Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! I fully embrace the idea of upcycling - taking existing materials generally deemed as worthless and giving them new life. I love the movement that is in full swing right now that seeks to reimagine things in a new context. So I thought I would celebrate Earth Day by showing some of my favorite recent appreciations.

First, a fantastic window dressing that Anthropologie near Rockefeller Center had displayed a few months ago. Back in February spring seemed far, far away but thankfully it has arrived here in New York. These great fixtures are made from colorful bits of plastic and arranged to appear like a flowering plant.

They remind me of the junk chandeliers I saw all over Europe last summer. Stuart Haygarth created the most well-known of these types with his Tide piece back in 2004, which was created from material that showed up on the beach near his home in England. He also made a chandelier made completely of eyeglasses.
These are great DIY projects that can make use of junk around the house or pretty much any item you can get your hands on. I love this one that was shown at the Stockholm Design fair a few years back.

The display at Anthropogie also featured a chair made out of an old radiator and trees with roots made of large plastic bottles filled with soil.

The former chairman of the Dutch Architects Union, Wassenaar Kees van der Hoeven, is creating a living space out of a shipping container with a flower pot facade. I saw this flower pot thing done in a few magazines a while back, but I think it is such a great design element.


It was featured on Superuse, a mecca for all things upcycled. The site inspires so many amazing projects I don't even know where to start.

So go... be inspired!