Wood Countertops Add Warmth and Natural Beauty to any Kitchen

Butcher block and wood countertops have evolved to include a variety of looks and materials, yet still offer a timeless look in either traditional or contemporary styled kitchens, as well as in bathrooms.  To keep it eco-friendly, choose from reclaimed woods, FSC-certified woods, Kirei board (made from sorghum straw waste) or bamboo. Benefits of wood [...]

Today’s Low Flow Toilets Add Style and Water-Efficiency to the Bathroom

Looking for low-flow, but high performance from your toilet?  The stylish high-efficiency toilets on the market now are sure to make your bathroom remodel, or selection of fixtures for a new home, more sustainable. It’s important to conserve water considering we flush about 30% of a household’s potable water down the toilet!  Replacing an old [...]

Eco-friendly Tile Options

Whether you’re renovating an old house or upgrading in new construction, there are many options for new green flooring and wall tile.  A wide variety of shapes, sizes and styles, from traditional to contemporary, are available. Tile not only adds value to your home, but it is long-lasting, easy-to-clean and attractive.  Plus, tile can be [...]

Locally Quarried Stone Countertops

Natural stone countertops certainly add a luxurious feel to any kitchen or bathroom.  In addition to their beauty, they are also very durable and long-lasting.  Natural stone, when sealed with low VOC finishes, add to good indoor air quality and low maintenance needs. Most stone is imported, adding to the environmental impact, but I’ve found [...]

Eco-Chic Bathroom Upgrades, Part II

If you have an outdated or water-wasting bathroom, this series of posts is for you.  In Part One, I focused on the bigger ticket items, such as cabinetry and flooring.  In this post, I’ll talk about the finishing touches and some must-haves for any eco-friendly renovation.  The following suggestions work well whether you’re creating a [...]

Eco-Chic Bathroom Upgrades

Planning a bathroom remodel to transform your tired, old space into a sustainable serene spa?  Today’s marketplace has just about everything you need to create an eco-friendly, luxurious lavatory, from design details to construction components.  In this post, I’ll concentrate on the latter, with a future post focusing on the finishing touches. Please donate usable [...]

Green Kitchen and Bath Makeovers, Part V

This part of my series on eco-friendly makeovers, I’ll focus on another substantial element in any kitchen or bathroom:  cabinetry.  Whether you’re looking for something sleek and streamlined, or cabinets with a traditional flair, the green options available today will modernize and beautify these much-used rooms.

Green Kitchen and Bath Makeovers, Part IV

So far, I’ve written about easy green makeover ideas, energy- and water-saving tips, and eco-friendly countertop options. In this post, we’ll explore the ever-growing choices for stylish and functional flooring in the kitchen and/or bathroom.  Can you guess which type of flooring is shown here?  Wood?  Cork?  Linoleum?  Tile?

Green Kitchen and Bath Makeovers, Part III

If you’re looking for a quick fix to spruce up your kitchen or bath, check out my previous post, Part I of this series.  For information on saving energy and water with new appliances and cool gadgets, click here to see Part II.  In the remaining posts for this series, I’ll delve into options for [...]

Green Kitchen and Bath Makeovers, Part II

In part I of my series on eco-friendly kitchen and bath makeovers, I focused on easy and inexpensive ways to update these much lived-in rooms.  In the next few posts, you’ll find helpful information for those of you who need to undertake more substantial improvements.  Here, I’ll focus on the important aspects of saving energy [...]

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