Home Sweet Home

Library Inspiration

Being the huge bookworm and dork that I am, I was eager to work on this post on modern libraries put together by our editors. Ever since I have dreamed of owning a place of my own, I have also dreamed of my own library room, complete with ceiling-to-floor, wall-to-wall, dark cherry-wood bookshelves. The books located on the highest shelves would absolutely require a stepladder and the room would be decorated with dark-colored, leather furniture, luxurious Persian rugs, and a large reading lamp. I would dream about spending most of my leisure time in the library, reading through old copies of “Wuthering Heights,” or scaling the shelves for a new read. Yes, libraries are inspirational places in themselves for me, which is why I also found the following images useful and inspiring. If you are like me, and are dreaming of your own library, or already have one and need ideas for decorating, you will love the following ideas, all entries by contestants for a rendering contest organized by Evermotion in 2010!

: This beautiful, victorian-inspired library designed by Viktor Fretyan placed second in the competition, and is my favorite rendering out of them all.

: This modern rendering by Jeffrey Faranial placed first in the competition.

http://www.home-designing.com/2011/07/library-inspiration

Indoor Plants that Purify Air in Living Spaces

We thought this post would pertain to everyone since most of us live indoors and in major cities where the air quality outdoors has been shown to be cleaner than the air inside of our homes. With all the pollutants and gasses that rarely get to escape, our homes have become havens for walking allergens and toxic chemicals that are surely causing loads of air traffic!
In looking for new ways to maintain a pure and healthy air level at home, research by NASA and Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) have come to enlighten us with a few key plants that will not only survive indoors but give us a daily boost of endless breathable air. Now especially for the tiny lungs that we so often bring into this world, we highly recommend you take notes and start Greening your home. And with modern ways to display these lovely plants, you can have fun purifying your humble abode.
Take a look at this video in which Kamal Meattle, an entrepreneur and environmental activist, talks about some important plants that help purify the air… (If you are reading this post through email, you need to visit the following link to view the video: http://www.home-designing.com/2010/09/indoor-plants-living-room-bedroom )

Here are some images that show the indoor usages of the 3 plants mentioned in the video above.

Areca Palm

Areca Palm Tree is a great living room plant. Excellent air humidifier, removes Carbon Dioxide and toxins from the air. A recent study done by NASA gives this indoor plant an air purifying score of 8.5.

Snake Plant

Snake plant (also called Mother in law’s tongue) is an ideal bedroom plant. Even though most plants take away Oxygen at night, the Snake plant does the reverse and maintains a healthy amount of Oxygen near you while you sleep.

Money Plant

Removes formaldehydes and other volatile chemicals. Can be a good addition to just about any room.

Other Aesthetic Plants

If you plan to use plants indoors for more of their visual effect and not so much for their air purifying abilities, read on. The industry is bringing new modern and exciting ways of displaying plants. Totally cool and funky displays like these will please any crowd and provide conversational pieces at your Eco-friendly dinner parties…
Here is a neat concept. They call it the ‘Flower box’. It includes boxes that house living plants which can be hung on a wall. (Via)

These futuristic alien-like Plant pots are called Golly Pods by Tend (Via)

Hanging air plant pods by Michael McDowell

These interesting towers of plant life are called ‘nature individuelle’ by patrick nadeau via

http://www.home-designing.com/2010/09/indoor-plants-living-room-bedroom

Flowers on Balconies

These days with people moving to apartments there is hardly a yard on the ground to spare for gardening. If you have a balcony or a deck off your main living area you could try somethings out. Here is some inspiration for you…
Featuring some soothingly inspirational(and floral!) balconies…

by Eric

by Ashlee Russel

by Xavier Fargas

by David Blaikie

by Trudi

by Ariel

by Korsbarsblom

by Dawn Perry

by Theophilos

by Elena
http://www.home-designing.com/2008/10/flowers-on-balconies

Indoor Gardens

For those living in apartments, sometimes indoor gardens may be the only source of greenery that they can hope to have. Though they would be short on space it doesn’t mean they cannot be beautiful. Take a look at this vertical garden in AstraZeneca’s office in Sweden designed by Michael Hellgren:

Hellgreen has more to show in his collection. He incorporates the vertical garden concept beautifully into a cafe in Lisbon:

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ljubljana, Slovenia designed by Sadar Vuga Architects also stretch the possibilities of indoor gardens:

Terrence Donnelly Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Research designed by architects Alliance and Behnisch Architekten also expores some fun way of bringing green to buildings.

See how Joel Sanders, Andrea Steele and landscape architect Diana Balmori successfully transformed an urban living space into a penthouse that embraces plant life…