April 20, 2011

Cool New Magazine features Concord Green

New England Finery Magazine's current issue is devoted to green living, in honor of Earth Day, April 22, 2011.  Thanks for the mention!
I was delighted to learn that this blog would be featured in the upcoming issue of New England Finery Magazine's Propagating Green section.  This new online magazine's second edition covers many aspects of green living in New England, including shopping vintage, building green, growing a garden and finding eco-friendly furnishings and finishes.

I encourage you to check it out!

Lisa

Inaugural Issue

April 18, 2011

Double Duty Rooms: Dining Room / Library



Dining Room / Library of THE CONCORD GREEN HEALTHY HOME  Design by Lisa Kauffman Tharp.  Photo: Eric Roth
A core strategy in building with a lighter footprint on the planet is to build smaller.  Assigning double duty to the traditionally under-utilized rooms in the American home is a perfect way to achieve the goal.  One of my favorite examples is the dining room that doubles as a library.  Key elements include a large table, comfy chairs (non-matched seating is like a good party that mixes different personalities), storage for books (displayed or hidden is up to you), and lots of sunshine during the day.  At night, dimmer switches and candle lanterns completely transform the mood.

A different daytime view of the Dining Room / Library.  Design and photo: Lisa Kauffman Tharp

Here are some of my favorite inspirations for the "Eat In Library":

Design by Diane Bergeron

Design by Miles Redd

Design by Darryl Carter, as featured in O at Home

April 8, 2011

Adding Patina...

Black iron rods are transformed with a non-toxic rust patina. 
The design plan for this New England farmhouse called for drapery rods that had a bronze/rust patina.  Short leadtimes would have made custom rods very expensive.  Why not give some standard black rods a little aging and color with paint?  Turns out, it was quite simple:

I found cool black rods, brackets and rings at Restoration Hardware.  Then I called the nice folks at ECOS Organic paints, who speedy-shipped a quart each of their non-toxic Feng Shui Multi-Surface Paint in Gallery (a reddish orange) and Brushy Creek Brown.   They assured me that this benign paint would stick to metal.  They were right.  :)

Rods were lightly sanded (inside plastic with wet sanding sponge to control dust).


Next, "sock puppet hands" (with plastic bag liners underneath) dip alternately in each color paint to get the right mix of patina and rub it on.

Dry and ready to hang in about 30 minutes.
Voila!  The bronze and rust tones beautifully complement Jim Holland's gorgeous Two In The Dunes oil painting, from Powers Gallery.
For interior design or healthy/green design services, email me at Lisa@KTharpDesign.com.

All photos:  Kauffman Tharp Design
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