my kids get from seeing their photos and art proudly displayed in our house, and the walk to the bedroom each night past the entry hall, the living room, the world map, and the family pinboard is better than any gallery walk I can imagine.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

I'm no Andy Warhol, but...

I've always loved art that draws out the beauty in the commonplace. Numbers by Jasper Johns is one of my favorite paintings, and I love the work of artists of the Pop Art movement.

Because I love the simplicity of everyday objects, and because my kids are always looking for something, I started years ago putting all the stuff we use regularly in plain sight. Instead of investing energy in looking for stuff all the time, I invest energy in thinking of ways to make my Qtips, toilet paper and votive candles look pretty.

Glass jars are the center of my universe when it comes to organizing our stuff:

In a house with three kids, you can't have enough soap and Qtips. My bathroom counter always has two huge jars filled with unwrapped white bars of soap and Qtips. Because those things are all white, they look great. I also keep a huge basket in the bathroom that's always filled with about 50 rolls of toilet paper. Another thing you can't have enough of in a house with three kids.

Our home office is designed for grownups on one side and kids on the other, and someone always seems to need a pen, a pencil, tape, a post-it, a glue stick for something. We have big glass jars in the office, most of them filled with one of those things. I reserved a few for my own stuff -- twig colored pencils I bought in Argentina, currency my husband and I have collected from around the world, matchbooks -- and the jars look like a pretty collection.

My kitchen counter is lined with glass jars that are always filled with good snacks for the kids -- pretzels, crackers, sometimes cookies. I even keep one filled with little squares of chocolate for me. The power of suggestion overtakes my kids and they eat the healthy snacks I put out for them. Between my snack jars, the fruity centerpiece on my counter and my super-organized fridge (see post "I Love My Fridge" 5/29/08), I think I have the healthiest kids in my suburb.

The secret is to buy the biggest jars you can find -- the bigger the better -- and go for it. Here are my favorite secret sources for good glass jars:
Ace Mart Restaurant Supply
Williams Sonoma
Container Store

I like to think of my house as a sort of version of Andy Warhol's The American Supermarket with everyday objects displayed as works of art. Well, maybe I just like to think of my house as a place where I can find a roll of toilet paper when I need one.

Kermit was Wrong by guest blogger Andie Furber

First, I want to say Happy Birthday to my Grandpa Doug. Happy Birthday Grandpa.

My mom has been writing about being green all week, so I thought I would too. Being green is important, and anyone can do it. Even kids. Here are some ways for kids to make their own room green and eco-friendly:

1) Keep a recycling bin in your room. Whenever you're finished with paper, bottles, cans or other recyclables, put them in the bin instead of throwing them away. If possible, try using both sides of the paper.

2) Try organic bedding. It's really comfortable, and comes in all kinds of colors and patterns, and is totally eco-friendly. I like this one from PBTeen


3) Try putting some plants in your room. They clean your air in a Green way. For the best plants to clean your air, see my mom's post entitled, "My Mom was Ahead of Her Time."

4) Try reusing stuff for your room. When your parents decide once again that it's time to purge the house, snag a few things from their pile to add to your room. The best way to be eco-friendly is to reuse things instead of adding new things. My brother is always taking plants, coffee tables, bins, and decorations into his room.

5) When you ask your parents to buy you new things for your room, make sure it's something you will like for a long time and won't want to replace after just a little while. Like I said in number 4, adding new things is not very green.

6) Use CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb) lightbulbs in your lamps, because they use less energy, and always turn off your lights when you leave your room, or during the day when the sun's out.

Being green is important. Saving energy and our resources can help conserve our earth. Anyone can go green, and everyone should. Even kids. So try these tips, and even these small things you do can make a difference in our world.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Get the Hose!

My husband and I have always said our ideal flooring would be cement with a drain in the middle.

However, so far that hasn't really fit with the casual, comfy home we're trying to build for our family. Maybe for the grandkids. So for now, we use rugs like everyone else, and they tend to move through stages just like our kids do:
When my children were tiny, I wanted my flooring to be super soft so they could roll around on it.
When they were a little older, I wanted rugs with pretty patterns so the kids could spill on them and the spills were invisible (for the most part.)
Now that they're even older, I like natural flooring because it's very durable, always looks great and is very easy to clean.

Lately, I've had a new selection criteria: I want my flooring to be free of chemicals and any other artificial stuff so the kids can lounge around on the floor and I don't have to worry. There are lots of good natural rugs on the market now, and they're very easy to find:

Starting with the youngest lifestage, babies crawling on the floor, I've always loved Sheepskin rugs. They're super soft, they're organic, they don't shed, you can wash them, and kids love them. When my daughter Andie was a new baby I always had a sheepskin in front of the big mirror in the bathroom so she could look at herself in the mirror while I showered.

I still have them all over my house -- right now my little Katie is asleep on a sheepskin rug on the floor next to me.


Natural flooring is great for families like mine, and can be easily found in all ranges of quality, from a natural resource like Gaiam to a big retailer like Pottery Barn. Look for the softer sustainable materials like jute and seagrass -- they feel better on your feet than sisal. If your natural fiber rug is backed with latex, this is one place where I'd recommend a synthetic material. Natural latex breaks down over time into a fine white powder, whereas synthetic lasts as long as your rug will, which is a long time.


Gaiam also has this super cool shag rug that's made from unused t-shirt remnants, a by-product of the garment industry.


A new option on the scene is Flor tiles. They have some nice natural fiber options, are made up partly of recycled materials, and don't smell like new carpet because they have the lowest VOC in the industry. FLOR tiles are the next best thing to my hoseable cement floor fantasy.


Another option to consider is a Vintage rug. Vintage rugs can be very expensive, but there are many reasons to love them: they're beautiful and can be handed down through your family, they have intricate patterns and deep colors so they hide all your family's sins, and they already show the signs of a lifetime of use. Very wabi-sabi. Another nice benefit to a vintage rug is the environmental protection aspect -- not producing something new is the best way to limit the impact of consumer goods manufacturing on Mother Nature. It's always good to love your Mother.


Until I get my drain, I'll be settling for natural flooring, sheepskins and will be shopping for a vintage kilim for my living room. But I'll be dreaming of that day when someone makes a mess and I can just shout to my husband "get the hose!"

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Old is the New New

I seem to be on a green roll, so I think I'll keep going, as I think building a healthy home and doing what we can to preserve the environment for our children is top of mind for many mothers like me.

One of the tenets of building a green home that I relate to the most is reuse. I love to use items for something other than their intended use -- vases for bars of soap, stepstools as side tables, big troughs for photographs -- so I'm always looking for vintage items in flea markets or antique dealers that I can put to use. I also love reclaimed wood furniture. Pieces made from reclaimed wood have a patina that I like because, from the day you introduce them into your home, they look like they've been there for a lifetime. A nice side benefit from reclaimed wood furniture is the wabi-sabi aspect (see post "My House Isn't a Mess, It's Wabi-Sabi" on 6/1/08) -- wear and tear inflicted by my family of five only makes my reclaimed wood pieces look better. I'm very grateful to the green movement for making reclaimed wood furniture much easier to find. Here are some of my favorite resources:

Cliff Spencer makes furniture from reclaimed wine oak that's beautiful. I especially like their Parson's style dining table. It's a bundle, but I think if you're going to make an investment in a piece of furniture, a dining table is a good choice. You'll have it forever, and the story of shared memories around that table will follow it as you hand it down to your children.



Andre Joyau is a designer in Brooklyn who makes beautiful, large scale furniture pieces. For those who have children old enough, and don't have to worry about safety as much (see post "Coffee Tables That Will Save You a Trip to the ER" 5/29/08), the coffee table here is fabulous.

I don't think Andre Joyau has a website, but design blogs like DesignSponge regularly pick up their product, so you can always find an address and phone number.

Alan Vogel Designs is another resource for beautiful tables made from reclaimed barnwood.



Staples Cabinet Makers
has such a great story, you'll want to pick up the phone and order something right away after watching this video. You can really feel the artisan's passion as he talks about his craft.


I'll just take a moment here to send a personal message to my Mother-in-Law: Linda, you are right -- everything can be re-used for something. Can I have my old picnic table back? I know I can use that wood for something!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Where Can I Get a Cute Gas Mask That Goes With My Decor?

The EPA has stated that indoor air can be up to three times more polluted than outdoor air because of emissions from paint, building materials, furniture, carpet, adhesives, among other things. Seriously?! As if I wasn't tossing and turning enough already.

Because of all the press about indoor air pollution, paint is a topic that's received plenty of attention lately. Fortunately for those of us trying to keep a stylish, family friendly and healthy home, many paint manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon quickly. Non-toxic paints are readily available everywhere from large paint manufacturers like Benjamin Moore, to smaller labels. A nice side benefit is that the demand for non-toxic paint has spawned interest in some smaller, more entrepreneurial paint brands. I always like it when the little guys benefit from a media blitz.

If you've recently seen the "Sex and the City" movie and are thinking about painting all your millwork black like I am, you're also probably thinking about how to choose a non-toxic paint. Here are a few things you should know:

There are three categories of non-toxic paints: natural, low VOC and zero VOC.

Natural paints are made from all natural ingredients. Water based natural paints give off no smell, oil based natural paints usually have a nice fragrance from the natural oils that are used. Aglaia is a brand I like because they have interior paint for both walls and millwork and their color palette is beautiful.
Aglaia Natural Paints

Zero VOC is any paint with 5 grams per litre or less of volatile organic compounds. This type of paint is easier to find, and many big brands have a Zero VOC option in their line. I like Green Plant Paints because of their commitment to small scale production. It's a little harder to find, but the quality is really nice.

Low VOC is any paint with 200 grams per litre or less of volatile organic compounds. I like Benjamin Moore's Aura line, because their range of color grea , and the paint is formulated not to exceed 100 grams per litre.

Another nice benefit of using non-toxic paint is that it's not deemed hazardous waste, so is much easier deal with when you're finished. Who has time to find a HASMAT site to dispose of the leftovers?

Better yet, EarthEasy.com recommends using the BUD method when buying and using paint:
Buy only as much as you need, so there's no waste.
Use everything you buy.
Dispose responsibly -- if you do have leftovers, donate to a local charity who can use it rather than throwing it away.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Organic Bedding Survival Guide

Yesterday's post on the health benefits of houseplants got me thinking about the healthy home in general.

Understanding all the volumes of information available on the different aspects of creating a healthy home for a family is such a challenge. Isn't enough that we've got to learn 4th grade geometry all over again? Must we also be subject matter experts on organic farming, formaldehyde and toxins emitted by our paint and furniture?

An easy place to start is with bedding. Anything that directly touches the skin should be as chemical free as possible and, with the proliferation of organic bedding in the market, any house can be completely outfitted with organic bedding. Most bedding is made from cotton. My friend Pallavi, who knows much more about organic cotton than I ever will, tells me that conventional cotton is one of agriculture's most chemically-dependent crops. It takes about 1/3 of a pound of chemicals to produce enough conventional cotton to make a t-shirt. Organic cotton is the version of its conventional counterpart grown without pesticides or other chemicals, and uses agricultural methods designed to help sustain the land it grows on. The organic cotton supply is estimated at only .1% of the global cotton production. As demand for organic cotton increases, so will the supply. Click this link for more information on organic farming

Organic cotton, both grown in the US and imported into the US, is strictly regulated by the USDA. That means you can reasonably assume that anything labeled and marketed as organic cotton is in fact organic cotton. If you need more assurance, look for SKAL International certification

There are plenty of great looking organic bedding options in the market now, so there's something for everyone. When you're choosing your organic bedding, remember to consider all the same things you've always considered: thread count, cotton quality, cotton fiber (long staple combed is great -- nice and smooth, won't pill).

Here are some of my favorites:

Pottery Barn has a great collection of patterned organics, plenty of choices and some really nice patterns.


Amenity has some beautiful, large scale patterns that are very stylish.


West Elm has some very pretty neutral organics -- lots of style.

Good Night Naturals is a good resource for higher thread count styles.

Convert your beds to organic bedding, and stay in bed a little longer in the morning. It's good for you!

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