More eco-friendly finds

Reader Contribution by Jessica Kellner and Editor

It was another great weekend for my low-cost and eco-friendly decorating project. I went to our local antique mall on Saturday and found a retro white wicker elephant plant stand for $23…it is identical to the one featured in the May issue of Domino, which quotes a price of $75. Less than a third of that price works for me!

 While at the antique mall, I saw a sign for an estate auction happening Saturday evening. My boyfriend and I went, and it really paid off. For a total of $40, picked up an antique wood table with six chairs, a buffet side table, a set of 50s-style salad bowls, two chairs for our patio and a Chinese tea set. Great deal! We painted the buffet and table with black, zero-VOC paint we already had around the house and refinished the seat cushions on the chair with some white burlap. They have really tied the room together and we both agreed are probably now our nicest pieces of furniture, along with being some of our least expensive.

I also picked up a couple of frames for some handmade paper I purchased at Two Hands Paperie in Boulder, Colorado, last time I went there for an editorial meeting with our editor-in-chief, Robyn Griggs Lawrence, who lives there. This paper is inexpensive and supports local artisans. It’s a simple and elegant way to bring some unique art into our home.

Finally, we wanted to get some living things in our space, so we purchased a Mexican lime tree for the patio and a fern for the living room, both of which I repotted with organic potting mix. I am hoping to start growing some herbs and veggies out there, soon, too…and got the great suggestion from one of our reader comments to put a bucket out there to collect rainwater for the outdoor plants. More to come…

  • Published on May 12, 2008
Tagged with: Reader Contributions
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