Your Future Home Top 50 Sustainable Building Leaders

I am very excited that I have been nominated especially when you look at the other amazing nominees, such as:

Jamie Durie

TV personality and author showcasing his passion as a horticulturalist and award winning landscape designer.

He does extensive charity work including being Ambassador for Planet Ark, National Tree Day, the Forest Stewardship Council and Earth Hour.

Jamie Durie (photo by David Caird, Herald Sun)

Joost Baaker

Dutch born creative mind/florist/artist/designer/architect and creator of the highly successful pop up eco restaurant, Greenhouse.

His genius lies in the way he provokes questions about the way we (re)use the materials in our daily lives.

He doesn’t preach but rather educates and challenges our notions of what sustainability can involve by creating such beautiful, surprising and clever designs with clear sustainable messages.

Joost Baaker (image from Australian Paper)

Tanya Ha

Ambassador to the living Smart program, award winning Australia environmentalist, science journalist, best-selling author and sustainable living advocate.

Tanya Ha (photo by James Geer)

Jardan Australia

Jardan is a family owned and run business that has been creating beautiful, well made furniture for over 20 years. It has been given the Good Environmental Choice Label – GECA 28-2010 v2 Furniture & Fittings (Level A). This certifies the highest possible standards as viewed by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).

What this means is that Jardan has made a dedicated effort to creating Australian made furniture and that is environmentally friendly in design, manufacture and right through to the repair, maintenance, disposal or recycling – in essence a total product life cycle.

Sunday Chair by Jardan Australia (image from Jardan)

Green Magazine

Green is Australia’s leading architecture magazine focused on inspiring sustainable house and garden designs.

Green magazine - Australia's leading architecture magazine focused on inspiring sustainable houses and garden designs (image from Green magazine)

And then there is me…

I feel very humbled to be a part of this as I am so passionate about helping to make sustainable design part of our everyday life.

I love it when a client shares my passion but equally I am excited when I get a chance to work with a person, that on the outset, had no notion or thought about looking at a green or sustainable option. In an ideal world I would get to make huge changes instantly but the reality is that I believe it is important to move at their pace. I see my job as to help and guide rather than force.

Why?

Because I want them to continue the journey long after my work with them is done. For them to find the passion inside themselves to persist and not just halt and heave a huge sign of relief that the pestering and bullying has stopped.

Vote for Your Future Home Top 50 Sustainable Building Leaders...

To be nominated is an honor and if I can make the final Top 50 list, it would be amazing.

To get there, I need your help – It’s very easy, go to http://yfhome.wordpress.com/ submit your name and email and then vote (ideally for me!).

Wouldn’t it be nice if someone thought up a clever design to allow you to sleep out under the Northern Star or the Southern Cross without becoming an insect’s breakfast and the recipient of the Dengue Virus or some other delight.

Thankfully Pierre Stephane Dumas from the imaginatively entitled Bubble Tree was thinking the same thing when he created the Cristal Bubble.

The Cristal Bubble (image from Bubble Tree)

Cristal Bubble - A perfect place to view the incoming storm (image from Bubble Tree)

I love the notion of a magical bubble to protect you and allow you to spend some quality time with Mother Nature. What better way to enjoy a night out under the stars!

The perfect bedroom for a night out under the stars (image from Bubble Tree)

Its views are what makes this inner city unit a real find and the wall to ceiling windows make for the perfect feature wall to maximise the view.

It’s one challenge is its petite size.

The first part of the client’s brief is for Sabi Style to find a green/sustainable solution to showcase some of their amazing collection of treasures brought back from their travels.

Our goal is to find something that will enhance rather than make the space feel cramped or awkward.

The solution is the SJ Bookcase by Danish designers from We Do Wood.

Sustainably designed "SJ Bookcase" by Henrik Thygesen and Sebastian Jørgensen from We Do Wood (image from We Do Wood)

It is made from bamboo that has been grown without the aid of pesticides, fertiliser and herbicides.

The design duo behind We Do Wood, Henrik Thygesen and Sebastian Jørgensen are passionate about creating great, simple and sustainable furniture and are commited to making social responsibility a key to their business.

The look we are trying to achieve with the "SJ Bookcase" (image from We Do Wood)

Philosophy aside, I love the clean, slim lines (and its strength – a bonus from using bamboo).

It will allow the collection to shine and by being wall hung allows the piece to feel lighter and increase the illusion of space.

If you want your home to look like a New York loft apartment then buy a New York loft apartment not a Victorian terraced house.

A great example of making a space really work has to be the creative fitout by interior designer Gary McBournie of Gary McBournie Inc to a Nantucket fisherman’s cottage.

Taking inspiration from photos of 1920 yachts and vintage boating posters he has created a space that is fresh, easy to live in but importantly has that feeling being the real deal. You can almost smell the sea air!

Boathouse Kitchen by interior designer Gary McBournie (Image from House Beautiful by Christopher Baker)

He has embraced the space and not been afraid to allow its history to shine.

Take the ceiling – by keeping the original patina and not hiding the age, it adds so much character which contrasts so beautifully with the white cabinetry and helps gives depth.

The grills on the cabinet doors mirrors that of the style used on yachts in the 1920’s.

Kitchen in the Fisherman's Cottage by interior designer Gary McBournie (Image from Gary McBourne Inc)

It would be easy to turn the cottage into some sort of maritime pastiche.

For me, the secret about Gary McBournie getting it so right and creating this great design was all about his attention to detail.

By bringing genuine items into the room they add their own unique character that helps build the layers.

It is these layers so cleverly woven together that stop it from becoming a one dimensional theme room.

Living room in the fisherman's cottage by interior designer Gary McBournie (Image from Gary McBourne Inc)

But the genius part was upcycling these amazing finds into something new – that way they add the maritime flavour but in a creative & interesting way.

My personal favourites are the porthole turned into a coffee table and the sail pulley turned into that beautiful lamp in the corner.

Maybe it’s because the person went to so much extra trouble, maybe because there is something so much more beautiful in the handmade and hand created…

Dana Tanamachi (image by Spencer Heyfron for the Wall Street Journal)

I think that might be why I am so drawn (no pun intended) to the work of Dana Tanamachi.

She is so much more than a graphic designer, artist or custom chalk letterer.

Installation at the Ace Hotel, New York (Image by Dana Tanamachi)

Window by Dana Tanamachi for Ralph Lauren Rugby Store 390 Bleecker St, New York (image from Dana Tanamachi)

I like to imagine that her passion for working with chalk came as a result of endless Bart Simpson-esq punishment. I picture her having to write endless lines on the blackboard at school.

Bart Simpson Blackboard Opening (image from The Simpsons)

The typography styles she is able to create is amazing. Anyone who has ever had to write lines on the blackboard (just like the A-Team, I was punished for a crime I did not commit) will appreciate just how hard it is to take it to the next level and do what she does.

Front Cover of O Magazine February 2012 (image from O Magazine)

What I really admire is that she doesn’t seal her work. In a heartbeat it can be gone forever. Once completed, its life may only last hours. It’s as if its destruction is inevitable, it makes this piece of art so much more precious.

Like the Cherry Blossom in Japan – that fact that you only have one week to enjoy the trees in full bloom, makes them so much more prized and the experience of seeing them so much more special.

Cherry Blossoms, Japan (image by Michael S. Yamashita)

I am passionate about the acceptance of transience in design. It is one of the things that I love about Wabi Sabi – nothing lasts…

I like that things can age, have a life and don’t have to last forever.

"The Best Things in Life are Meant to be Shared" - custom design for a wedding reception (image from Dana Tanamachi)

Too often, design is focused on creating this perfect moment and then freezing it in a bid to hold onto it. It is impossible if you want the space to be used and enjoyed. Yet it is the very experience of a space being used that gives it its soul.

I have been pondering what it’s all about. Easter that is. At first glance it seems to be a time when religion and confectionery mix, which when you think about is a bizarre mix!

Take the Easter bunny… It all stems from a Northwest European folklore about a hare that gave out coloured eggs to children that were good. Now given that the hare (or rabbit) and eggs have been a symbol of fertility and it occurs in spring (in the Northern Hemisphere) – a time of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. Its fairly clear the message is about a new beginning.

From the religious side, regardless of your personal faith/beliefs the story of Jesus at Easter is all about rebirth.

So for me I think it is the perfect opportunity to see if there is anything you want to change to make your life better, more creative, more fun, more fulfilled…

The Holstee Manifesto (image from Holstee)

So have another chocolate egg and enjoy yourself.

Life is short so make sure you enjoy it.

Happy Easter!

It amazing to see an idea that started in Sydney, 5 years ago grow into a global event.

It just goes to prove what happens when people choose to work together for a greater good.

Do you feel like you have struck gold?

Most likely not.

For most people what is directly in front of them is all they see, not the potential that lies within – the hidden gem, if you will.

Contemporary artist and book sculpter, Brian Dettmer on the other hand, would look at that old book in your hand and sees a canvas.

The Household Physicians by Brian Dettmer (image by Brian Dettmer)

Kingdom By Brian Dettmer - This makes me think of Noah's Ark as the animals go in two by two... (image from Brian Dettmer)

With tweezers and scalpel, just one page at a time, he slowly cuts away to reveal a hidden story.

What I love is that in essence, he is forming an artistic collaboration with the original author. He is just showing the existing work in a new light.

Libraries of Health 2008 by Brian Dettmer (image by Brian Dettmer)

Webs New Inner Dictionary By Brian Dettmer (image by Brian Dettmer)

He may bend, fold or remove but nothing is added or relocated.

Cooling and Air by Brian Dettmer (image by Brian Dettmer)

The magic he creates was always there, it just took his creative vision to reveal it.

New Universal 2007 by Brian Dettmer - This is one of my favourites. I feel like it is pointing out what is going on with our world if we strip away the surface (image by Brian Dettmer)

Spineless Classics tell the whole story.

Literally!

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (image from Spineless Classics)

Sherlock Holmes - The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (image from Spineless Classics)

For someone that can while away an afternoon nose deep in a book or indeed anyone looking for a conversation starter to dress their walls – then this is for you.

Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift (image from Spineless Classics)

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (image from Spineless Classics)

The entire book is printed on a single sheet. It has been designed so that the font size is big enough to read and all the Chapter numbers and headers are still there so you will have no problem finding your favourite passage.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (image from Spineless Classics)

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (image from Spineless Classics)

What I love is the way the typography is laid out. The very words that draw you in and paint the picture in your head are used to create the poster graphic.

Now let’s face it there is a fair chance most people will be putting their beer goggles on before this night is out. In a bid to make you a wee bit more stylish how about you try on a pair of Whiskey glasses…

Shwood, who are famed for their inventive wood framed glasses, have teamed up with Bushmills Irish Whiskey to create “The Bushmills” Whiskey Barrel sunglasses.

Shwood teams up with Bushmills Irish Whiskey to create the perfect sunglasses for St Patrick's Day (image from Shwood)

The limited edition Bushmills Whiskey Barrel Sunglasses resting on 100 year old Bushmills whiskey cask timber (image from Shwood)

Beautiful 100 year old white oak from Bushmills Irish Whiskey casks have been upcycled to create this limited edition range.

The Bushmills Irish Whiskey collection (image from Bushmills)

I hope wherever you are celebrating St Patrick’s Day there is plenty of craic and streams of whiskey.

I can drink to that!