April Newsletter: Innovation in Design

What happens when the technological brain meets the creative brain? Something really cool, that's what. Today's savvy interior designer is not just abreast of the latest and greatest interior fashions but is also plugging into technological advancements made in industry products and techniques.

If you have never pictured laser-carved wood, paint that turns your walls into a dry-erase board, or a cell phone app that can decorate your walls for you, then you may be delightfully informed by the following reports on the newest applied science in home décor.

From Beams to Beautiful

In the dining room shown here, what may appear to be a basic wood carving adorning the walls is actually the product of a pretty nifty technique that combines an original custom sketch with computer software and lasers, yes lasers, to create an intricate pattern with wood to the most diminutive specification.

Pinecrest, a company based in Minnesota, is revolutionizing wood carving and fretting using the brain child of a group from MIT, CNC machinery, along with their own extraordinary artistry. Pinecrest enters their own custom design, or a sketch from a client that has been adapted by CAD, into a software program that interprets the art in elaborate detail for machinery that then outputs that exact pattern into the wood with laser technology.

The creations of Pinecrest have been commissioned by clients such as Oprah Winfrey, the Smithsonian Institute and the U.S. Capitol Building. We don't have to tell you how keen this is, do we?

Write on the Walls and Get Away With It

A company called ICI has come up with a product called Idea Paint. The idea is this: turn any wall in your home into a veritably limitless space for creativity, communication and self-expression. Sparing the environment of all of the landfill waste that is a result of the design and discarding of standard dry erase boards, ICI offers an alternative that is environmentally friendly and really neato.

The paint is quick to dry and compatible with any dry erase marker, and if you ever want a change, you can just paint right over it with any other wall paint. This stuff is perfect for play rooms and offices, but is also a great alternative to the endless post-its and other paper waste that your family may go through on the kitchen fridge.

Great idea, ICI!

See it, Like it, Have it

If you already have an iPhone (and if you don't,, this could be your day of conversion), you probably already know about this tiny miracle. Released last June of 2009, the Benjamin Moore iPhone app allows you to take a picture of anything you see and have it matched to their database of over 3000 colors, instantly generating the name of the color, other colors that are similar, and the closest location of a Benjamin Moore retailer near your location at that moment, using the GPS on your phone.

You can even, then, use the browser on your device to order your selection and set up delivery. You can now literally be on vacation, love the color of the sea shell that you just stepped on, and have that paint color on order for your powder room all in the same hour.

The app is completely free to download straight to your phone, and is then available any time with just the tap of your finger.

The Periodic Table Gets Even More Awesome

I'm going to cheat on the theme of this article a bit with this one. This compound is only just now emerging in our culture as a greener, stronger, healthier, safer, cleaner alternative to cement, but the truth is that this stuff was being used centuries ago in some of the world's most awe-inspiring structures and monuments.

Does it ever strike you as odd that large-scale constructions that were built 500 years ago, such as the Great Wall of China, are still standing, but anything erected this century is deemed condemned after a few decades? Here's the reason. Most of those ancient structures were created with the naturally occurring mineral, magnesium oxide. MgO is not only kinder to the environment in production than concrete, but it is less destructible and actually absorbs carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas behind global warming.

MgO is also being used to replace dry wall, providing a cleaner and safer surface for any interior paint or wall coverings, and it is fire resistant twice the burning time as regular sheetrock and conventional insulation.

Other countries, such as China, are already widely implementing this alternative to concrete and other construction materials.

We'll see how it is accepted and used here in the coming years. If all the claims are true, MgO could revolutionize green building.

For more information on any of the products mentioned here, please email Julie@julieevans.net.