This years Avant Garde object competition inspired Live Eco to explore the world of sustainable interior design. All over the world new ideas are blooming to encourage eco smart household choices. In Holland, Piet Hein Eek has turned scrap wood into trendy wallpaper, and in Indonesia the company Cocomosaic has designed exotic coconut tiles.
Piet Hein Eek and his wife Jeanine combined their skills and interests to create pragmatic decorative household pieces. It began with designing cabinets and has grown into an unique design business. Piet Hein Eek’s work is an endeavor involving new thinking, craftsmanship, and experimentation. He is using the common living objects as a way to tell a story, a story about enjoyment, life, and usefulness. The suspense of the unknown drives Peit Hein to explore new alternatives. Instead of discarding old household pipes he took them and upcycled them into what he calls the Tube Chair. He also uses old construction beams as benches. But what has won Peit Hein Eek the 2011 International Contemporary Furniture Fair is his Scrapwood Wallpaper. His expertise and interest in salvaging wood allowed Piet to design a wallpaper which carries with it a sense of rustic trend. The mimic wood affect is created by a hi-res washable, FSC-certified faux-wood wallpaper. Take a look at the six different distressed styles on Piet’s website here.
The same ambitious desire to experiment with sustainable interior design occurred in Indonesia when scraps of coconut shells were taken and turned into stylish tiles. The coconut tree has many purposes and uses; however, it is common for the coconut shell to be discarded and wasted. To limit the amount of discarded shells communities and groups of people started to collect the shells. They are then cut into small perfectly size squares. They can be glued to a range of surfaces and add a lightweight texture to any room. The hand-crafted tiles represent a collective innovation, which has opened a facility providing employment. This type of thinking is what our world needs, it is about thinking innovatively, sustainably and resourcefully. The bonus in doing so is both the environment and humans benefit directly and indirectly. Cocomosaic’s tiles are eye catching and worthy of being a household centerpiece.
Piet Hein Eek and Cocomosaic are inspiring businesses because they remind us all of how important it is to be resourceful and creative when designing new interior ideas. So before you and a loved one begin modeling your home, search the web for new design ideas, which reuse and upcycle common materials to bring a fresh individual look to your home.
Image via here
