By: Leslie Harris, Interior Designer, Leslie Harris Interior Design and LuxEco Advocate
As I wind down for the year I find myself thinking about a book called The Home Within Us and how much that says about my design philosophy. Everything I approach as a designer lies first and foremost in the feeling of comfort, well being, creating a place of safety and sanctuary. Problem solving, space planning, furniture and color selection comes later but it is driven by these things.
About LeslieHarris
Leslie Harris heads up Leslie Harris / interior design, one of the most versatile design studios in Los Angeles. Listed by Los Angeles Magazine as one the 30 most talented designers in Los Angeles, she was asked by Nancy and Jim Chuda to design the Living Room for their Green House which was showcased in Los Angeles Magazine. Published in over 30 shelter magazines and many coffee table books, her work has appeared in Architectural Digest, Metropolitan Home, House Beautiful, The New York Times , House & Garden, Casa Vogue as well as being the recipient of House Beautiful Magazines “Ten Best Showhouse Rooms in America” award in recognition of design excellence.
Having a strong background in fine art, design, furniture design and construction, Leslie has had her own line of furniture and lighting in showrooms in the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood and Terris Draeheim in Seattle, owned two very successful home accessory boutiques and has taught at Sci-Arc (S. California Institute of Architecture) and UCLA’s interior design program.
Leslie has written articles about “Conscious Designing” and “The Spirit of the Home” because she feels that included in a healthy lifestyle and environment every home should be a sanctuary where upon entering it one should immediately feel physically and emotionally protected.
www.leslieharris.com
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LeslieHarris has written 10 articles so far, you can find them below.
Celebrations
Reflecting on The Home Within Us
Architecture
Lori Dennis on Green Interior Design
By: Leslie Harris, Interior Designer, Leslie Harris Interior Design and LuxEco Advocate
Lori Dennis’ desire to be part of the solution to waste and pollution in the interior design and construction fields led her to write “Green Interior Design” which came out last month. Along with beautiful images of her work, it is a manual of resources for anyone wishing to create green interiors.
Architecture
Lori Weitzner Reinvents Wall Coverings
By: Leslie Harris, Interior Designer, Leslie Harris Interior Design and LuxEco Advocate
Lori Weitzner’s products have been seen on movie sets, an Olympic Village, the Wynn resorts, prestigious stores such as Tiffanys’ and even museum walls. Important design museums have been exhibiting and acquiring Lori’s work for their permanent collections including London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and Montreal’s Musee Decoratifs. In 2006 she was the subject of her first solo exhibition at the Institute of Arts in Minneapolis. Lori is also the recipient of more than 20 awards and honors, including the esteemed Best of Neocon.
Habitat
Jill Salisbury On Eco Interiors: “If It’s Not Beautiful, It’s Not Sustainable”
By: Leslie Harris, Interior Designer, Leslie Harris Interior Design and LuxEco Advocate.
Jill Salisbury, founder of Chicago based el: Environmental Language, formally educated and trained as an Interior Designer, has found her true calling and passion in the design and manufacturing of furniture. Ten plus years ago, while working as an interior designer, she began learning about the benefits of sustainability but wasn’t able to find furnishings that were stylish and had any kind of environmental initiative. “There wasn’t anything available and I felt the Interior Design community needed to have what I call the Eco-Chic Alternative where you can have style with environmental integrity and promote a healthy indoor air quality for your clients.”
Habitat
Is A Sustainable Green Home Also Non-Toxic? Susan Fredman Weighs In
By: Leslie Harris, Interior Designer, Leslie Harris Interior Design and LuxEco Advocate
With as much time as we spend in our homes these days, we want to create a home that is a retreat, that is what we speak to, but we want our retreat to be safe so this is definitely going to be an option. Certainly they don’t have to take it all the way to major extremes, but they can do little things that will make a huge difference in their health, their design and in the environment.
Habitat
Where Energy Efficiency Collides with Human Health-5 Ways To Protect Yourself
Do GREEN buildings protect human health from environmental hazards? “Not necessarily” according to the findings at Environment and Human Health, Inc., a non-profit organization composed of doctors, public health professionals and experts specializing in environmental threats to human health.
Lifestyle
Billboards to Travel With
By: Leslie Harris, Interior Designer, Leslie Harris Interior Design and LuxEco Advocate.
I’ve never given much thought to where billboards went after they are taken down but luckily a product design and manufacturing team called Artecnica created The Billboard Project with 3 great looking and sustainable products. Impressed by Artecnica’s Designing With Conscious program, Media Arts Lab (MAL) part of TBWA Advertising Agency, requested the designers to recycle their large format billboards.
Habitat
Eco Interiors “Designs With Conscience”
By: Leslie Harris, Interior Designer, Leslie Harris Interior Design and LuxEco Advocate.
I know there is a lot of talk about the value of buying goods that are grown or made locally but for me there are reasons that far outweigh the use of fuels that travel such long distances to get to our shores and that is helping out our fellow human. Artecnica, a Los Angeles based design and manufacturing company, is committed to considering issues of environmental sustainability and responsible manufacturing. Design w/Conscience is a program, begun in 2002, that works with artisan communities in developing countries to produce unique handcrafted objects that reflect indigenous skills to be in accordance with humanitarian and environmentally sensitive principles.
Habitat
Solar Decathlon
By: Leslie Harris, Interior Designer, Leslie Harris Interior Design and LuxEco Advocate
In October 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy sponsored what has turned out to be a biannual competition called Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. 20 teams from colleges and universities from the U.S., Canada, Germany and Spain were selected and asked to design, build and operate an energy efficient house powered exclusively by the sun. The winning team produced a house that best blended affordability, ease of living, attractiveness, comfortable and healthy indoor environmental conditions, enough energy to run all household appliances and hot water as well as producing more energy than it consumes. Workshops were provided about the current state of green design technologies, jobs and the future of the smart grid.
Architecture
An Eco Home: A Living Sactuary
By: Leslie Harris, Interior Designer, Leslie Harris Interior Design and LuxEco Advocate
I believe that every home should be a sanctuary and that upon entering it one should immediately feel physically and emotionally protected. What I first noticed upon entering Jim and Nancy Chudas Green Home to select a room to design for an upcoming feature in Los Angeles Magazine was that it had all of those qualities even in the construction phase.
