MNN - Mother Nature Network

I’ve just returned (somewhat begrudgingly) to Brooklyn from the always alluring city of Los Angeles and I must admit that reviewing the stacks of brochures, dozens of photos, and pages of notes that I amassed at this year’s Dwell on Design conference is a daunting task. Where in the world do I begin with my coverage of the West Coast's biggest modern design event? The high-end toilets? The luxury chicken coops? The Tord Boontje-designed HP mini-notebooks? The stylish bench/hammock/planter combo?

Back by popular demand for a third year with a new design team — save for ecofabulous founder, William McDonough protégé, and enthusiastic eco-cheerleader, Zem Joaquin, — and a focus on innovation instead of reuse, Dwell describes this year's green show home, a 520-square foot prefab, as being “a fully-appointed residence that epitomizes aspirational sustainable living.” In other words, the Modern Living Showhouse is an envy-inducing abode filled with (mostly) expensive eco-items, some of them furnished by corporate sponsors (in this case, Electrolux ICON and two Safeway-owned entities, O Organics, and Bright Green cleaning products).

Joaquin, who treated me and a few other journalists to an intimate tour of the home, did a bang-up job curating the interior, making the potentially cramped space feel warm, welcoming, and even spacious (the high ceilings helped) while managing to thoughtfully incorporate a whole lot of green goodies including — and certainly not limited to — Coyuchi organic cotton bedding and bath linens, MechoShade shadecloths, high-end sustainable and repurposed furnishings from H.D. Buttercup and Cisco Home, homegoods from eco-fashion superstar Linda Loudermilk, and various vintage finds.

The home’s space-saving centerpiece and a personal highlight for me in the Neil Kelly-created room was the freestanding media center — made of Plyboo, a bamboo-based plywood — that provides ample storage space while also acting as a room divider between the living and sleeping areas. Although I didn’t love everything that Joaquin went with, the home, for the most part, felt just right and only slightly gimmick/ in-your-face product placement-y. This isn't exactly an easy task to pull off, so a big kudos to the teams at ecofabulous and pieceHomes.