If your walls are looking a bit bland, how about lighting them up with this glamorous LED wallpaper by Mestyle? Spotted at ICFF at during New York Design Week, this innovative application of LEDs caught the eye of the Inhabitat Team with its subtle but stylish glow. The illuminated wallpapers are available as a collection of 22 unique designs, each depicting a different theme.
Approximately 27.4 billion disposable diapers end up in US landfills each year, and once there, they take about 500 years to decompose! If you want to stop contributing the the problem with your baby’s diapers, (and maybe even potty train early) cloth diapers are a great option, but getting started with cloth diapers can be a bit intimidating for newbies. Inhabitots editor Julie Seguss recently got a tutorial in cloth-diapering by Carolyn Sutton of Charlie Banana to learn about the basics, and we made this handy video so that you can follow along step by step, and learn how to get started with cloth-diapering. Click here to check it out!
This summer’s been one of the hottest yet, but if you’re already sweating from the intense heat, you can rest easy — I’ve got a sweet, refreshing treat that is sure too cool you down! Popsicles are a delightful and refreshing staple for the summer season, and I know personally that it’s hard to let a day pass without biting down on a delicious bar (or maybe 5…). But buyer beware — if you’ve been heading to your local supermarket for a box, you should know that not all popsicles are made equal. High fructose corn syrup pops laden with #5 red and #8 blue dye dominate grocery store shelves, and those yucky popsicles pose more of a health risk than an innocent indulgence. If you’re looking for a healthier — not to mention cheaper — alternative, your best bet is to make your own delicious and nutritious popsicles at home! Jump ahead for my easy DIY popsicle tutorial featuring one of my favorite recipes: Summer Strawberry Popsicles. Not only will you be able to cool down with a batch of mouth-watering, refreshing and healthy popsicles, but you’ll have saved yourself money and time by making your own at home. All you need is a freezer, popsicle molds and something sweet to put in ‘em!
Many people bemoan the fact that they can’t grow their own food (or even flowers) because they lack any kind of garden space, but guess what? You can actually grow more than you realize in really small areas as long as they get a bit of direct sun. Hell, you can even grow things indoors under a lamp, but there’s something special about plucking your own food from a stalk that’s been sitting in summer sunshine all day. In any case, whether you have a little concrete slab behind your house, a fire escape outside your window, or even a tiny balcony, your urban garden can be a veritable Eden of fresh, healthy, home-grown vegetables, and herbs.
After weeks of submissions and an intense week of online voting, we’re excited to finally announce the two winners of Inhabitat’s Lighten Up! Lighting Design Competition. We received hundreds of entries featuring projects that employ LEDs in innovative and interesting ways, ranging from a colorful art installation that reacts to changing light to a restaurant donning beautiful ceiling lamps to a research campus adorned with LED back-lit wood walls. We narrowed all the entries we received down to just 30 finalists, and then left it up to Inhabitat readers to decide which two designs were most deserving of $1000 prizes from Elemental LED. So who won? Now the moment you’ve all been waiting for…
It takes real skill to turn salvaged materials into something new and exciting, which is why we applaud Pickett Furniture‘s creative spin on recycling. They were on hand this weekend at BKLYN Designs, where we got to check out their unique handcrafted furnishings and accessories made from responsibly sourced wood and vintage textiles. Read on to see more of their eclectic and charming bamboo lamps, vintage Marimekko fabric pillows and kids’ toys!
This weekend, the Inhabiteam once again got to experience BKLYN Designs, one of our most beloved NY Design Week events, and revel in all of the Brooklyn-made furniture glory that it had to offer. As in years past, we also nominated our favorite green designers at the show for Inhabitat Green Designs Awards, and asked you to vote for a readers’ choice winner in addition to our editors’ choice pic. Read on to find out which two Brooklyn-based designers took home the top prizes!
Inhabitat’s favorite local NYC design show, BKLYN Designs, just wrapped up a three-day run in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, and the Inhabiteam was on the scene to source the latest and greatest green designs at the show. From adjustable, magnetic lights designer by Bower to a Mesmerizing 3D LED LUCID Mirror from Adam Frank to this incredible concept for a flood-proof, prefab beach building by Garrison Architects, see all the designs that really stood out in the Inhabitat editors’ eyes. And don’t forget to check out which designer won best in show according to Inhabitat readers.
Photo by Andrew Biraj for Reuters
We’ve been closely following the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh, where over 700 people have lost their lives when an eight-story garment factory collapsed on April 24th. Rescue workers are still pulling victims from the wreckage and the death toll continues to rise. “Fast Fashion” and lack of corporate social responsibility certainly contributed to the disaster, but there’s also another issue at hand that is even more important – building practices. Bad buildings kill people. Without proper building codes, appropriate architecture & engineering, safe building practices and government oversight, inadequate building practices put people at risk. This incident makes it plainly obvious that the construction industry in Bangladesh is broken – and everyone involved, from the owners to the architects, engineers, planning commission, inspectors and even the municipality is to blame.
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