Go Green With Bo Green
“The Money Pit should have been based on this house,” says Architect Bo Green of B. Green Design. He and his wife, Anne du Vivier, bought a house in northwest Washington, DC, about 10 years ago, and ended up virtually replacing the entire house. “I literally started just to replace the kitchen cabinets,” Green says. But when he went to replace the cabinets, he discovered eight burned wires behind them and realized trouble was brewing. “I unpeeled layers of an onion and found one thing wrong, then another. It took us almost two years to find out everything that was wrong with the building,” he says. As time went on, Green essentially rebuilt the whole house – in a sustainable, thoughtful way. He wanted to make the house cutting edge in terms of energy efficiency, and he succeeded.
After years of considering every detail, Bo Green rebuilt this house in Forest Hills, which is environmentally intelligent inside and out. All photography is by Matthew Dandy.
“People think green houses are tutti frutti, up in the mountains, off the grid houses,” Green says. “People think it has to look a certain way. But the materials and the approaches are what make a house green, not the form.”
Green approached his house keeping the principles of Vitruvius, an architect who lived around the time of Christ, in mind. “Vitruvius used three words – firmness, commodity, and delight,” says Green, who laments the fact that the element of delight has often been overlooked, especially in tract houses. He built his house to last 100 years, thought through the use of each space carefully and used non-toxic materials, and added playful touches when least expected.
Among the highlights in the new house, which was just sold last week, are:
• 32 roof windows and skylights
“This way, you don’t need electric lights to read in most of the public rooms,” Green says. This house overlooks Rock Creek Park, which makes the views out the windows delightful.
A second floor window overlooks Rock Creek Park.
Another window brings the outside in.
Seeing daylight throughout the house can give a lift to your day. This window has a blackout screen, in case darkness is desired.
• If the pocket doors in the hearth room, which is adjacent to the kitchen/living/family area, are closed, windows can be opened, and the space will become a three-season room.
“In the fall, on a crisp autumn day when you want to feel the fresh air, you can open the windows without letting all of the heat go out of your house.”
• The hearth room includes a Tulikivi soapstone fireplace.
“A traditional fireplace is only about 30 percent efficient, but a Tulikivi stove is 95 percent efficient. It’s advertised that it ‘only pollutes as much as the tree rotting in the forest.’ ”
The hearth room can be closed off and converted into a three-season room.
One exceptional view on the first floor of the house is a 90-foot enfilade that flows from the kitchen/living/family room area, to the dining room, to the central hall, to the living room, and into the media room or north wing of the house.
Flooring is made of certified sustainably harvested lumber – acacia wood.
The new kitchen includes eco-friendly appliances and countertops.
Other key sustainable features include:
- Radiant heat throughout the house
- Non-toxic paints, coatings, and glues
- A roof made of Vermont green heavy weight slate
- Windows with aluminum exteriors so they don’t have to be painted
Green built an apartment over the garage, seen here through the window over the front entrance.
Keeping your house dry is critical, says Green, who installed hardscape – flagstone – around the perimeter of his whole house. “Most people could use gravel… Moisture means mold.”
He advises keeping bushes, mulch, and anything that will hold moisture away from your house. In addition to helping to prevent moisture from getting into the house, Green says, “Termites will not cross hard surfaces.”
The architect says, “Indoor air quality in our buildings can be anywhere from 10 to 100 times more toxic than air quality outside, according to some government statements.” So he encourages people to go outside and get fresh air.
“A properly placed bench is something to look at from the inside to invite you to go outside. This bench faces the southern sun. You could sit there on a winter day and be quite toasty.”
A ribbon of water flows from a lovely fountain in the front yard.
“If you make the building delightful, you’re probably going to want to spend more time there,” Green says. “The silver lining to the Great Recession is it has us focusing on a simpler lifestyle, which is perfect timing for the Greening of America.”
Senneh Knot's New Granada Collection
YUM. These rugs remind me of summer sherbet.
Zubair Mohamed, owner of Senneh Knot in Timonium, MD, sent over these delicious pictures of colorful, reversible rugs – handmade in India – in the new Granada collection.
The rugs are all wool and washable, but in case you can’t get to a professional handmade-rug cleaner right away, you can simply turn the rug over to hide the occasional spot. As a mom of two grubby boys, I love that.
The rugs currently come in four patterns, with more on the way, Mohamed says. And the size and color combinations are endless – besides the standard sizes and colors, you can order them in a custom size and custom color – anything you want.
Whenever I think of an oriental rug store, I think of very traditional patterns and darker colors.
Apparently, Granada is one of several lighter, contemporary designs that Senneh Knot carries. And when a rug like this costs $795 for an 8-foot-by-10-foot style, I’ll have to put Timonium on my list of shopping destinations.
Hot Designers Roll Out New Rugs at High Point
We’re still catching our breath from three days of pounding the pavement in High Point, NC, for the biannual International Home Furnishings Market, where we got a peek at emerging trends in furniture and home design that will be showing up in stores later this year. For the next couple weeks, our editor in chief, Trish Donnally, and I will be blogging about the myriad shapes and styles we saw in the showrooms.
I saved the best for first: Four renowned designers were at Market to display their new rug designs for Safavieh Couture, which is Safavieh’s collection of designer rugs.
Executives from Safavieh flank the designers, from left to right: David Easton, Thom Filicia, Suzanne Kasler, and Thomas O’Brien.
Thom Filicia, who earned fame on Bravo’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and currently hosts The Style Network’s “Dress My Nest,” is the newest designer to join the Couture roster, which also includes David Easton, Suzanne Kasler, and Thomas O’Brien.
Filicia introduced his first collection of indoor and outdoor rugs on Sunday. “I’m really excited to be working with Safavieh. It’s been this really happy marriage,” he said. “I wanted my collection to be really fresh, really current, and fun, and I wanted them to be affordable.”
His designs emulate the Earth’s topography,
the crackle of vintage and antique pottery,
and abstracted animal prints.
His colorful outdoor rugs are made from recycled water bottles.
David Easton, an internationally known New York designer, updated his collection with an ethnic theme.
“They are inspired by other documents,” he said. “Textiles. Each of them has got an ethnic look. They really represent a change from the traditional to an ethnic, modern, abstract design – it is the 21st century, a more global world.”
As Easton posed before one of those ethnic patterns, other rugs in the showroom still revealed his roots in classical and English-inspired design.
Suzanne Kasler, the Atlanta designer who also has a furniture collection with Hickory Chair, brought those same themes to her rugs for Safavieh.
“What I wanted to do with the rugs is bring my whole design sensibility to all the rugs. I bring this whole color palette – taupe, blue, green, raspberry,” Kasler said. She stood in front of a stylized leopard print. “I’ve always loved the classic leopard, but I wanted to do it in a whole different visual,” she said. “The coloring that they did is really unusual.”
Here’s more of her lovely, pale palette:
Thomas O’Brien, owner of Aero Studios in New York, was the first high-profile designer to do a rug collection for Safavieh. “It all started with Thomas O’Brien,” said Arash Yaraghi, a principal with the company. “He is the great designer who brings classical styling into modern living. He brought fresh blood to a sleeping industry.”
O’Brien stood between two of his new designs – one where he blends wood-grain and moiré patterns, and another that recalls his love of Chinese vases. “It comes from a book on Chinese porcelain that I just love,” he said. “I use a lot of vintage things for inspiration, whether it’s Mid-Century or older.” Most of all, he explained, he’s doing a lot of patterns, from geometric to fretwork to Chippendale.
Here’s some more of what he was talking about.
Look for many more posts from me and Trish in the coming days on the fabulous collections – and people – we found at High Point.
A Preschooler, Dogs – and Beautiful Design
Does that seem like an oxymoron? Designer Liz Levin was asked to design a front parlor and back room of a home in Alexandria, VA, that would do several things:
- Use a baby grand piano as a focal point
- Incorporate an existing art collection, in addition to a newly commissioned piece that takes up almost the entire wall of the front parlor
- Accommodate the couple’s 4-year-old daughter
- And stand up to the family’s two dogs.
Before, the front room had dated, oversized maroon furniture in it, and the back room “had a dangling chandelier and a lot of toys in it,” Levin says. “They wanted it to be adult- and entertaining-friendly but still safe for a 4-year-old.” The answer: use the piano to turn the front room into a parlor, with chairs for adults to listen to music and/or enjoy cocktails, while saving the back room as a place for the child to play and the husband to watch TV. The home already has a family room, so this back area would be an alternative hang out spot.
The piano enjoys top billing in the revamped area. Levin used Ultrasuede on the chairs that can stand up to stains, and Roman shades on the windows that can stay safely out of reach from small hands and dog paws.
… And in case you are looking for a fabulous cocktail table, this one is Liz’s “secret table.” She gets this Catalina table, which is available in 20 finishes, from Hickory Business Furniture, “I love that it has a shelf underneath.”
The rug from Galbraith & Paul (whose textiles we blogged about in May), is a nod to the adults. The wool pile on a cream silk loop background isn’t made for lots of heavy traffic, but the Cool Zinnia colorway beautifully incorporates the piano, chairs, and commissioned artwork.
The family’s existing artwork, along with the new chair and ottoman, help blend the two spaces. The rug is a nylon blend, so it cleans easily.
The rooms flow from a pale green and blue in front to a tan color scheme in the back, but the furniture in each area ties the spaces together. Benjamin Moore’s Celery Salt covers the walls in the front (the commissioned artwork is at the right), while Moore’s Golden Hills covers the back walls.
Head’s Up
This spring, we profiled John Kiernan and his Blue Line Studios as part of a story on ceiling décor. His ceiling mural portraying icons of American history was stunning.
Kiernan just sent us an e-mail with photos of his latest project, a kitchen in a McLean, VA – an example of your basic upscale kitchen getting a treatment that makes it really unique (the sky might have been more realistic without pendant lights hanging from it, but it’s a kitchen, after all). The walls, meanwhile, were also painted and textured by Blue Line. Very cool.
Delicious Underfoot
Janelle Tracy at Vastu sent us an e-mail this week with some pictures of incredible rugs for which they are the exclusive retailer in the DC area. The rugs are from M.A. Trading Company in India, and instead of the standard Oriental fare, their line is surprisingly fresh, bright and modern.
Vastu used the Bilbao pattern for a condo model unit here,
And the Shanghai Mix for this living room.
Other cool designs they currently have in the store include Madeira White,
and Pamplona.
But Vastu has samples of all M.A. Trading rugs for you to check out. And it’s really worth it. For instance, Portland Brown makes a strong, crisp statement;
And Planet Red/Orange/Brown would literally make a room pop.
For a little girl’s room, Flora Pink or Messina White would be just the ticket:
There are so many great designs from M.A. Trading, I spent way too much time surfing to look at them all. So stop by Vastu so you can look AND feel these great rugs.
Italian Fashion’s Furniture
Pink leather. Jewel-tone silk. The famous Fendi Fs. It’s hard to separate Fendi’s fashion from its furniture, and indeed, these details are descriptions of the latter.
Fendi Casa, along with Habatat Galleries, hosted a reception last week at its showroom in The Washington Design Center, which featured designer Dominque Alexander of City Style Interiors.
“Audrey,” by Noi Volkov through Habatat Galleries, was displayed at the Fendi showroom reception, along with several other Habitat works.
“We’re living in a time in which fashion and art and contemporary living are really at the forefront of design,” Alexander says. America “is now much like Europe – we live in older homes with contemporary finishes.”
American fashion designers, such as Oscar de la Renta and Ralph Lauren, are known for their regal, traditional looks that hearken an old-line American aristocracy. But for the inspired contemporary looks that are becoming ever more popular here, the Italian fashion houses are the way to go. Keep reading for more Italian looks for your home.
ARMANI/CASA
Like Fendi, Armani/Casa (www.armanicasa.com) incorporates fashion into its furniture.
Credit: Neiman Marcus
“Elegant, sophisticated, modern, accessible, international,” is how Giorgio Armani described his brand in an interview with Wallpaper* magazine last year.
Turnandot Sofa, via Trendir
The feel of this chest from the “For Him/For Her” collection is very similar to a stark-but-elegant Armani gown:
Credit Wallpaper*
This Adriana recliner, also from “For Him/For Her,” is more feminine, but keeps the restrained Armani aesthetic:
Credit: Wallpaper*
The Antoinette Dressing Table would look great in a modern owner’s suite:
Credit: Wallpaper*
MISSONI HOME
For lovers of color and cutting-edge design, Missoni is your candy store:
Credit: Neiman Marcus
LOVE this pendant light!
Credit: Neiman Marcus
… Over a stark white table and chairs that sit on this rug?
Credit: Neiman Marcus
And then when it’s time to retire, you can curl up here:
Credit: Neiman Marcus
An Excuse To Go To New York (As If You Really Need One)
One of my favorite trade shows is the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, or ICFF, and it begins in New York this weekend. Ordinarily, these kinds of shows are closed to the public, open only to retailers, designers and architects. But ICFF will admit the public next Tuesday, May 20, so if you are a contemporary design junkie, this is the day to play hookie from work and hop the train to New York.
I won’t be going myself, but my friend Grace at Design*Sponge is previewing lots of great products that will be on display, and she will be blogging from the show this weekend. Just enter “icff” into her search box.
Among Grace’s previews, I love the furniture coming from Iannone Design Ltd., which is known for its intricate carvings into the sides of credenzas, dressers, and tables.
Also, I was excited to see that Thomas Paul has new rugs. I have a fabulous pencil holder of his design, as well as a mouse pad/notepad. One of these adorable rugs would certainly complete my workspace.
