Reading the paper this morning at a leisurely, slow pace, there seemed to be a subliminal message to slow down and savor the moment.
Marni Jameson‘s piece was about the slow movement in design. She contacted Eric Storm and Beth Meredith who are slow life designers and originators of CreateTheGoodLife.org. And what did I see when I visited their site? A beautiful Blue Morpho butterfly just like the one we use on Casart Coverings’ web site.
Slow Design differs from conventional design in several ways. The most notable difference is that it shifts the focus away from design for function or novelty to design for the well being of people and the planet. Their summation of slow design is to take your time decorating, buy locally, be natural, focus on function, seek simple solutions, make your home reflect who you are, and don’t wait until it’s finished to love it. “It’s not just about slowing down, it’s about living more simply, creating systems that reduce the clutter in your life, and decorating thoughtfully and with purpose,” they advised. Marni, who has a great sense of humor, then asked, “So if I create a slower home, will I be able to get more done–faster?” I think incorporating the use of Casart removable wallcovering in your design plans surely fits the concept of slow design as it affords thoughtful, less complicated, purposeful decorating.
Next was an article about a couple who built a practically maintenance-free wrap-around front porch made mostly from recycled materials.
The floorboards look like weathered wood but are made from recycled milk jugs. The railing spindles are a composite. The columns are fiberglass and the post tops are metal. The shutters are aluminum. But, the rockers are made of wood. The owner says, “It’s more like an escape. I sit out here and listen to music, and you can be anywhere you want to be-the beach-anywhere.” Surely, that’s slow design!
Finally, a small article touted burning man-made logs, which are cleaner to burn and simpler to use. Duraflame, which I’ve used on rare occasions when it was too cold to lug in firewood, has a new log, Gold, that burns for 4 hours. The company says their logs are made from renewable resources and burn 80% cleaner than wood. Another new product is Enviro-Log which is made from 100% recycled waxed cardboard. It weighs 5 lbs. and burns cleaner and hotter than wood for 3 hours. The company enables grocery and retail stores to divert their used waxed-cardboard from landfills for conversion into clean-burning fire logs. That sounds like a good thing to me. Now all I have to do is curl up with a good book. Slow living!
– Lorre Lei
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