HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN LAMPSHADES

The great thing about DIY lampshades is that you can pick any fabric or wallpaper or wrapping paper or photos and totally customize.



Here I picked some old vintage children's dress fabric and that I knew would work well in a mixed blue palette bedroom.

So to start, get all your equipment ready!

Cut out the special reflective lampshade paper to the circumference of the shade plus 1/2 inch.

Iron your fabric.

Peel back the protective paper and stick the lampshade paper to the fabric - be careful not to have any bubbles.

Place the tape on the shade and the fabric.

Cut the fabric to the tape.

Peel off the tape backing, add the rings and roll the shade.

Peel off the remainder of the tape backing and fold around the rings.

 Voila! Custom lampshade using remnant piece of fabric.

For other eco lighting options visit www.designereco.com.  Eco recycled fabric/paper lampshades will be for sale on the site soon.

ECO DESIGN HOTEL FEATURE - SAN FRANCISCO - THE GOOD HOTEL

A gorgeous hotel is hard to come by. An eco friendly hotel with nice design, even harder. This is the first of a series where we will profile eco-friendly designer hotels.....

The Good Hotel.  The bright colors in the decor combined with the natural reclaimed and recycled furniture create a fun and quirky vibe.

The couch (pictured above) is made from recycled felt blankets.

If you forgot to pack there is even a vending machine branded by ReadyMade magazine which dispenses sustainable t-shirts and wallets made out of FedEx envelopes;

These platform beds built out of 100% reclaimed pine and "Good" Bedding: bedding made of 75% recycled soda bottles.

 "Good" Amenities:  Recycling bins, "Sink Positive" toilet installations and other renewable, reusable design elements in rooms.

We love their transport provisions-

• Six Globe® bicycles available on loan to guests (a refundable deposit applies)
• Parking available at $20 per night (plus tax).  Hybrid cars receive complimentary parking.

If your eco-conscience is still not sated when you check out you can donate $1.50 to One Brick or offset your carbon footprint through Carbonfund.org.  

Good green effort all round! Next week... a little more luxury! In the meantime if you want to recreate the look at home visit www.designereco.com for eco friendly furniture & lighting.

ECO FELT LAMPSHADES

For those looking for inspiration for DIY activities - an eco friendly felt is the perfect material. You can make soft textured lampshades, coasters, artwork etc.  Here we feature a few darling eco felt lampshades... contact our designereco.com boutique for the suppliers.

These sustainably produced lampshades are great as soft decorative pendants. Hang them individually or in series. There are two types of felt we would suggest-  felts  made from wool (which makes them a natural and replenish-able addition to the home) and felts made from recycled plastic bottles (which makes you feel really good that all that plastic is being put to good use).

We sell an Eco wool flannel by Brentano through our online designer furniture boutique www.designereco.com but another suggestion for a good felt product available in craft stores is Eco Fi Felt.

Eco-fi is a high-quality polyester fiber made from 100% certified recycled plastic PET bottles. It can go into any textile product such as clothing, blankets, carpets, wall coverings, auto interiors, home furnishings, and craft felt. Eco-fi can also be blended with other fibers, such as cotton or wool, for enhanced qualities.  Better still it is machine washable and doesn't fray!
For more information please feel free to email anna@designereco.com.