What’s red, white and green all over? This year’s “Urban Farmhouse” from Green Builder Magazine. Sustainably built in Orlando, FL, for this past January’s International Builder’s Show, it was one of two great homes created by Green Builder Magazine’s VISION HOUSE series. I’ve blogged a little bit about this home in the past, but wanted to share a few aspects of the interiors. Simple in concept, and designed with an open floor plan, it’s a hybrid of both country and contemporary. And it’s not too much of either, so the result is easy and pleasant, neither heavy-handed nor starkly modern.

The exterior harkens back to southern country style, with open porches and large, cottage-style windows. The red shutters not only add a traditional flair, but secretly hide their true function: They are actually incredibly strong hurricane shutters. An EnergyStar silver-colored roof that looks like one found on an old silo is also used as siding on the side entry, further enhancing the “farmhouse” look.

The interior of the house is where it gets GREEN. As the interior designer of the project, I was responsible for keeping the inside as green and sustainable as the outside. Nowadays, it’s not as difficult as it used to be. The kitchen and dining area, pictured below, boasts many gorgeous green products.

Energy-efficient appliances from KitchenAid include an induction cooktop, and an Energy-Star-rated refrigerator and dishwasher. Simple flat-panel-style cabinetry from Merillat is made from plywood with no added urea formaldehyde. Quartz countertops from DeNova that look like modern concrete add a decided modern flair and are GreenGuard-certified for good indoor air quality. The engineered wood flooring from Mohawk gives the appearance of a New York City loft, probably because it’s actually used flooring salvaged from old buildings!

Some other green elements featured in this home were the great pendant lights from Barnwood Electric and the really cool dining room table from Martha’s Vineyard Furniture that is made from dismantled stadium bleacher seats. In the family room, the fireplace wall was covered in Dal-Tile’s terrazzo tile, which is made from recycled marble and stone chips and concrete. During construction, there were so many wooden pallets lying around, I decided to use some of them to create the wooden shelving on either side of the fireplace. There was a piece of laminated floor joist left over from construction, so I used that as a rough but hip looking fireplace “mantle.”

I mentioned before that today, it’s easier to find great green products. All of these beautiful products featured are readily available in home centers, online, or through local showrooms. There’s great selections available at all price points and styles, so there’s no compromise in terms of design or cost.

Some years ago, when I first started talking about sustainable interiors, I said that I wished for a day when “green design” would just be called “good design.” That someday, there wouldn’t be a giant rift between the two. I think that day is here, and I’m looking forward to what’s coming next.

—Patricia Gaylor

Okay, I admit that I had no idea who Marco Piva was until I received an email about some products he’s designed that will be on display at this year’s Milan Furniture Fair. But from a quick tour of his Studio Marco Piva, with a quick side trip to Wikipedia, I learned that he’s an architect, interior designer and industrial designer who has worked with such companies as Moroso, Arpa, La Murrina and Rapsel, just to name a few. (If you go to his website and click on Product Design, you’ll find images of his work, which is pretty interesting).

You may have already seen Witch, a pendant he designed for Leucos, which seems to be getting a lot of ink of late—and, as you can see, with good reason. The light fixture is equipped with a shapely blown-glass diffuser in transparent black, mirrored crystal, white or gray. Moreover, the black diffuser can be paired with a red light for that extra touch of mystery and drama.

This wintry white and gray version is quite nice, too.

But what really made me stop and take a closer look were the images of Piva’s collaboration wtih MGM Furnari, a stone company, which won an award at Marmomacc for its booth. Unfortunately, the press release accompanying the images didn’t have a lot to say but the sinks below are pretty cool.

Piva has also designed Vitrum, a line of home controls for Think Simple. Formed of glass, the panels, which operate wirelessly, incorporate touch control technology and lighting in a clean—no screws or visible fasteners—ultra-modern look. For more information on the system, check out the Vitrum website.

—Alice Liao

I had to wait a little for Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to approve my request for access to their press images, so I apologize for the delay in posting these images. Anyway, for those of you unable to make it to New York to see “Counter Space” between now and March 14, 2011, here are “official” images of the Frankfurt Kitchen;

Snaidero’s Spazio Vivo (Living Space), a mobile kitchen designed by Virgilio Forchiassin in 1968. Formed of steel, plywood and plastic laminate, the unit—when closed—measures 36 1/4 in. x 48 7/8 in. x 48 7/8 in.;

and a photo of the kitchenette and living room in an Apartment Designed for a Single Person. Created by Lilly Reich, the apartment was part of the Boarding House at Die Wohnung unserer Zeit, or The Dwelling of Our Time, which I’m guessing was a showcase at the German Building Exhibition in 1931.

If I remember correctly, the kitchenette is equipped with doors to conceal it when it’s not in use—a feature that you still see today in contemporary design and is probably useful in small spaces.

Unfortunately, the press images of objects in the show did not include one of the Vola faucets, whose bright colors and minimalist design reminded me a little of these from Zuchetti, but there was a photo of this contraption, which made me do a double take at the exhibition:

Do you know what it is? It’s the Solnar Tarcici, a collapsible solar cooker designed by Dr. Adnan Tarcici in the 1970s. Made of aluminum, it features a parabolic reflector and, when open, is 21 in. x 34 in. x 43 in. When not in use, it can be closed and stored in the integrated box.

—Alice Liao

Ever in search of the perfect project management system, I have come across another PM service, in the cloud, that I’d like to pass to you. I’ve heard it said that it is not uncommon for one to try out a particular PM system several times before finding the right one or coming back to one that was looked at many months before.

I think what happens is this: As we work with a variety of project management features, we change our opinions about which features we thought were important. One cannot always know, when first signing on to a PM system, if there will be some features that might end up not working as we expected or hoped, once certain features are discovered. In some cases, a super sexy PM feature may make us just lose our heads in excitement and ignore other, less attractive but more important features we should be looking at. You want sex appeal? Check out ProjectTurf. I dare you.

I spoke about Central Desktop in a previous post. I like Central Desktop (CD) very much, but I am moving away from it. Here’s why. I quickly tired of spending $100 per month … makes sense, doesn’t it? I justified it enthusiastically at first but then, perhaps, came to my senses. In addition, in downgrading to the $50-per-month plan, CD only offers 10 “projects” to work on. Much too limiting.

In searching for a project management system, be aware of the number of projects allowable. Projects are not only clients—they may also be categories such as marketing, PR, showroom issues, accounting, products, suppliers and so on. More and more, I am seeing systems that allow unlimited projects and unlimited users but vary in terms of other features.

I am currently trying out Wrike. As I was looking, looking, looking for another PM system and I would come across Wrike, the words “patent pending” and “intelligent email” finally got my interest. I did a little more research and actually READ a fair amount on their site and others to understand that the connection between email and the project management system … is everything. I’ve used this feature before in Thymer.com and loved it, but Wrike takes it several steps beyond ANYONE. I LOVED Nozbe (very sexy and fun to use) but the email formatting just does not work well in my opinion.

Being super productive with tasks, which many emails are, is about the ability to a) email tasks to a system easily (I emphasize easily) and b) the holy grail: the inclusion of attachments, files, images, VIA EMAIL which, when they end up in the project management system, provide the task recipient everything he/she needs to get that task done.

Wrike has several patents pending. I am using Wrike to email tasks to a particular person who has access to Wrike and the task goes into a particular folder within Wrike…again, easily. I can put a due date in my email to Wrike for the task as well.

The theory is that emails are not letters. They are tasks. As such, they are disconnected, disjointed, and if you get many emails, they very easily fall through the cracks, and I can attest to that. Every few days, discounting spam and newsletters, I end up with 200-300 emails. If I do not keep up, I’m in trouble. Right now, I am thrilled to have 24 emails in my inbox, and my goal is to continually have zero, with all tasks in Wrike, neatly organized by date due, project and task recipient.

At first glance, Wrike looks like a typical PM system. I think it is very powerful. I cannot go further into its many powerful features here, but take a look, give it some time and see if it’s for you. It’s definitely not sexy (which I wish it were, after all, I’m a designer) but it’s a workhorse.

In the end, it’s difficult to have ALL of the features we may wish for. We need to consider price, number of users permitted, number of projects, email to task features, general user interface and more. Everyone’s needs are different. As I search for a way to save time and as I believe email, tasks, and a project management system are integrated, like it or not, Wrike is where I am focused right now. I’d love to hear about your experiences and opinions on project management systems.

—Susan Serra