Green – as in The Green House exhibit, green wraps made of eco-friendly fabric, and even organic greens – was the theme of the recent awards ceremony of the Washington Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). The magnificent National Building Museum provided a fitting setting for this annual celebration.
Fashion Designer April Reddick of The Lady of the House LLC made lovely lime and pear colored wraps using an iridescent eco-friendly fabric donated by Maharam. “This fabric is usually used for window treatments, but we wanted to show that it’s beautiful enough to use for clothing,” Sharon Kuester, ASID partner of Austin-Kuester Inc., says of the materials, which were produced with reduced toxicity and heavy metal free dyes.
The event, in part sponsored by Washington Spaces, began with cocktails and guests perusing a gallery filled with information about environmentally friendly products such as Forbo Marmoleum, Benjamin Moore EcoSpec paints, and InterfaceFLOR carpet tiles. Then Penny Bonda, FASID eco-editor of Interior Design magazine, gave a compelling keynote speech about the importance of living environmentally safe lifestyles.
Guests also toured The Green House, a terrific exhibition about sustainable design. Highlights included a “Scrapile” dining table made of repurposed scrap wood, “Forest Leaf Collection” candlesticks made of recycled cast aluminum, and black kitchen countertops composed of recycled paper. Even a Bosch cooktop was made of 98 percent recyclable materials.
“It was all very surprising the way they used the materials,” Annie Van Meter, an interior design student at the Corcoran, says. Matthew Esposito, also a student, adds, “For being a recycled house, it looked very stylish.”
