Can you even believe we're still on day three of the NOLA blog tour adventure? There's just so much to write about! After our visit to Gentilly we enjoyed yummy lunch at Mondo with the folks from Cosentino followed by an excursion to the Lower Ninth Ward.
I remember hearing a lot about the area during and after Hurricane Katrina. It's where the levees over flowed and wreaked the most havoc. It's also a community already struggling to make ends meet before the devastation.
Today the Lower Ninth Ward is one of the areas being assisted by Make It Right, a non-profit organization founded by Brad Pitt. This foundation builds healthy, green homes for communities in need and is aiming to bring 150 families back into affordable, green and storm-resistant houses. So far 90 homes are complete with work continuing.
Homes are designed by high profile local and international architects including world famous Frank Gehry! What I like is that they really do collaborate with the home owners who have a voice in the final designs and all the color selections.
Countertop maker Cosentino, famous for their amazing Silestone quartz tops, supplies their ECO line of counter tops to the project. Not only is it beautiful and durable but it's composed of 75% recycled raw material, including glass and mirror. You can find out more about it here. More about Cosentino to come. They introduced all kinds of new products, colors and textures at KBIS. 
I have heard it said, no good deed goes unpunished and I'm afraid this project is no exception. Many feel slighted by the ultra contemporary designs that do not reflect the typical New Orleans style and architecture. Architects were simply instructed to "use the city’s existing narrow lots...elevate houses out of the way of future flooding and include rooftop access to simplify rescue; feature prominent porches or front stoops for socializing; and use materials that are tough enough to survive hurricanes but that also approach “cradle to cradle” re-usability " The foundation states that homes being replaced were substandard post war tract homes. There's some interesting commentary over at Curbed that addresses the controversy here. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Next up: KBIS2013 new products and trends for your kitchen and bath
GREEN WILL COLOR 2013
It's official. The "color gods" have spoken. Who are these "color gods"? They would be an organization known as Pantone. Pantone, Inc. is the authority on color, provider of color systems and leading technology for accurate communication of color. The market leader in color has officially named Emerald THE color for the year 2013. When I think of emerald a number of things come to mind including: my birthstone, mermaids, deep sea, summer AND then I think about all the other greens and how we use them in our interior environments. One thing I love about green is that it brings outside in. As Pantone notes here it represents regeneration, healing and unity.
Just for fun I thought I'd share with you some of my fave Houzz.com ideabook finds containing the color green.
Contemporary Laundry Room design by San Francisco Interior Designer Artistic Designs for Living, Tineke Triggs
This is another kind of green that I love. It almost makes me want to wash clothes.
These green marble tops definitely bring the lovely outside in. Hints of brown tie in the warm wood cabinets.
White cabinets are the rage and what better way to highlight them but with a clever shade of green on the walls?
Here's the same color palette, warm wood and green marble. As you can see, it works equally well whether the theme is contemporary or traditional.
Traditional Kitchen design by New York Interior Designer Marlene Wangenheim AKBD, CAPS, Allied Member ASID
This is a totally different green, almost grey suggesting elegance and refinement. So whether your taste runs to emerald or chartreuse, green is a great option. In fact there are two other greens on the hit parade for 2013, Tender Shoots and Grayed Jade. You can see the complete Pantone Color Report for Spring 2013 here.
NATURE OF BATHROOM LUXURY
Today "call of nature" takes on an entirely new meaning when it comes to bathroom design. As the Green Movement gains momentum, we turn our attention towards nature and the beauty of organic elements. Nowhere is that more appropriate than in the bath, today's sanctuary, a place to get away from it all. Two products that stand out to me in this regard is the Vesi Channel Faucet by Brizo and the beautiful vanities at Stone Forest.The Vesi Channel Faucet by Brizo, inspired by a real life experience of nature takes it to the next level. Check out this brief video featuring Judd Lord (badass name and creative hot guy all in one), Director of Industrial Design for Brizo.Stone Forest, based in New Mexico, has been crafting design elements for kitchens, baths and landscaping since 1989. For the most part, the lines are straight and simple allowing the natural beauty of the material to take center stage.
Check out their website as well for a whole lot more natural goodness!
DAY ONE AT ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST SHOW
Day one began with a little networking at the Marys and Mimosas event sponsored by Modenus. This is where I was hoping to meet some of the other bloggers. I did run into Veronika of Modenus and Linda Merrill of Surroundings as well as meeting Saxon Henry for the first time. Of course, Mimosas and Bloody Marys were on the menu but the temperature was hot, hot, hot and I just couldn’t at 11AM! Tasty treats were also on hand for those who were so inclined. Everyone was very friendly but I couldn’t weight to tuck into all the enticing displays.
First off I roamed the area featuring kitchen related products and there were some really awesome offerings. Reclaimed wood is THE thing in flooring. I loved the finishes at Tennessee Wood Flooring. Wouldn’t this be awesome in a kid’s room? This company’s products are stained through and through, well at least a couple millimeters so that sanding and repairs won’t compromise the finish color.
I also fell in love with a company called Manhattan Forest Products whose tagline is “reclaiming New York City”. That’s exactly what they’re doing. Their flooring and wood paneling is made from wood reclaimed from the old Coney Island boardwalks, the old wood water towers that used to top many old buildings among other places. If it’s old wood in New York City, they can make magic with it. Just think, your floor could be “green” AND have its very own story.
Of course I’m always on the hunt for interesting cabinet designs and these cabinets by Rutt certainly fit that criteria. These are made of Sapele Mahogany and Rutt wants you to know that they will provide you with “chain of custody certification” when you purchase cabinets from them. No, it’s not a warrant for your arrest, rather it’s a trail of proof that green practices were employed in the manufacture of your cabinetry from start to finish.
Now you remember Think Glass. I wrote about them here. The painted glass is beautiful in person. The paint is not on the surface but is, in fact, embedded between layers of glass! Stunning.
Many appliances were on show including Sub Zero Wolf, ULine, Best and Liebherr who has a kicking 48” refrigerator freezer that is half fridge and half freezer. I love the symmetry of it and the fact that their products are a TRUE 24” deep with no muss, no fuss. I enjoyed chatting with ventilation hood specialists at ModernAire and at Faber regarding a tricky design dilemma I’m working with at the moment. 
Compass Ironworks are iron forgers in with old world attention to details and I got to see a demo on the spot. Yes it was hot.
I also enjoyed one of the featured events of the day which was a talk entitled: Globe Trotting: Inspiration Through Travel. Yes, I agree that incorporating artifacts and mementos from our travels, wherever they may be, certainly make for unique and personal interiors. It was a special treat to hear Juan Montoya speak as a part of the panel.All this crazy fun to be continued tomorrow but tonight my sis and I will see the Merce Cunningham dance company. The production is called “4 Walls Doubletoss Interludes” and if you know anything about modern dance this is a very big deal indeed.
ENTER THE MATRIX
Marcello Becchi sports two full sleeve tats acquired in the South Pacific but more importantly he knows all about engineered stone and LEED certification. Let me “splain”, as Ricky Ricardo would say. I had the pleasure of hearing Marcello speak at Ceramic Matrix in Delray Beach at an NKBA Chapter event last week. Marcello, of the Trend Group USA is a scholar and lecturer within the building materials industry.
Trend is a manufacturer of all types of mosaic tiles with an emphasis on being Green. One type of material they manufacture is referred to as engineered stone. What is that, you ask? It is any material, used mostly for counter tops, floors and walls comprised of an agglomerate of crushed up glass, granite or quartz with a resin to hold it all together. Marcello has a reverence for the original engineered stone, terrazzo (flashback to childhood home before floor was covered with green carpet). Terrazzo is simply a mixture of cement and glass, marble, granite etc.The most common type of engineered stone that you would recognize today are quartz materials such as Silestone and Caesarstone. We all know how indestructible these surfaces are to work on but that is just one advantage. As we deplete the world’s natural resources we need to pay attention to methods and products that minimize the impact on our environment. Engineered stone does that and here’s how: Typically only three out of ten slabs of granite are useable, however, the other seven “imperfect” slabs can be used to create engineered stone! Making a “green” decision often seems to be a more costly option but “green” choices are typically longer lasting and more durable. As Marcello says, “whatever costs more in the beginning costs least in the end.”
Ceramic Matrix is a wonderland of tile, full of custom unique tile treasures composed of glass, porcelain, marble,ceramics and whatever else anyone has thought to embed in tile. If you don’t live in Delray, don’t worry. There are six Ceramic Matrix showrooms in Florida. (If you don't live in Florida you can go ahead and worry.)
Showroom Tile Diva, Susan Serino, solemnly promises they will work with your budget. “There are ways to incorporate the affordable with a touch of bling for impact. “It’s not about a focal point”, she says, it’s about everything working together as an incredible whole.” One thing you can do if you don’t want to leave a “hole” in your pocket, is save the exotic expensive tiles to use sparingly as accents. This is a great example of less equals more in your wallet! 
Dream Kitchens Made In Italy
Daniele Busca lives for Scavolini. After spending an hour chatting with him and touring the showroom and US headquarters in Soho I can understand why. Daniele is the Manager and Creative Director who makes it all work on this side of the pond. The new location which has been open since last October is enjoying a brisk business and I think it's largely due to Daniele's knack for tweaking this Italian product for an American market. "American kitchens are generally bigger", he says, "and where you would have an island in America we might have a kitchen table instead in Italy." Another major difference is the appliances. American refrigerators are almost always bigger." White still reigns.
I thought it was interesting to hear that home owners are requesting glossy finishes and architects prefer the matte look. A artful mixing of textures, both tactile and visual, is also important. I asked Daniele to define a trend. He says, "in the end a trend is what sells." The showroom spans two floors. Displays were designed in Italy and re-designed by Daniele for an exact fit both in size and taste for the US market. "Americans also tend to prefer symmetry in kitchen design," he added. Scavolini is a family business based in Pesaro, Italy and has been the largest cabinet manufacturer in Italy since 1984 with 40 dealers in the US. This year marks the company's 50th anniversary. Clientele for the New York location is largely an international group who keep an apartment in New York City as well as elsewhere. This year Scavolini will roll out seven new models. Four new displays are already in the works for this new showroom. The Tetrix line, as seen at IDS, designed by internationally-famous British designer Michael Young, is also being featured. Tetrix is not yet on display here but Daniele's sending me some pix to share with you. Designers may be interested to know that Scavolini has developed their own design and pricing program. Scavolini is very involved in the Green movement. I was surprised to hear that the manufacturing facility in Italy is 85% powered by solar panels and they are planning to make it 100% by the end of the year. All cabinet boxes and door panels are made from 100% recycled fire retardant and water resistant wood. All lacquers used are water-based. Scavolini is involved in the local community offering the showroom for fund raising events organized by trade associations and design schools. Generally speaking, a Scavolini kitchen can be yours for from about 10K to upwards of 90K.
Thank you to Daniele for hosting my visit. I really enjoyed chatting with him. I asked a million questions and he was up to the task, warm and most gracious. If you're ever in Soho stop in and see for yourself. Tomorrow I will be back with more from New York.