Styleture

With summer upon us people will be taking advantage of the friendly climate to spend more time outdoors: hosting parties, dinners, and other social events. This means you will want to have plenty of light for your back yard or patio, lest people be standing around in the dark. At the same time, you won’t want to rack up a huge electric bill in the process.

We came across an eco-friendly and stylish solution. These cool looking Vazon Magnum translucent planters by Rotoluxe are made for indoor or outdoor use and use low watt CFL/LED lighting to give off an ambient glow. You can use them to hold your outdoor plants and place them throughout your back yard. They serve as great night lights and accent pieces.

The planters can be powered via standard wall plug or by rechargeable battery (LED lights lasting 8-10 hours). There’s also an assortment of modifications available for your planter, including speakers, outdoor draining system or fabric. Best of all, they are made of 100% recycled plastics and the low wattage will keep your energy costs to a minimum.

Find more information about the Vazon Magnum planter at www.rotoluxe.com

Vazon Magnum Translucent Planter

Spring has officially sprung (unless you live in Colorado where they got over a foot of snow yesterday!), which has many of us looking to improve our outdoor spaces for the coming summer months. Those of you with a green thumb may have already dug your hands into the semi-frozen earth, trying to get an early start on getting your bulbs in the ground, but for others outdoor living might take a new, innovative and imaginative approach after seeing these amazing outdoor designs. Click any image for a larger version:
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Chaise Lounge by Stone Forest

Stone Forest – Chaise Lounge by Stone Forest
Carved from one piece of rare silver gray Italian marble, the Chaise Lounge by Stone Forest  is more sculpture than lawn furniture. Web-like inclusions run contrary to the horizontal veining inherent in the stone, giving the Chaise Lounge a spirit that those who appreciate stone and marble have come to expect. When used indoors, it absorbs the ambient room temperature, and when used outdoors it will absorb only enough sun to warm you and cradle you in its sensuous, flowing form.

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Over the past few years Man Caves have been becoming more and more popular. If you don’t know already, Man Caves are places designed for the married man or family man as a place to have their space, decor and design. A Man Cave can be found in an addition, basement or even in a garage and have a number of styles whether it be the simple garage with a mini bar and T.V. or an elaborate basement redesign with all the amenities such as a pool table, dart board and full size bar. Here are a few things you can use to take your Man Cave to the next level this winter.

Clock / Aquarium:

Fishtank Clock

This Vertical Fish Tank II available on Opulent Items is a cool take on a modern design of a clock plus a place to keep your fish in your man cave.

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A kitchen cabinet collection that lowers the carbon footprint, while delivering high style and cutting-edge technology.

ALNO® has introduced a new kitchen cabinet collection that brings new meaning to the word class. The revolutionary ALNOCLASS boasts modern technology, minimalist details and eco-friendly materials. The door fronts are constructed of 100 percent sustainable oak from FSC-certified forests. The collection is available in light wild oak and dark brown carbon oak, and its matte lacquer finish is free of VOCs. Those looking to spice it up a bit can add a mobile niche unit. ALNO’s mobile, multifunctional niche units keep all of the most important kitchen utensils within arm’s reach. The best part is that the glass cover, which is used to conceal the components when not in use, can be outfitted with one’s choice of colored LED light fittings.

ALNO’s GREEN MISSION: For over 20 years, ALNO has been using non-toxic paints and lacquers, free from heavy metals and low in emissions. ALNO products are manufactured using recycled and regenerated wood from certified resources as well as the continued use of non-toxic laminates, aluminum, glass and technical veneers. ALNO only uses lumber, veneers and wood panels from sustainable forests. The factory also adheres to a “Zero Waste” resource management system, whereby all waste is either reconstituted into new materials or used as fuel to heat the factory.  www.alnousa.com

Click any image for a larger version:

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Stone Forest has been commissioned by Mesa Design to create the massive outdoor water feature for this luxury urban center in the Dallas Arts District. Anchoring the eastern edge of downtown Dallas, the 24-story One Arts Plaza is a defining presence as the tallest building in the expanding Dallas Arts District. One of the most intriguing architectural features of One Arts Plaza, which houses luxury residences, restaurants and commercial space, is its stunning outdoor water feature.

Stone Forest Feature

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French Rosette Fountain

Antique columns and urns, wrought iron railings, topiaries and finials are just a few of the pieces that lend age to a new garden. However, to really complete the look – every traditional English garden, Spanish courtyard and French Villa needs a fountain as its focal point.

Stone Forest’s Old World Collection features several vintage-style fountains which provide the perfect accent to everything from the Victorian to the English Manor. These are the type of fountains best used amongst formal terraces and layered hedges to create an established, romantic and radiant outdoor setting.

Provencal Fountain

Stone Forest’s Provencal Fountain is typical of an 18th Century watering trough and adds stately elegance and ambiance to any outdoor space. It is available in two pieces at 36” tall or in three pieces at 60” tall. For larger outdoor areas, their French Rosette Fountain is hand carved from solid rose granite and is made up of 12 separate pieces of granite, which should be assembled and joined by a stone epoxy. Other fountains in their Old World Collection include the Alpine Planter and classic Three Tier Fountain with pool surround.

Three Tier Fountain

Stone Forest uses natural materials to create items that evoke the feeling and tranquility of the outdoors. The company offers collections for the landscape, garden, kitchen and bath. All Stone Forest products are made using a form of a natural element, such as granite, copper, bronze, onyx, marble or iron. By using a hammer and chisel, the individual character of the rock, as well as the inspiration of the stonecutter, lend each sculpture a unique quality. Stone Forest’s collections are the perfect addition to enhance residential, hospitality and commercial properties.

Seagram Building

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is regarded as one of the leading pioneers of Modern Architecture. He lived between 1886-1969  and during that time his designs encompassed urban and corporate buildings around the world, as well as private residences, educational institutions and even chairs that are extremely popular and still considered designer pieces of furniture.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe began his career working in his father’s stone masonry business. He went on to practice architecture in Berlin where he was an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens, and later he served as the last director of the famous Bauhaus school. In Germany he built the Friedrichstraße skyscraper in 1921, which at the time was the first structure of its kind, designed entirely from steel and glass. (Picture of the Friedrichstraße skyscraper ).

Mies went on to construct the Barcelona Pavilion and the Villa Tugendhat (1929 & 1930) which were also constructed of glass and steel. These works inspired the style that was adopted by corporate and residential buildings in the United States. Some of these buildings included the Seagram Corporation building in New York City which in turn inspired other corporations in New York and other cities to adopt this modern style, the Lake Shore Drive Apartments in Chicago which is a set of  towers dubbed the world’s first all-glass-and-steel apartment building, and a number of private residences such as the famous Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois).

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Sienna Benches

An indispensable element for enjoying the garden on a particularly splendid day, the garden bench has been given an extra dose of style. Now in an array of different designs and intriguing natural materials like basalt, travertine and even sustainable hardwood – a good bench can transform any area from drab to fab. Here are a few benches from boutique design studio Stone Forest:

The contemporary Sienna Bench in silver or beige travertine are slabs cut from large masses of natural stone with a clean and contemporary Italian style. The integrity of travertine gives Stone Forest carvings a radiant mass or presence not realized using man-made materials such as cement or cast stone.

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The new Wabi Oil Lamps by Stone Forest are very stylish outdoor lamps, and they won’t break the bank! At $59 each, these solid granite lamps feature a removable top and hollow interior for oil. These oil lamps are perfect for around the pool, patio, pond or waterfall, or even strategically placed around your home. Click the image to see a larger version.

Stone Forest has been creating contemporary elements for the kitchen, bath and landscape using natural materials since 1989. Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico the boutique company has a unique understanding of the tolerances of different stones and precious materials. All of their architectural designs are sculpted from an organic source such as limestone, marble, bamboo, copper and onyx. Stone Forest’s collections include an extensive selection of vessel and pedestal sinks, bathtubs, furniture, fountains and outdoor sculptures. Raw stones are obtained from quarries located around the world, in countries such as Italy, Spain, Norway and Brazil. Stone Forest’s products express the beauty of nature because they are made from materials from the earth and are not manipulated by machine. The absence of machines and minimal use of chemicals in the crafting process ensures that no harmful emissions are released into the atmosphere. Stone Forest has won numerous awards including the Good Design Award and Interior Design magazine’s Best of Year Award.

We see more and more green designs these days, despite the fact that sustainability is not necessarily a new trend in Architecture and Interior Design. This has produced even more amazing designs that are completely sustainable and LEED Certified, much like the Founding Farmers restaurant we wrote about last week. Here are just a few of our favorites that we’ve seen this year.

Recycled Cardboard Office: Photography by Joachim Baan.

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