in Designers + Brands, Home Living, Materials, Reviews

Rug & Interior Designer Rides the Green Wave

by Delia Montgomery July 8, 2008, 11:16 pm 39 Views 3 Comments

In the green market, the interior design world is about healthy settings with visual appeal. The goal is to create rooms for physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual benefits. That means avoiding things like VOCs, chemicals, and clutter.

You can see that earth and human-friendly designers and decorators are increasingly riding the green wave. And we now know that natural wool, hemp, silk, seagrass, bamboo, cork, and other organic fibers are here for us. Ancient craft techniques are reviving and some know how to blend it all so well into the present. Recycling is one method that seems to create new artistic magic.

One such conscious professional creator is Marla Henderson. She identifies herself as more an artist/producer of interiors than a traditional designer. Marla frequently works with artisans to develop unique spaces. Her course of life leads us to the Babik rug collection she offers today.

The Babik rug collection is fabricated from swatches of handmade flat woven wool once used for tents and blankets by the nomadic tribes of Anatolia. Designs are simple and durable to suit classic and contemporary interiors. No two rugs are ever alike.

Colors in the patchwork patterns were organically derived from whatever plants and insects were available to the tribes at the time. The deepest colors were created from rare finds of leaves, berries, bark and wood.

Exposure to light will cause colors to mellow to a lighter tone, but the original hues remain mysteriously vibrant. Marla believes the changes add more character. She offers custom area Babik rug sizes and runners.

Marla’s approach to design is artistic, not commercial, and based on the sensual appeal of the time-honored combined with the curious; no less the humble materials than those conventionally coveted. She likes to use objects, materials and color — rub them together and create magic, beauty and light. It’s a philosophy that translates well into any setting. Babik rugs are a fine example of her talents to appease conscious home dwellers.

Written by Delia Montgomery

I am Delia, d/b/a Chic Eco on www.ChicEco.com, and established myself as an eco fashion guru by learning "who makes what in the world of environmental fashion and design."

Enjoy reading some of my freelance writing about environmental design, fashion and art -- from both consumer and supplier perspectives. You may notice I focus most on individual eco designers, movers and shakers.

From sustainable fashion apparel to paint and flooring, discoveries are a rush. I get my kicks this way. I also offer sales representation of earth-friendly designed products for wholesale buyers. Retailers may take advantage of my services with factory-direct pricing. Spend less time sourcing and prevent green-washed purchases!

My other forte is connecting suppliers with business-to-business tools. Aspects of my business vary with consulting services while I'm proud to be the aide that embraces unique and innovative gigs.

I'm originally a Kentucky Blue Grass gal who relocated to Maui early 2006 and the tropical Puna District of Big Island, Hawaii late 2007. Walk the talk is my motto here.

Early 2009 I constructed a yurt home office in a semi-urban setting on a tiny lot. My water comes from the sky, contained in a catchment that's not likely to dry in this rain forest. The electric is designed for solar conversion. I grow about 30% of my food organically, compost, and recycle to the hilt. Permaculture with a full eco system is my gardening style.

In fact, gardening is my ultimate joy. I seek gigs like design, weeding and planting between other jobs. My love is Hawai'i which has more climate zones than any state. There are frequent earthquakes here, typically under a 3.0 magnitude, and I happen to dig the vibrations. It's a wonderful simple life in paradise. As I grow older and wiser, I become more and more grateful.