Archive for the ‘Design’ Category

Niche products for your home

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

I have just found another store that I can’t help but love in London (sorry for all of you who live outside the capital!).

Niche in Kensal Rise is a treasure trove of antique and vintage finds. They have a wide variety of products from lovely antique jewellery to antique globes, which are mostly sourced from within the UK. Niche also sells a range of French and English furniture dating from the Victorian era to the 1950s. I could really spend all day searching the store!

Owning a product which has a history always makes it so much more unique and it’s always good to ‘re-use’ wherever possible!

If you are in the area and fancy stocking up on vintage signs or 1950s kitchenware, then be sure to pop by! There’s always something interesting to see.
Niche, 70 Chamberlayne Road, London NW10 3JJ

Posted in Design, Eco Home | No Comments »

Architect in your house?

Thursday, June 4th, 2009


With the housing market in turmoil, increasing numbers of people are choosing to stay put and make the most of the space they’re in. But home improvement means more than just a lick of paint. Why not talk to an architect, and you could improve not just your home, but your quality of life, too.

Architect in the House, in partnership with the NHBC, is an innovative scheme that matches homeowners with an RIBA chartered architect who gives up an hour of their time for a design consultation. In exchange, the homeowner makes a suggested minimum donation of £40 to Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity.

To sign up to Architect in the House and help support Shelter, click here
I have signed up and will hear back from RIBA by July 1st when our consultation will be… I will keep you posted!

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New plant pockets!

Friday, May 8th, 2009

It’s definitely novel and unique! Made from recycled materials, Maruja Fuentes’ green pockets provide a new angle for adding plants to your home.” Spotted at the 2009 Milan Furniture Fair, the super-cool ceramic tiles attach to any wall to create the illusion that whatever’s inside—herbs, plants, a flower or two—is growing directly out of a room’s surface

Biome Lifestyle thinks this is a great way to add greenery to your room!

Posted in Design | 2 Comments »

Biome Lifestyle’s student design competition!

Friday, March 20th, 2009

Biome Lifestyle is delighted (and very excited!) to announce the launch of the Biome Lifestyle Product Design Competition 2009. Biome Lifestyle is keen to recognise and support young creative talent that is focused on sustainable design. This is the first year of the competition, which aims to unite the three foundations of Biome Lifestyle: good design, great style and strong ethics.

This competition aims to find a winning product design for Christmas 2009. The product
design needs to retain a Christmas theme or a Christmas use, with the winning design being
produced and sold on the Biome Lifestyle website from October 2009. The competition winner will receive a commission based on the sales of their product, calculated on a monthly basis. Biome will organise and pay for the manufacture of the winning entry, which will be assessed on its eco-credentials and made either in the UK or by co-operatives in Nepal, Vietnam or India. Products made outside the UK will be manufactured using sustainable materials including felt, bamboo and organic cotton.

The competition is open to students over the age of 16, and the closing date for entries is 1 May.

A winner will be chosen on 11 May, and the product will go sale in the run-up to Christmas.
Contact alexandra@biomelifestyle.com for more information or to enter.

Best of luck!

Posted in Biome Lifestyle, Design | No Comments »

Green & Gorgeous wallpaper

Friday, February 27th, 2009

Biome Lifestyle launched six beautiful eco-friendly wallpaper designs this week.
The wallpaper is printed on paper made from 100% FSC timber sources using purely water based inks for printing, with no harmful VOC’s or solvents. Each design is available in various colours so you are sure to find one you adore.

Green and gorgeous, what could be better!

Posted in Biome Lifestyle, Design | 1 Comment »

Supporting Social Enterprises

Friday, November 14th, 2008
Biome Lifestyle have recently been working closely with a small social enterprise in Nepal.

FHC in Nepal was established in 2003 by two female entrepreneurs who committed themselves to helping many poor,vulnerable and socially excluded women through building their skills and providing vital opportunities to enhance their economic status.

After 5 years, the enterprise has provided space to enhance economic opportunity to 78 women working on a daily basis and has 8 permanent staff paid on a monthly basis.

The enterprise specialises in making products from felt. Such as Biome’s fantastic Christmas Advent Calendars:

They hand produce their own chemical free felt from just hand soap and hot water. And then hand sew each decoration together and place it on a string ready for you to discover in December.
Their principles are as follows:

* Provide fare wages

* Provide employment to poor, vulnerable and socially excluded women

* Provide a friendly working environment

* Promote transparency and good governance

* Promote social inclusion

Biome are thrilled to be working with the enterprise – not only do they produce a high standard of work but it’s great to know that every order we make is helping to benefit the lives of others. That’s the way it should be!

Posted in Biome Lifestyle, Design, Fair-trade news | No Comments »

Truly Unique Bags

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

Wandering around the Internet recently I came across a fantastic bag shop, www.eco-handbags.ca. Their philosophy is “offering the conscientious consumer, chic, unique and fashionable handbags created from recycled and eco-friendly materials.” And the designers, from all over the world, really do make bags from anything and everything recycled – from 35mm slides to truck tyre inners to skateboards – you wouldn’t believe it was possible! Prices range from $12 (approximately £6) to $250 (approximately £125). Having spent literally hours on this site (I do love handbags!) I thought I would share some of my favourites:

Carpet Bags
These bags are handmade in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire from “Silkie” carpet that is apparently made from cotton and viscose (fibre from plant cellulose and therefore biodegradable in time). The bag pictured is $230 (£115) but they also do handbags for as little as £25! And the bonus of these bags is that because they are made from hardwearing carpet they will last for years and still look as good as new.

35mm Slides
The company that makes these bags, RedCamper describes itself as ‘a celebration of family, travel, summer vacations, road trips, tourist traps and countless games of I Spy.’ Maura Gramzinski founded the company after she inherited thousands of travel slides from her Grampa. To celebrate her grandparents’ sense of adventure she wired together some of the slides to make a unique bag, and as they say – the rest is history.

The bag in the image, 7 Wonders, has slides from tourist traps worldwide throughout the years. Also there is apparently only one slide that is duplicated to place in every bag – the naked lady slide, according to the designer her Grampa used to slip this into every slide show just to check everyone was paying attention!
Skateboards
I think these are amazing and still can’t quite work out how they do it! Although according the designer they involve a ‘very time-consuming, labor-intensive process’. I can’t say I’m surprised I mean really how do you make a skateboard into a bag!? Although I have only picked a few examples this site is truly amazing to look around and I could have gone on and on picking out bags to share with you. And not only does eco-handbags.ca have stunning one off bags but it also has interesting information on the designers and some of the good causes they are working for. I would definitely recommend whiling away a rainy afternoon browsing.

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Get on your cardboard bike

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

A student at Sheffield Hallam University has created a unique cardboard bicycle, which aims to reduce thefts and encourage people to get out of their cars and ‘on their bikes’.

Phil Bridge, who graduates this year from BA (Hons) Product Design, created the bike to support the principle of cheap and ecological transport. The prototype is made almost entirely from recyclable and recycled materials, using interchangeable mechanical parts.

Research shows that a bicycle is stolen every 71 seconds in England which made cycling enthusiast Phil realise that theft was one of the main barriers to bicycle use. The 21-year-old hopes that his work will be taken on by a company who can see the bike’s potential as a green marketing gimmick.

Phil said, ‘The lightweight quality of the cardboard, combined with its low cost, means it is possible to create a bargain-bike that is also less susceptible to thieves. At the moment low-cost bikes are usually very heavy, which can also put people off.’

Biome thinks what a great way to get on your bike and pedal!

Posted in Design, Green News | No Comments »

New Designers 2008

Sunday, July 6th, 2008
I have been so busy with work recently, that I haven’t had a chance to make it to the New Designers Show at the Business Design Centre, Islington.

I am determined to take a couple hours out of my day though to see the show, as it really is one of my favourites.

The event showcases design talent from around the country. Categories range from architecture to furniture to fashion. The event brings together over 4,000 graduates from a vast range of universities and design colleges such as The University of Leeds to Central St Martins College in London. New Designers 2008 will take place in two stages, from 3-6 July and the 10-13 July.
Biome Lifestyle has in fact worked with a few designers, after noticing their talent at the New Designers Show. I wonder who we will find this year…

Posted in Design, Ethical fashion, Furniture | No Comments »

Recycled pans now in UK

Saturday, June 21st, 2008
Biome Lifestyle is the UK’s only stockist of the fabulous Recycled Iron Pans. The pans have been designed and made in Japan with the help of some of Japan’s top chefs. This range of eco-luxury cookware is made from 75% recycled cast iron. The pans are literally ‘naked’ and free from enamel or tefal coating, which often chips over time reducing the lifetime of the pan. This also means that no chemical substances are released (which often happens with regular coated pans), even when the pan is heated to over 300 degrees Celsius. Instead, the oxide film produced naturally on the surface prevents the pan from rusting and also offers a non-stick surface which is great for cooking. The range includes a wok, frying pan, roasting pan and more. Stylish, safe and made to last a lifetime!

Posted in Biome Lifestyle, Design, Eco Home | No Comments »