Green Design: Cardboard Furniture

Those who consider themselves environmentally conscious will already be in the practice of separating recycling from trash. While glass, plastic and paper waste is being sorted, boxes and cardboard are forgotten and trashed along with regular waste.

Cardboard is not waste, in fact, it is just as valuable as wood. This is evident in the work created by Les Cartonnistes. They are a collective of French furniture makers that admirably recycle cardboard into beautiful furniture and decorative pieces. Applying their imagination, they skillfully convince simple cardboard pieces to align and support and evolve into functional design.


Image Source: www.lescartonnistesassocies.com

The designers at Green Lullaby are another eco-conscious group. Their child-sized creations, featured on Low Impact Living, are made of cardboard and completely bio-degradable. The use of cardboard for children's furniture and play pieces is a smart alternative to wooden items since a child quickly outgrows his or her cradle, desk or dollhouse.


Image Source: www.babyology.com

Production of cardboard furniture does not have to be solely a professional endeavor. There are plenty of resources and YouTube videos to instruct the crafty person in simple cardboard construction. All those Amazon cardboard boxes could easily become your new eco-friendly lap desk. Reconsider recycling cardboard.

Bio Architecture: Designing with Nature in Mind

Several decades ago, a few creative thinkers started redefining the traditional idea of home. From coast to coast, people started looking at their environment and began building with hot eco trends. Hawaii’s famous Onion House is one popular example of a creative idea, now a national landmark and a beautiful testimonial to shift toward bio-architecture. Designed in tune with the curves of an onion, with a layered feel that mirrors the lucid skins of an onion, the house is a beautiful demonstration of the possibilities when nature if design icon.

Further down south in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, the Shell House takes the idea literally by designing a house that looks like a magnified shell. Senosian Arquitectos has the same idea with their design called “The Nautilus”. This Mexico-based design firm went beyond a shell exterior and designed an entire home patterned after a shell with a winding organic interior.
Nature is the Best Designer

A student of the world’s best designer, bio-architecture seeks to emulate the principles in naturally occurring constructions. In studying the natural principles of the most long-held designs, this form of aesthetic design looks at fundamental shapes in nature – the most recognizable being the seashell.

The seashell is the best representation of a math-centric natural element that shows why nature is the best designer. Encompassing the Fibonacci Sequence, or “the Golden Ratio”, a seashell shows perfection in proportion that has been the foundation for some of the greatest designs, including the Parthenon, and by some of the greatest minds, including Leonardo Da Vinci. The pattern has also been replicated in some of the world’s most cherished poetry by regulating rhyme and meters, as well as in music, such as Beethoven’s Fifth and many of Mozart’s sonatas.

The term “bio-architecture” is also often referred to as “organic architecture”, a thinking that has gained popularity with the rise in eco-awareness. A shift toward green thinking took bio-architecture a step further and had creative-minded people thinking of how building could merge with the environment as well as reflect it.

Working with the Environment

Bio-architecture can not only emulate natural designs, but can also become a part of natural constructions. Rather than create jarring buildings jutting out of plains, this type of architecture looks to emerge as a part of natural settings such as mountains, caves, and wooded areas, as well as present a home that uses resources wisely by cutting utility costs.

Even though these newer designs are based on older shifts toward innovative thinking, the earliest and most architecturally stunning design is still the pyramid. First built in 2700 BCE, pyramids reflect that most natural and easily recognizable natural element, the sun, by building a structure that represents the descending rays of light. These ancient structures are still being replicated today with the Louvre and Kazakhstan’s Palace of Peace and Reconciliation.

How to Set up the Perfect Home Office

Though the benefits of working from your home include not having to deal with rigid schedules, commutes and irritating co-workers, we do still have our share of drawbacks. Those of us working from home have our own set of challenges to deal with, including unwanted visitors, family intrusions and carving out your own little niche that lets you separate your home life from your work life.

This is possibly where the biggest challenge comes in. If you’re working from home and have a family, how do you set aside a personal space that help you focus and also set up clear boundaries for family members who often have a difficult time disassociating the work you from the home you.

Everyone is different; your environment and available resources are different. Depending on what you have to work with, and what your preferences are, there are likely quite a few good home office options to get you well on your way to a productive new year.

The Budget Office

If you’re main concern is cost, then chances are you’re also highly business minded and want quick effective steps to get you started on the bigger job at hand. For a budget office, begin with what you have. Look for a sturdy work table, a comfy chair, lighting and a quite nook. If you’re starting your office from scratch, then consider:

• Buying used furniture – Many cities have liquidation, overstock.com, or warehouse sales, where the listed price is lower and you have the option of haggling with them for a lower price. You can also use Craigslist’s “free” section to see if anyone is giving away any furniture, requiring you to only go and pick it up.

• Buy a refurbished laptop – Look around Craigslist, ask your local electronic dealer for this type of deal, or call up the manufacturer directly asking if they have a special offer for refurbished computers.

• Purchase all-in-one – instead of buying a separate scanner, printer, copier, and fax, try purchasing an all-in-one unit. It might be slightly pricier as a whole unit, but you will definitely be saving by not having to buy individual units, nor dealing with the cost of multiple ink cartridges. You’ll also save a little on electricity since you’ll only be using one outlet rather than four different ones.

Budget office ideas are also great for those who have smaller spaces to work with, since they’re looking for quick space-saving economical choices - great for East Coast homes where space is often an issue.

The Kid-Friendly Office

If you’ve got little rug rats running around, then you have a whole different set of concerns when it comes to your home office. Here are some ideas of how you should go about setting up your space:

• Be Boring – There’s nothing kids of any age love more than to satisfy their curiosity, and there’s nothing that interests them more than clutter, cuteness and lots of interesting colors and shapes. Keeping your workspace boring helps keeps them disinterested.

• Setting up a Mini-Me Station – Kids love to be like you, so setting up a little work desk of their own in the same room as yours will give them a sense of pride and belonging. Plus they’ll be too busy with their own desk to be puttering around yours. This little trick also helps you keep an eye on them while you’re working.


The Shed Office

One of the biggest problems in setting up a home office is a lack of space. If this is your problem, then considering having an outdoor office. An outdoor office is a great alternative that lets you work from home but have a completely separate, private area in which to work out of.

The easiest way to set up an outdoor office is to follow these steps:

• Unit – Purchase a outdoor shed from home improvement warehouses such as Home Depot or Lowe’s.

• Insulation – Add dry wall and wood flooring to insulate it, this is particularly important if you’re in a colder climate.

• Cost – The total costs can run anywhere from two to six thousand, depending on the quality of the shed, the level of insulation, and wiring work. However, even the higher end cost is still far cheaper than building an addition, dealing with zoning/construction permits, or striving to maintain your sanity with a make shift in-house office.

Alternative to the outdoor office include setting up a garage office. If you do opt for this choice or even if you’re in a shed, then you should likely think about the ozone air quality of your work area.