News from Milan Furniture Show

The Milan Furniture Show is the place to go to catch up on the trends that are about to hit your home; it’s where designers’ names are made and big business is done – and last month’s show was no different.

Key trends emerged including adding quirkiness and individuality through standout pieces, introducing retro elegance (as illustrated by the 1930s Hollywood inspired Armani Casa’s collection) and the increased use of precious metals, with gold and silver extremely popular.

Colour was certainly a stand out this year, with bold and bright colours from tangerine to teal, aubergine to green used across the board - and they looked fantastic. Memorable pieces included Edra’s vibrant storage unit, which displayed the use of the colour spectrum at it’s best; some amazing bold seating presented by Modus; and the Established & Sons Stack drawers, which were the talk of the show.

Whilst we may not all be able to afford the latest designer pieces in our own homes, we can certainly build on their inspiration. Colour is easy to introduce into the home, and if you’re keeping green try bamboo – it’s a great sustainable material and can be lacquered in an array of bold and bright colours.

Straw furniture... is it possible?! Biome says yes!

I was recently contacted by this young, talented designer from Nottingham Trent University studying furniture and product design. The images below are from her final year project where she has designed 100% bio-degradable home furniture. This project was designed to help prevent the waste issues connected to our current ‘throw away society’.

The young designer, Sheryl Stephenson says “I have chosen to use strawboard which is a material currently being used as a formaldehyde free alternative to conventional wood based particle boards. As the name suggests strawboard is made completely of straw making it perfectly sustainable material. Each component would be constructed using simple jointing techniques and finished with an eco-friendly, water based varnish. With this furniture I want to illustrate to consumers how stylish environmentally furniture can look when designed well”

Biome Lifestyle loves her designs – well done Sheryl!

Luxury eco-furniture

I am sure we all say, if we won the lottery I would... Well if I did (although I never buy a ticket!) I would deck my home with this beautiful eco-furniture.

The furniture is by Brazilian designer Hugo França’s who offers beautiful, stylish and earthy furniture designs for the home. The Brazilian designer carves stunningly elemental furnishings from discarded Amazonian Indian canoes and fallen Pequi trees, some dating to 1,000 years old. The wide catalogue features low-slung coffee tables, chaises, and enormous room dividers. And, all this earth-consciousness would set you back for a incredible price tag as well that runs into tens of thousands of pounds. I best get saving...!

Recycled bracelets

Australian designer Craig Arnold has captured the beauty of contemporary design and sustainability with his latest bracelet collection, re:vision. Made from discarded camera parts, these bracelets are a must have accessory for photographers and eco-accessory fans alike. We are of course big proponents of recycling obsolete gadgets into new fashion statements, but Arnold’s fresh take on this eco-fashion principle is a great new idea, one from which we can all draw inspiration.

The organic dish

The US actor, Jake Gyllenhaal is planning to open an organic restaurant with a childhood friend. The 27-year-old reportedly wants to launch a high-class eatery in LA with chef Chris Fischer ...
The actor is said to be planning a cycling holiday in Tuscany with girlfriend Reese Witherspoon to help develop ideas for the menu.

If I ever visit LA, I shall be sure to pay a visit Jake!

Renewable Bikes

I think this is a fantastic idea! We all know the benefits of bamboo – strong, quick growing, highly versatile and we probably have all seen the wide variety of products that can be made from it. However, this is one product even on my Biome sourcing I have never seen...!
The bamboo bicycle has been designed by Craig Calfee, the man behind Santa Cruz-based bicycle shop, Calfee Design.

I believe it is this type of innovative thinking that will help shift is from over-consuming resources to using materials which are renewable and plentiful.

Craig Calfee built his first bamboo bike a few years ago – however, with all great designs the original needed work, in fact the first bike was too flexible and prone to splitting so Craig admits, "That first bike was kind of scary to ride!".

However, the bike attracted a lot of attention and he began building bamboo bikes for friends, relatives and employees, and the popularity and demand grew among both everyday riders and even racers... he knew he was onto something special.

Following a visit Craig made to Africa almost 25 years ago, Craig remembered three things: 1. There was a lot of bamboo, 2. People used bikes and didn't have enough of them, and 3. They needed jobs.

If these bamboo bikes were such a hit in Santa Cruz, maybe people in needy African communities and villages could build their own bikes to carry cargo. With these thoughts, Craig put a small notice on his website to seek out funding for a trip to learn what it would take to get the idea rolling. The Earth Institute at Columbia University decided it was worth trying, and so the Bamboo Bike Project was born.

The first Bamboo Bike Project trip took place last Summer in Ghana. Craig and his small team had to try and get the infrastructure set up and the supply chain worked out. Bamboo is everywhere, but what about epoxy? And resin? Epoxy and resin are two critical materials in making the bikes. They knew that there had to be a way to get these resources to the local villages if this idea has hopes of working.

Assuming the supply chain is set up, Craig needs to educate locals how to build the bikes, then he'll hand it over to them to run independently. The beauty of these bikes it that they require no electricity to build or fix, important features when resources are scarce.

"People spend 2-3 hours a day transporting water just for daily use and that’s a real drag on productivity," Craig explains. "So the bamboo bicycle will enable them to not only transport their own water, but they can do it for other people in exchange for goods to create commerce." These "micro-businesses" represent opportunity and the chance to be self-sufficient.

"If you travel in Africa and see the poverty and how much work has to be done just to survive, it makes anything you can imagine complaining about a joke. This is an incredible labour-saving device that can also become a desperately needed income-producing device."

"This has all the features of a successful idea, so I figured why not give it a shot?"

Good for you Craig, we wish the Bamboo Bike Project every success!

Love or loathe?

I can’t make my mind up about this lamp... Granted it is very unusual and original... but do I really want a shiny colander on my lovely vintage desk?? It is made by Fethi Atakol's who is a designer of functional recycled art. What do you think, love it or hate it??

Biome loves tea and teacups!

My friend invited me round for tea the other day and we drank from these lovely Ann Stokes pottery teacups! I can't think of a better way to enjoy a cup Tetley Organic! Ann Stokes is a talented 83-year old potter and her work is held by the Victoria & Albert Museum and featured in the open kitchen of the new Rebecca Hossack Gallery on Conway Street pictured below. She lives half in London and half in Tuscany, which has greatly influenced her animal-inspired creations, which include mirrors, lights, tableware, sculpture, and more.

I just love the ‘earthy, handmade’ quality to the designs. However, due to the high-kiln temperatures needed to fire pottery, it can’t be said that these designs are the most ‘eco-friendly’, but they are at least handmade within the UK. If only Ann’s kiln was fired using renewable energy, then these lovely teacups would definitely be one of Biome Lifestyle’s favourites!

Re-use art!

I stumbled across this young artist the other day and couldn’t resist buying myself a print! Olivia Jeffries designs are painted on old letters, notebooks or journals. I bought ‘Red’ the other day, but now have my eye on this beautiful picture titled Dancers, drawn on an old envelope. I really love the whole collection – just stunning!

What is a biome?

So many people do not understand what the word Biome means... This is understandable as it's not a word we use in everyday language. So to clear up any confusion, we decided to provide our own definition…

A biome is a ‘natural habitat’ (pronounced ‘by-ohm’). As Biome Lifestyle provides natural products for the home – the name Biome Lifestyle was created. Major biomes include deserts, forests, grasslands, tundra, and several types of aquatic environments. In fact, the world itself is one large biome. Each biome consists of many ecosystems whose communities have adapted to the small difference in climate and the environment inside the biome. All living things are closely related to their environment. Any change in one part of an environment, like an increase or decrease of a species of animals, plants or changes in the weather and atmosphere causes a ripple effect of change through other parts of the environment. Biome Lifestyle provides natural and eco home products which aim to be sensitive to the environment - from the environment they were made in to the environment or world as a whole.