Have you seen their latest catalogue?  It looks like they robbed Nathan Turner’s shop to be able to offer their latest items at such affordable prices.   Add that West Elm is at the forefront of pushing retail one step further to help sustainable products go mainstream as a growing number of their items are 100% green and there’s little reason go elsewhere.

For years I’ve been teaching designers and the public about eco-friendly and healthy resources.  Lately my push has been for awareness of the people who make the goods we buy.  West Elm’s latest partnership is with Aid to Artisans.  I’m terribly impressed that a huge retailer has realized a way to profit and create economic opportunities for artisan groups around the world.

This season they are focusing on All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association. The  Indian women’s yarn co-op creates one of a kind, hand loomed and hand woven pillow and throws without the use of any electricity.  Pieces from Stray Dog Designs can also be found at West Elm.  Stray Dog Designs has been an enormous part of pre and post Haitian Earthquake artisan commerce among a lengthy, charitable, corporate agenda .

With Certified 100% Organic Cotton textiles for bedding and bath, FSC certified furniture and accessories that are rapidly renewable, reclaimed or recycled, chic and totally within your budget, West Elm has NAILED IT.

Add the new collaboration with A-List Design partners like Allegra Hicks, Benjamin Moore and David Stark and it’s clear that West Elm has made the taste for champagne on a beer entirely possible.

I’m not saying you’ll be able to pass their furniture on to future generations, but clearly West Elm understands  a green, triple bottom line.  They’ve got great style and you can feel good (physically, socially, mentally) about what you buy from them.

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Benjamin Moore delighted with a colorful table decorated with the most interesting use of paint chips I’ve ever seen.  The added bonus, was the use of discountinued color chips- reuse at it’s most inventive.

My favorite dinner setting was this horse dominated table.  Imagine the fun you could have at this soiree.  I also liked the fact that the center piece is a living plant, so you don’t have to continuosly replace the center piece with fresh cut flowers. You could also plant parsley to pluck after dinner for fresh breath.

New kid on the block, Preston Lee’s table made me smile when I saw two paintings by artist Robert Ivers which were made for us a few months back.  Unfortunately they were too tall for our space and consequently we couldn’t use them.  It was so nice to see Preston take these babies to an entirely new height!

My favorite breakfast spot was this Swedish inspired setting by Bliss which proves you just can’t take the girly out of this girl. There wasn’t anything particularly green about it, I just thought it was very pretty.

Lexus and Kelly Laplante were responsible for this tacky mess of a table. The greenest of all, with chairs from Craigslist, table top covered in Innovations Environments, a horrible,  tiny mirror- lost on the wall, organic “crafty” wall paper and a pathetic excuse for floral arrangements (water badly in need of a change), I couldn’t have been more disappointed.  With every other table in the place making a grand, gorgeous statement, this one put our “green can be glamourous” campaign at the back of the line.

All in all the event was huge success which raised money for a great cause! I’m glad I went.

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