Thanks so much to the enthusiastic Ikea® fans who made our beta run a success!  We applied what we’ve learned so far to our win-win rates, out-of-stock policy, and several smaller logistical tweaks to increase our service efficiency as a whole.

Orders are already coming in for our October 10 run, so if you want something, get yours in now!

Ok it’s not exactly kitchens or design, but it is green, and a sustainable business idea, and right down the road from us in Durham.  I’m a sucker for ingenuity, what can I say? I think these guys are great, and if I had a yard, I would totally hire Rhoda, Mr. Pickles, Genghis and Olive.

The green glow on their eastern horizon will be emanating from those of us who wish we could be there.

Just the speaker list is amazing:

Laura Allen with Graywater Guerillas, Jerry Brown – California Attorney General, Tony Napolitano from Smart HomeOwner magazine, and Raleigh’s own Sarah Susanka, and countless other innovators from wind to solar to landscape. Wow.

4 websites to break out of the dinner dilemma. [via eat,drink, better]

It’s your lucky day.

We’re happy to announce  our new Ikea® runner service to the Raleigh area. In the last couple of weeks, you may have noticed that little blue & yellow addition to the nav links at the upper right of our site. It takes you to our beta page explaining how the service works.

We’re calling it “beta” because we’re working out the kinks, so we’ll need some patience. We also need some local folks who are excited enough about Ikea® to help blaze our trail. So far we’ve had a lot of interest and have several orders already placed for our first run on Sept. 26!

2 reasons why

The first: We posted recently that we’d been doing some research on Ikea® products. There is a lot of negative scoop out there about Ikea® products, and we wanted to see how valid it really was. Here’s what we found:

• Negatives
  • particle board: this is the number one complaint: many of their products do use particle board, which has it’s own plusses and minuses. On the minus side, it is not as strong as plywood or solid wood. It is also vulnerable to degrading in moist environments.
  • assembly: not everyone has time or wants to put their own furniture or cabinets together.
  • getting it home: Ikea® shipping rates are expensive. We calculated out that delivery of a $330 bookcase would cost us $150 in shipping. If we went and got it ourselves, it would cost us a minimum of about $100 in gas. Not to mention time – basically a day out of your life, if not more. Our price for that would be about $67.
• Positives
  • particle board: it’s cheaper than plywood or solid wood. As long as it is properly sealed and / or veneered, moisture issues are minimized.
  • hardware: quality hardware products like Blum and Salice are used, so full extension drawer slides, soft closures on drawers, piston door stays are still options, like on more expensive cabinets.
  • affordable: this is the number one positive; no question about this one. It’s built in to the whole Ikea® concept. A big part of what makes it affordable is its flat pack shipping. Meaning assembly is required.
  • green: one trip to get it is greener than 20. It’s that simple. Assuming you already know what you want, the process is now simplified and relatively pain-free.
  • sustainability: Ikea® is actively working toward sustainability goals in manufacturing including supply chain management, managed forest product sourcing and reduction of VOC adhesives. They’ve always been efficient at shipping – flat packing takes less space. Less space costs less. they aren’t perfect, but they are working on it.
  • third party ratings: Consumer Reports findings indicate that Ikea® cabinet products are equal to most stock cabinet lines (even if the box is plywood), in terms of wear and tear, hardware quality and finish retention.

The second: We’re finding a ton of Ikea® fanatics in the triangle area, and decided that adding a runner service is the most environmentally responsible way to get it here. And it can be easier for the buyer than both direct shipping from the store and driving to get it yourself. For modern style lovers, you just can’t beat the price of Ikea®.

We’re removing the pain point and reducing the expense of getting it home. You get the Ikea® products you love, without the headache of the drive. Ecomod + Ikea®  + you = win win win!

What about kitchen & bath design?

We still do it. Both custom products and Ikea® products. It can be very confusing putting together an order from Ikea® for a whole kitchen. If you either don’t want to do it, or need a hand, we can do it for you. We can also look your plan over if you just want a fresh eye to spot any glaring errors.  Our hourly rates are reasonable, and better to be sure before you order.

[where: 27603]

Sagaform Triple Herb Pot

Ok so the herbs don’t care what the pot they’re in looks like, but you might.  This one from Sagaform is just beautiful, hands down. $40 at Sur la Table, or you can try your luck on Amazon or Ebay.

Go big and stay home

Aerogarden now has a stainless steel accented larger model: the Aerogarden Pro 200. I haven’t tested the new one or the original, so no direct experience with it. Yet. I’m really tempted by the new one though. $199 via The Green Head. And I’m also getting sucked into the vortex of the Aerogrow site. According to their FAQ, the Aerogarden uses about the same amount of energy as a 60 watt lightbulb.

Jetson Green: Prefab is not the answer to affordable, modern, green homes

Or, as the cool kids say, Frosty.

With all the chaos lately from hurricanes and financial debacles, I’m a tad delirious. Actually it would be great if I could be as durable and UV proof as some of the engineered stone countertop products out there, Like Ice Stone. If wood or bamboo weren’t an option in a project, I’d go with Ice Stone. Here’s why:

• it’s made from 100% recycled post consumer glass waste and concrete
• it’s 99.5% inorganic material rendering it very safe in terms of toxins (no VOC’s) and fire resistance
• it’s heat resistant like stone, but not as porous
• it’s the first and only durable surface to be cradle to cradle certified. so if you ever want to take it out, you can recycle it again
• for commercial projects it counts toward LEED points
• comes in a gazillion colors
• can be used outside and does not discolor with exposure to UV
• at $45 – $90 / SF cost, it’s competitive price wise with granite, stainless steel, marble and concrete

Greening the product AND the process

Additionally, IceStone is committed to sustainable practices within its manufacturing and supply chain operation. They’ve adopted goals for energy conservation, carbon emissions, water use, and waste management. IceStone will become carbon-neutral, purchase renewable energy credits, and will continue to reduce energy use per square foot of product produced.

Easier to reach, easier to clean

There are plenty of good things about wall mounted bathroom vanities. And as with anything green, there are varying shades. Here’s what’s good about getting the cabinet up off the floor:

• less material is used to construct the cabinet itself: it’s not as tall, and there’s no legs or base, which saves material on both counts
• it maximizes usable space with the cabinet. Take a look at any cabinet in your house. There is a huge amount of unused space above whatever is sitting on the floor of the cabinet. Why not shorten it up and save some cost?
• no base means no toe kick, no worrying about where big feet will go while standing at the sink.
• it makes it easy to clean the entire floor
• if it’s a small bathroom, there’s space under the vanity for a waste can
• in the unthinkable event of a water overflow, everything in the vanity, as well as the vanity itself is out of harm’s way. Unless it’s a really REALLY big overflow, and in that case, you might want to move to the mountains.

Where to look?

[s p a c i f y] has a very good selection of modern wall mounted vanities for prices rangings from about $800 up. Shown above is the Simone Ceramic vanity for $799.

Better to store you with, my dear

Remodelista has a great writeup of the options out there for storing kitchen utensils on open rail systems. Rail systems are a good alternative to storing utensils and cookware either on the counter or taking up cabinet and drawer space.

If there is a blank wall available that is away from the actual cooking surfaces, it keeps everything visibly organized and out of splatter range. For our kitchen, we plan to tile a whole wall and mount the rail system on it so we can hang things up to drip dry without damaging the wall finish.

And the winner is…

For the modern look, good design and price, Ikea’s rail systems are very hard to beat. A lot of opinion is out there on Ikea, both good and bad. We’ve been doing our own research on their products and will be reporting shortly on our findings.

Cheaper, more efficient storage than cabinets

A rail system takes up less space than cabinets, and doesn’t take floor space at all. They can also be cheaper than the equal amount of cabinet storage volume.

Plus, it makes wannabe cooks look like the real deal. Heh.