Let's Give It Up for Shaw!!!!!! *clap clap clap*

We want to make Shaw your new best friend, just like you are our new best friend :D Shaw does amazing things for the environment, and since we know you love it like your own child, we thought you might be interested to know that Shaw does too. Now, where to begin.... To help us stay on track we're going to focus on carpeting. Have no fear, we won't be trying to sell you straw carpeting! No, no this carpeting is pretty, soft, and has s-t-y-l-e...style. How about sustainability? Well, Shaw uses a great little method called cradle-to-cradle meaning they take used products, make them into pretty carpet products, recycle it, and use it all over again. It goes round and round! Most place however use a yucky cradle-to-grave method where they take down poor trees to make materials and then throw out whatever is left over. Poor little wasted green buddies... If we haven't convinced you yet that Shaw's a great guy, then how about this, he's going to do your recycling FOR YOU!!! Yep! Once you've ripped that shag carpeting up from your disco days, you can drop it off at any one of Shaw's carpet collection spots. This includes one in Columbus! Well we could just go on and on and on and on...and on about Shaw, but you should just check him out for yourself:

http://www.shawfloors.com/CMS/.aspx?DN=1311,1307,4,Documents

If you want to know how you can get some of this great "foot warmer" for your floor, hit us up and we'll hook you up!

Hey! You! Put a cork in it!

You ever walking around your house and think "Gee, I really need to remember to do XYZ, I wish I could make a note and pin it to the floor." Well, this is kinda like that, but not really at all. It's cork, on the floor, in fact, it is the floor!! Cork flooring is so awesome even Frank Lloyd Wright used it in his houses! He used this stuff all over the place. He used it for the floors, the walls, even IN the bathroom. If it's in the bathroom, you know what that means? It's water proof! You can even have it in the kitchen and drop dishes on it without them breaking. You can put it in the kids room, let them romp around on it with the dog, no problem. It's softer then tile but hard enough to handle high heels. This stuff even feels warm during those cold winter mornings! Best of all, it has a super low impact on the environment!! With sustainable harvesting and near zero by product waste, it's the perfect flooring for those feeling boring. It even comes in nifty colors/patterns/designs like burnt orange, ocean blue, whiskey brown, emerald green and much more! Have we reeled you in yet? Message us and we'll point you in the right direction.

Whoa...whoa... What's with all the Snow?

Where have you been all our life?!? So, we took a bit of a break. We're sorry!! Can you forgive us... Our blogger (namely myself) was off galavanting in far away lands. No fear though my lovelies, I am back with vengeance! I promise to tell you if it's ever going to happen again.

So, "the time has come the walrus said, to talk of many things..." Let's talk of summer nights and pretty lights and whatever that path brings. We know it feels like the sun may never show it's bright, shiny, orbital head again, but just as the world turns, so do seasons change. As spring and then soon summer start to poke their heads, we start to remember what it feels like to be warm in both our hearts and in our fingers and toes. As we think of those warm summer nights spent in the back yard with the kids running around, hot dogs and marshmallows sprawled about, what a better way to remember these moments then by seeing it! This is where these totally awesome and totally blue sky friendly, sun bricks come in. These guys will lead you not only up your driveway (because they're so sturdy they can hold the weight of your car), but also lead you down the path to those giggly kiddies with chocolate in their hair. By using solar power, these golden bricks can light up your night for up to 8 hours of fun! They're also easy to instal with the ol' switch a roo with your ordinary bricks. So Dorothy, if we've got your attention, message us and we'll help you make your own yellow brick road!

Let's talk dirty...

Dirt dirty, not that kind of dirty. Gees. You know how we've learned that mulch = making your garden look neat and pretty? Well let's keep doing that, but let's add color and awesomeness! A company called EviroGLAS makes this awesome glass mulch! Can you believe it?! Instead of chopping down more trees they figured, why not use recycled glass? The glass comes from bottles, mirrors, and windows. They also have solid white made of porcelain which comes from recycled toilet bowls. Glasses and porcelain actually makes more sense then mulch anyways as far as water distribution goes. Since glass is well, glass, it doesn't soak up water the way mulch does. Therefore, the water goes to where it needs to go, to the plants. If you're excited like we are about this, email us and we'll let you know how you too can have a blue garden!

Babies....

it's cold outside! We know, we know, but we hardly had a summer! We're just as bummed about that as you. But! We won't let this slow us down. Time to strap on our bunny slippers, throw some tea in the kettle, and get ready for what's to come. While preparing for the winter you might be thinking about reinsulating or even first time insulating. Well, no more using that pink, fiber glass, bad for you and the environment non-sense that everyone seems to think is the only option. There are in fact other options out there! Great ones! Exhibit A, Bounded Logic. Bounded Logic is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) approved, which is a voluntary national green building standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. Their insulation is made of cotton, it's fire/smoke/mold/corrosion resistant, there's no harmful chemicals to work with (Heck, it's so safe they have kids hugging it on the packaging! See for yourself above!) and of course it works just as well as the pink stuff as far as insulation goes. So, check these guys out or ask us about helping you line your attic with some awesome cotton for the ceiling to wear.

Flush, Flush Brush, Brush

What's all the fuss? Bathrooms, that's what. Here's how you can make the home of your porcelain goddess, green. Speaking of which, let's start there. You ever sit there, doing your business and think "Gee, I bet there's gotta be a way to make a toilet without water, that doesn't smell, and maybe I could even use the out come in my garden." Ha Ha! Alas! There is! Sun-Mar makes a composting toilet that does just that, no water, no smell and the remains become compost for the garden!

What of sinks? Gore Design Co makes some crafty and earth friendly sinks that we'd be honored to call our own. Not only do they not use plastic, use a water based concealer, they cut down their need for new materials, and much more, but they also come in designs like we've never seen before! You can check them out above.

And shower heads? Shower heads come with a low flow option now too. Delta makes a great one called Fluidics H2OKinetics that lets you choose to low flow or not. From reviews we hear you can't tell the difference. So why not save some water, your hair won't mind, we promise.

So, there's a taste of some ways to design your bathroom with the you and the planet in mind. Have some ideas of your own? Let us know! Want more ideas? Let us know!

Sliding panels with a Punch!

Check these out! These panels are some of the coolest kids we know! They come in unique shapes, patterns, colors, and sizes. And of course, *dund didd dund!!*, it's made from recycled materials! They also come as sliding walls or doors! There are three types of recycled products that you can get in a sliding form. Varia, Chroma and 100 Percent are our three green players. Varia and Chroma are both made of 40% post-consumer recycled materials and 100 Percent is, you guessed it, made of 100% pre-consumer recycled materials. Not only that but 3Form, the geniuses that make these products, are on their way to zero materials (zero, zilch, none, nada, you heard it right) going to landfills, and they are doing amazing things to be energy efficient. For example, they car-pool or bike, have incentives for the employees who use hybrid vehicles, use renewable energy sources, and more. Swoon...our heros... If you want to hear more about 3Form or you would like to see some 3Form in your home, contact us and we'll help you get there.

Dollars-for-Dishware.

Dollars-for-dishware is the new Cash-for-clunkers! Cash-for-clunkers was such a success, the government thought they'd throw a bone to the appliance companies such as Whirlpool, Electrolux, and General Electric to name a few. The bill is new and little is known thus far about it, but no worries, more info is coming out Oct. 15th. What we do know is the following:

• It must be a high-efficiency household appliances, furnaces and air-conditioning systems
• Congress authorized $300 million for the program earlier this year as part of the federal economic-stimulus bill.
• Appliances covered by the program include dishwashers, washing machines and refrigerators. They must carry Energy Star ratings, to show they meet energy-efficiency standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy.
• Best part, you don't have to trade in your old appliances, unlike the cash-for-clunkers program!

Well, that's all she wrote for now because, well, that's all we know. When more comes out we'll be sure and give you the heads up on what's up.

All that noise, noise noise!!

Love your home entertainment sounds system, but not exactly egger to hear Jurassic Park being played at full volume while you're reading in the study? Guess what...we have a secret.... Gather 'round children as we tell of wallpaper that is sound proof. Gasp! Can it be?? Yes, yes it can and it is!! This stuff is super thick, comes in five textures, AND can be painted over. No more "HEY KIDS, CAN YOU TURN THAT DOWN, I CAN HARDLY HEAR MYSELF THINK!" Just you time. It's called Sempatech and it's made by our buddies Roos. You know them, those cool guys that make the glass, eco-friendly wallpaper. Same dudes. Email us for further info on how you line some walls with this little wonder.

Mmm...Pizza, pizza!!

Shoooot, you're gonna wish you were in the Cleveland area after we tell you this (Heck, maybe you even are!) September 12th & 13th here at Villa we're giving away a patio pizza oven!! You can come hang out with us and meet us/me the lady behind the curtain. You'll find us here Saturday from 10-6pm and Sunday from 12-5pm. Bring the kids, bring your partners, and bring your hungry bellies because we're going to have pizza up the wazoo all for you! If lady luck is on your side, she's going to grant you with a free outdoor pizza oven. You enter, we hope you win! Remember we're located at:

30152 Detroit Rd.

Westlake,OH 44145