Tag Archives: recycling

Perfection does not exist in a shabby chic decor and that’s exactly what makes it so charming. Distressed but vibrant furniture overshadows new furniture. It fits easily into this decor that is soft, joyful, organic, and let’s admit it, a little bohemian. Shabby chic is silky-soft. At the heart of this style is distressed furniture. As if the wood was worn out by sea salt, or simply over time. The furniture looks like the kind you would find at a flea market or antique store. You can see the wood through the cracked paint. In some instances, several coats of paint let different layers of colours peek through.

Shabby chic becomes a full-blown style when the walls, ceilings and floors also have a worn-out look, if not to say neglected. The whole room seems weathered. Almost everything looks distressed but without the dusty and old appearance of antiques or the tacky and playful side of pure vintage.

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Shabby chic can be mellow and not so mellow. The first variant gets all of its potential from a stark and sober decor, almost bare, where the furniture takes centre stage to express the style. The second alternative welcomes various decorative accessories: candlesticks, crumpled fabrics, dried flowers, patchwork, glazed silver. In this instance, shabby chic meets vintage.[……]

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Ceramic is as old as the world. It has been manufactured and used for thousands of years. The ancient Greeks and Romans were crazy about it. Ceramic is found in every corner of the world.

Clay is the first material used to manufacture ceramic. It is baked at very high temperatures. Clay is abundant in nature, even if manufacturers have been using it for ages. From this aspect, ceramic is definitely an ecological material.

On top of that, ceramic is extremely durable once it is placed on the floor or walls. It can last for almost half a century. And it requires little maintenance, which in itself is a distinguishing feature of a sustainable material.

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The surface of ceramic is often vitreous, which means that there is no risk of toxic substances spreading in the air of a home. Even better: more and more manufacturers are resorting to recycled material, such as glass, to manufacture ceramic.

Is ceramic ecological. Not quite.[……]

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The future doesn’t just belong to ecomaterial. Glass is the shining example.

Initially, i.e. many centuries ago, glass was not very transparent or resistant. Scientific progress allowed glass to gain in transparency and strength. That is why the manufacturing of glass requires a great deal of energy because the transformation temperature is high. It emits CO2, heavy metals and polluting gases in industrial quantities.

Glass is far behind wood, stone, earth or straw in terms of ecological materials. However, it is far ahead of the pet peeves of ecologists: PVC, aluminium and even steel.[……]

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Renovation and restoration, two words that go together. Especially if you have a fun project where you can combine the useful and the pleasant.

Antique shops are often good places to find material that was previously used in a house. Most of the time it can be had at very little cost. The problem is finding the quantity you need to complete a project.

Here’s an idea that consists in recycling old wooden shutters into big pot holders or flower boxes to decorate your yard in summer.[……]

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