We love our wholesome kid-friendly furniture here at Inhabitat. A modernist sensibility combined with the fun of living with a versatile, ‘growing system’ of organic pods equals the best in green design and family-friendly solutions. Iglooplay Tea Pods by Lisa Albin are unmatched when it comes to children’s furniture pieces that integrate organically with home décor as well as engage the ever-curious peeps. Sculptural, space saving, and moveable, we love that Iglooplay is all about eco-friendly design via dynamic and ergonomically modules at play. We are visiting Iglooplay’s display at BKLYN Designs today during our Mother’s Day Green Design Walking Tour to highlight how Iglooplay is all about the best in sustainable design and true organic versatility.
Named after one of the world’s most treasured natural wonders, Argington’s new Ayres Twin Bed tucks in your little treasures with the sleek signature style of this next generation minded furniture maker. We’ve featured many of Argington’smodern children’s pieces, but are particularly pleased by this sweet, sustainable, timber trundle bed. Presenting at BKLYN Designs this weekend, the Ayres Twin Bed upholds this sustainably-grounded company’s commitment to beautifully crafted children’s furniture made with the earth in mind.
Forget Habby and Inhabipuppy, and get ready for the next round of eco-cuteness! Lotta Jansdotter’s adorable sustainable soft toys are the latest eco-apples of our eye with their beautiful color palette, smoothly shaped designs and environmentally friendly composition. The line consists of a blissful green whale, a sagacious herringbone owl, and a vibrant vermillion giraffe, each lovingly crafted by Scandinavian born Lotta Anderson. Her store, Lotta Jansdotter, is named after her daughter Jan, and carries a stunning selection of warm wool knits, playful prints, and pristine stationary. We love Lotta’s modern, natural aesthetic that stems from her childhood spent on the island of Åland (between Sweden and Finland) and her travels throughout the globe. We’ll be getting our hands on these sweet, sustainable toys at BKLYN Designs this weekend, and you can be sure that Abigail and Jill will be hitting this booth in the upcoming Mother’s Day Green Design Walking Tour on Sunday.
Kids love the holidays- for the cheer, the joy, the abundance of cookies, but mostly, for the gifts. This year, why not give green gifts that are healthy, educational, and eco-friendly. The little ones will love them, and you’ll feel great about giving them. Warning: excessive cuteness ahead…
Whether you are looking for an all-for-one ensemble for your own sweet newborn or are simply in need of an adorable gift set for a beloved peep that you know, Sckoon’s Organic Cotton Kimono Baby Set with matching elf cap and soft doll just might be the thing. All is neatly tucked away in a natural gift box to make the ultimate baby gift. Available in light blue (shown here), rose color, and natural color. Organic mint leaves will be included upon request when in stock. How yummy is that?
Adopt an animal from the World Wildlife Fund, and you will get a cute plush toy version of your animal. Every donation you make to WWF helps save some of the world’s most endangered animals from extinction and supports WWF’s conservation efforts. We think this is a fabulous way to encourage conservation efforts, by encouraging a love of animals in children! And if you can’t think of a good benefactor for your stuffed owl, wolf, chimpanzee, or polar bear, you can donate your stuffed toy to a needy child through WWF’s toys for tots program. $50 from World Wildlife Fund
This cuddly Socktopus is in many ways a more exotic interpretation of the famous Sock Monkey. Made from real recycled sweaters, every Socktopus is a one-of-a-kind creation. They are cuddly, collectible, and will surely remind you of those stray socks that were in much need of a home. Handmade in the USA and lovingly filled with hypoallergenic polyester. Recommended for ages three and up because of its button eyes.
As a segue from our last few weeks of Inhabitots product coverage to our upcoming round up 2007 holiday gift ideas, we are pleased to feature the very delicious organic skincare product line by BABYBEARSHOP. Founded by uber-momma Diana Lussenden Stewart, BABYBEARSHOP has set the highest standards for certified organic and nutritiously healing skincare for both baby and parents. We are totally thrilled that BABYBEARSHOP will offer an assortment of free goodies at our 2007 holiday party at Architecture for Humanity HQ in San Francisco on Friday, December 14th from 6pm - 9pm.
Argington’s Taj Chair is simple in form, highly functional, and supremely green, bringing great design to your tots’ play rooms. Designed with longevity in mind by Jenny Argie and Andrew Thornton, the chair starts at a height suitable for children between the ages of 2 to 4, with extendable legs that accommodate kids up to age 6. The materials are safe and non-toxic, so you don’t have to worry about it when your tykes start to gnaw on them.
Here’s a piece of furniture that lets a child spark their imagination without having the parents run for the wood protector, Windex, or an upholstery cleaner. The Fundy Play Table, shown here with the Taj Chair, comes with its very own drawing surface in the form of a chalk board or a dry erase board (whichever you prefer), in a very clean white finish or a more playful orange. Complete with enough storage room for all the necessary tools any child requires when drawing their next master piece, other arts and crafts, or even the toys you want kept out of sight, the Fundy Play Table is also safe for the little ones complete with slow closing hinges and locking casters.
Imagine children’s furniture that is convertible as your little one grows up and is also smartly stylish and sophisticated in design sensibility. Too good to be true? Argington Modern Children’s Furniture has literally raised the bar for how to raise our little ones. The adjustable Argington Babylon Toddler High Chair elevates not only the wee folks who sit around the table but also our ideas about how family-friendly design can indeed be sustainable for future generations, as good solid investment pieces prove to have lasting value and shared multi-functional use.
Bringing graphic design back to its roots and creativity, Princeton Architectural Press launched D.I.Y. Kids in October 2007, a book by twin sister design-duo Ellen and Julia Lupton, founders of Design Your Life. Beautifully illustrated with “real artwork by real children”, D.I.Y. Kids engages young people to create from existing things, from binding their own books, sewing their own clothes, making stickers, logos, clothespin dolls, box buildings, graffiti furniture, ribbon accessories, and many more projects. What a fab way to get those creative juices flowing while recycling!!
An adorable group of orphaned baby owls have been adopted by a silly-looking toy owl, after they were found on the brink of death in the wild. The tiny tawny owl chicks burrow in under the fluffy toy’s wings to keep warm after they were separated from their own mothers. The chicks, all aged between just four and eight weeks, faced certain death as they fended for themselves alone in the wild but are now recovering in an animal hospital.
For anyone in the process of family-building or simply celebrating the joy of families, Bird by renowned Danish architect Kristian Vedel is a design classic that demonstrates that good solid materials and proven traditions never really lose their feathers. Vedel designed a group of Birds in 1959 as an expression of three generations of a family - children, parents, and grandparents. Though only the small bird went into production, it quickly became one of the most successful Danish wooden products of 1950’s. Inhabitat is honoring Baby Week by highlighting Vedel’s design and its lasting mark on our instincts to nest and be nurtured by natural materials and exquisite craft.
Clean, modern lines and eco design define the YiAhn bassinet- but this early life sanctuary is designed for functionality well beyond baby’s first three months. Rather than buying into the high-priced, short-lived bassinets he found on the market, Brooklyn-based industrial designer Chul Min Kang was inspired by the approaching arrival of his first child to create newborn furniture that honors healthy growth and extended functionality. The bassinet turns from baby bed to toy bin and bookshelf to chair and table- meeting your little one’s furniture needs all the way through elementary school.
Take a small stand for the environment (or in this case a seat, a coat stand or art easle). Ecotots is a full-line of environmentally friendly, real wood modern furniture and furnishings which assemble and disassemble quickly and easily without any tools or hardware. Made from 100% renewable FSC Certified Smart Wood®, all products are available in a variety of eco-friendly, UV finishes.
We love Pkolino’s line of children’s furniture for their bright use of color, durability, and creative ingenuity that makes little ones’ furniture appealing to tots and adults alike. The P’kolino Klick is no exception, combining workspace for your toddler with a clever puzzle-like design that provides storage space for all their art supplies.
If you love treehouses as much as we do but don’t live in a forest, here’s a smaller option for you, your kids, and their dolls to enjoy- this recycled wood treehouse from new online green retailer ReForm School is made from recycled cherry and elder wood and stands 22″ tall. It’s easy to assemble and comes with retractable stairs, rope ladder, bucket and pulley, and three platforms for hours of doll (and human) fun!
Sized perfectly for your little ones’ mitts, Bambu’s line of kid and baby-sized utensils are as cute as they are eco-friendly, durable, and functional. Made from certified-organically grown bambu, Bambu’s kids line is the first-of-its-kind, providing a great alternative to the usual plastics. They’re stronger than wood, heat and stain resistant, won’t absorb flavors, and durable enough to withstand a toddler tossing them across the room. And for your budding culinary geniuses, there’s a Kids In The Kitchen Tools line as well- kid-sized spatulas and more.
Introducing a hydrogen car that everyone can afford! … if only we could fit inside. Released earlier this year, the H-Racer is the world’s smallest hydrogen car (at 16cm x 7cm) and comes with a little price tag to match. At only $80, it will be hard for both kids and adults to keep their hands off. The best part? The H-Racer comes with its very own solar-powered hydrogen refueling station. READ MORE >
Here’s some eco-friendly kids furniture that parents will love, but kids could put together. Celery Furniture’s Lullaboo line of children’s furniture is not only environmentally sustainable in material, but without tiny metal connections like nails or hinges — it is much easier to assemble, safer for small fingers, and is easy to store and transport. The connections are simple mortise and tenon systems that slip together seamlessly and sturdily, making the furniture safer and easy to fold and store for a rainy day as your child grows up.
In honor of our New York writer Abigail’s adorable newborn twin boys, Inhabitat is launching the ‘Inhabitots’ series to bring you all the best and greenest kids furniture, accessories, and other cuteness. While children are the ultimate blessing, it’s important to be a careful consumer as a new parent to surround your family with the healthiest products - and well designed stylish ones too! This week and next (okay, so it’s Baby Week(s)), check in for daily doses of the best for babies, and congratulations to Abigail and her newest arrivals!
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According to the Container Recycling Institute, only about 14% of all disposable water bottles are recycled. Those that make it to the recycling center become ‘down-cycled’ into a lower form of plastic and seldom become remade into other plastic bottles. As for the other 86%… Americans add 30 million PET water bottles to landfills everyday! Not only are plastic bottles wasteful, but recent studies have shown that Lexan plastic bottles (polycarbonate #7) leach harmful chemicals into the drinking fluids we ingest from them!
SIGG aluminum bottles, on the other hand, are 100% recyclable, and 100% inert, and make ideal bottles for both children and adults.
If you’re looking for a way to spruce up your nursery and expand your knowledge of the animal kingdom, this Alphabet of the Endangered Species in the British Isles is indeed a “timely take on A-Z”. With punchy, clean graphics and playful, perfectly composed quadrants, this poster is sure to be a hit in any baby room.
We’re suckers for the cute and cuddly, and it doesn’t get much better than these Senger and Dwelling stuffed animals and finger puppets from Branch. Hard to resist even for adults, these adorable products are personally monitored by their importer for the welfare of the artisans, ensuring fair and open trade practices and safe working conditions. The hand-knit wool ‘puppet pals’ are made by a women’s collective of knitters in rural Kenya, and the wool yarn is colored from natural vegetable-based dyes. Purchasing these handcrafted products not only brings joy to your loved ones, but helps promote a better life for the artisans and their families.
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