Pepper Design Blog - Page 215 of 358 - A Little of This & That... Renovating, Decorating, DIY Projects & Family

Going Green: A Natural Way to Eliminate Toxins

March 15, 2011

A friend of mine recently brought Liv a most unique gift – a plant for her nursery that’s known for eliminating harmful pollutants from the air.

Maryam, & co-founder Jennifer, began the company Green Your Air earlier this year and specialize in selling plants that have unique chemical-eliminating properties.

toxin eliminating plant

I was checking out their new website and they have a great selection of plants in the cutest pots. I love this pink zinnea print (even the pots are made from bamboo fiber, rice husks, wheat straw, and corn stalks that can biodegrade in 2-3 years after discarding). I’m sure I’ll use it again and again though!

From their website: “Green Your Air products are a natural, effective way to eliminate harmful pollutants in your home or office. Each live plant is backed by NASA research proving its ability to green our air naturally – each with its own specific and unique chemical-eliminating properties. (Oh yeah, and they’re designed to look as good as they work). Green Your Air: Brought to you by two moms trying to make the earth a little greener.”

And I love how it looks in the animal-themed nursery! (Gotta love that cute little Olivia the Pig book, too – have you heard of the series?)

Can’t wait for the nursery reveal. The glider’s custom cushion covers, DIY crib bedding and basket liners are all nearly finished!

Shabby Apple Giveaway!

March 14, 2011

Hope you had a lovely weekend! We headed up to the cabin with friends for a few days of board games, hot chocolate and relaxing. It was a great way to wish winter farewell.

I’m really excited for today’s giveaway! Shabby Apple, an online boutique which offers a wonderful selection of classic and stylish dresses, is offering one of three featured dresses to a PDB reader.

Love these three styles:

Above, the Bali Ha’i’ dress – a classy shift dress in a deep purple which features plenty of petal-like folds around the neck.

Below, the Baja dress – a playful navy and white striped jersey blend that’s perfect for the upcoming summer.

And finally the North Shore dress with its big, beautiful pleated rosettes and cinched waste.

Shabby Apple features vintage-inspired dresses for women, kids and even in maternity sizes. I love their ever-changing selection, including their various boutique lines, and admire their commitment to charity and improving the living standards for women abroad through production of the dresses.

I’ve been a huge fan of Shabby Apple for some time and I’m thrilled to partner with them to share a giveaway!

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Giveaway: Your choice of the Bali Ha’i’, Baja or North Shore dress (please visit the above link to each dress for more specs and images). Please note, you must have a US shipping address to enter this giveaway.

To Enter: Since Shabby Apple is all about bringing classic and stylish dresses back to everyday wear, feel free to share your ‘go-to’ wardrobe staples for spring!

For Additional Entries: Become a fan of PDB and/or Shabby Apple on Facebook and be sure to leave a separate comment(s) to share that you’ve added us.

Giveaway ends Friday, March 18 at midnight PST, winner will be chosen randomly and announced the following Monday. Good luck!

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Don’t worry if you’re not the winner, Shabby Apple is offering a discount for all PDB readers so be sure to check back next Monday for the promotional code!

Office Makeover: Desks Under $300

March 10, 2011

I’m back on the hunt for the future work space! Earlier this week I posted a round up of ideal bookcases under $300 to fit the new office. Now it’s on to the desk… There are so many great options out there that I’ve found it easiest to narrow the selection down based on the ideal size, color and design.

A bit more on the criteria…

Size: The standard desk is about 44-48″ wide and 18-22″ deep, but my ideal desk would be either wider or deeper than this so that I can stretch out multiple projects and still feel organized.

Color & Design: I’d like the material/color of the desk to be different from the bookcases (so that we don’t get too matchy matchy over here) while still complimenting each other. And you know, if one is more French-inspired (with the ‘x’, for example) it would be nice if the other was a different design, say more modern or more rustic.

I took this dilemma to Craigslist hoping for an awesome makeover project that would be perfect for the space. Alas, no results to be found. So, here’s my favorite resource round up for desks under $300!

That first one is near an exact copy of the inspiration board desk I used for San Diego Magazine’s Office Organization article. I mentioned how much I lovvvveedd the Layla & Grayce option but loathed the $2,000+ price. And now there’s a $200 option!

This round up includes options from JC Penny’s, Home Decorators Collection, Ikea, West Elm & World Market. I’d throw in a few from Overstock as well (always a great resource) but I couldn’t find any that I loved that beat the prices of these stores, the above range being from $99-$299.

Some these are a bit smaller than I’d prefer, but I’m going to pair them up with the bookcase round up from Tuesday and see if I can’t find a good set nonetheless. There may be more options for extra storage to make up for the lack of desk space…

Back to the drawing board I go.

For more Office Makeover posts, check out: bookcases under $300, inspirational rooms, room layout options, demo part 1 & demo part 2.