Shelterrific reader and fellow blogger, Debra Immergut from sent over this amazing idea. It’s taking some scrap Marimekko fabric and using it as base for some darling curtains. As Debra explains:

I had an orange, yellow, pink, and green floral Marimekko bedspread when I was a kid in the seventies. I’ve had an incessant desire for this Scandinavian-designed gorgeousness ever since. Thanks for getting me hooked on the expensive stuff, Ma!

I really can’t bring myself to spend the full 4o to 60 bucks a yard that Marimekko fabric usually costs. So to get my fix, I drop by the “clearance” section at Textile Arts, a fantastic online fabric shop that specializes in Scandinavian goods. Every so often, excellent Marimekko bits and pieces are to be found there, often for less than $20 a pop. It’s one of my most treasured secrets, but now I’m spilling the beans to you, darling blogosphere!

My collection of Marimekko pieces are all in odd sizes. Some are big enough to tack on the wall, and I do that. Some are just folded in a drawer, and occasionally I just take them out and admire them. One day, I realized I could use two of the scraps to dress up some bland white bathroom curtains. And so I did…

Click on over to Improv Home for the complete how to and a few other Marimekko scrap ideas!

A friend of ours posted a link to this Sunset magazine video on her Facebook page this week and we’ve been thinking about it non stop. It’s a tour of a zero-impact kitchen by Béa Johnson’s (her whole house is like this but it’s the kitchen that is most inspiring). Not only is it clean, modern and and bright but every drawer and cabinet is filled with smartly-used glass jars filled with locally-grown food. I love the idea of no-impact living, but I think it’d be really hard to pull off unless you lived in the right place. My dear friend Henny tries to maintain an uber green lifestyle and is constantly pulling out re-used produce bags from her backpack when we’re in stores. I oblige when she’s with me, but on my own I only remember our grocery totes about half the time. We bring them in and then forget to put them back in the car! What about you? Could you imagine living a no-impact life? Or perhaps just having a zero-waste kitchen? Here are some tips from Béa’s Sunset feature, below:

1. Get rid of your trash can. Everything goes either into the recycling bin, or it gets turned into compost. If you can’t do one of those things with it — eat it!

2. Pillow cases work in the freezer. This Californian buys a week’s worth of baguettes, cuts them in half and freezes them in pillow cases for the week.

3. Make your own orange juice. We can do this. We have a juicer we never use!

4. No more plastic containers from the store. Bring glass jars, hit the salad bar and bulk aisles, and stock up. Granted, cashiers at Whole Foods might do this, but I can’t imagine our local grocery store pulling it off.

P.S. Béa has a blog! zerowastehome.blogspot.com
P.S.S. If you feel a little insecure after watching this video, and after recently learning that French women are better moms than us, you’re not alone. Sigh.

As part of our newly freshened up Shelterrific design, we are going to be featuring an artist a month on the site and in our header. This month’s artist is Massachusetts-based Catherine Nolin, whose work we fell in love with via her Etsy shop. With ornately decorated rooms, wallpapers, patterns, and fancily-dressed ladies, they conjure up fantasies of tea parties in grand estates. Our favorite, however is Tree of Life, which you see on our header, with its exotic birds and flowers.

We asked Catherine to tell us a little about her work, and her where her sense of decorating flair comes from.

Your work features a lot of elaborately decorated rooms. What inspires them?
When my parents did a big living room makeover it made a big impression on me as a 8 year old. I remember being involved in the process looking at swatches of fabric, carpets, and paint colors. When it all came together it was quite a thing. When I create an interior I am pulling together all those elements and I just love it.

What’s your favorite room in your house?
My favorite room in my house is the living room. We painted the walls a dark olive which was risky but turned out to be the perfect backdrop/ canvas for all the eclectic furnishing we have collected over the years.

How would you describe your painting style?
I don’t quite have a name for my style although some have said contemporary realism.  I am very inspired by Matisse, Vermeer and Hopper to name a few. I learn something everyday when I paint.

For more information about Catherine Nolin and her work, visit her website and Etsy store.

I made it through the first two seasons of “Justified” on DVD in time to start watching season three on FX. Now I’m doing my best to get caught up on “Downton Abbey.” While it’s hard to compare a series set in Harlan, Kentucky with one set in North Yorkshire, the writing and acting on both is exceptional. On “Justified,” it’s usually the outside shots that capture my fancy. Big craggy rocks, mountains, sweeping shots of fields. But on the Abbey set? It’s all about the interior. Although I could live in the library with the floor to ceiling shelves and layered rugs, the set piece that really caught my attention was the table used as a bar. When bar carts are all the rage, it’s funny to see the same idea (sans wheels) in a period piece. The only requirement, it seems, would be finding a table that was slim enough without being too tall. An Edwardian table on Ruby Lane for $4,500 and a less ornate table on eBay for under $400 look to be the perfect fit. Of course, if you decide to go the Abbey route with your bar, plain old bottles will never do.

We love our pets here at Shelterrific. What we aren’t so fond of is boring pet furniture. The good people at pEi Pod have come to our rescue and created a stunningly modern, cool pet bed. Who needs a floppy, brown cushion when you can have a neon, egg-like pod that looks like something straight out of Twiggy’s (or Zoolander’s) apartment? pEi Pods are customizable- choose your egg color and bed cushion-, highly durable, safe, and crafted from recyclable material. Smaller dogs, cats, and even bunnies will love pEi Pods because they’ll have a warm, cozy little cave to snooze in. You’ll love pEi Pods because of the style points you’ll instantly earn by having it in your living room. –Katie D.

Good old Facebook, the place where I (disturbingly) get more and more of my first news reports, and where a friend just hipped me to this hilarious hot dog dish, which a Livejournal thread), but there’s a great post and photos at Filth Wizardry, where they take it to the next level with carrots and ham. Would you make this dish for adults? How would you serve it? — Mary T.

I’ve been thinking about getting a Furlicious bean bag from PB Teen for ages… and finally bit the bullet the other week. I was worried that it would make our living room seem too dormy or juvenile. But then I realized that with a four-year old and a puppy in the house, it was nearly impossible to have “mature” decor anyhow! Actually, it was Isadora who tipped the scale towards buying the bean bag. There’s a bookstore in our neighborhood that has one tucked in the kids’ corner, and whenever we go there we get so cozy reading that it’s hard to leave. Sure, she would have preferred a purple polka dotted variation, but I thought this faux flokati monster would match our brown leather couch, orange Saarinen chair and shag rug better. Since I seem to spend more time sitting on the floor than furniture these days, it is already getting a ton of use. Isadora “loves it” and the puppy… well, see for yourself. I dare say it’s the best $180 I’ve spent in a long time. — Angela M.

I am feeling very grown-up and, yeah, even a little smug. I just had my first piece of custom furniture made, and I am totally in love with it! In the interest of full disclosure, technically I did not pay for it. When up-and-coming furniture maker Dan Sjogren of Sjotime Industries asked me to rework the copy on his website, Fab.com right now (hello, Valentine’s Day!), so it seemed like perfect timing to spread the word about this talented designer from Denver. What about you … have you ever had a piece of furniture custom-designed for your home? –Ginny F.

Here’s something I never thought I would confess: I just spent three hours on Purina’s website. That’s right. Forget Reddit. Move along, Facebook. Time’s up, Pinterest. My hard-to-capture Internet attention has been captivated by Purina’s site petcentric.com. If you too are a fan of anipals, a similar fate awaits you. The purveyors of kibble have created a fun, stylized breed library for both cats and dogs. Almost everyone is represented here in delightful, colorful animation. Click on your favorite breed and you’ll be greeted with an mini cartoon of a representative of the breed welcoming you with facts about themselves in their hysterically over-the-top voice (if you only have time for one, check out the German Shepherd). Besides sheer entertainment value, the website’s main goal is breed education. Purina (just like me!) encourages you to adopt your anipal! Use the Friend Fetcher to honestly evaluate how much time and money you will have to devote to your dog or cat, if they should be kid/other pet-friendly, and several other factors. –Katie D.

Recent stories:
The Puppy Files: Choosing The Perfect Breed

Blueprint for the Perfect Dog (Art)

Just today I was feeling glass jar guilt. I saw a page in the new MSL that suggested we use them to store things like pre-chopped garlic and unused onion halves, and I thought, oh, I’ll never be that organized. I save a lot of glass jars, but except for firefly catching in the summer, they don’t get much use. This supremely clever item at Uncrate, called the Cuppow, could help me be a much more practical recycler. It’s a reusable top that acts like a coffee cup lid. Of course, pouring hot liquid into a glass jar is not the smartest way to consume your joe (ouch!) but it could be great for lemonade and iced tea in the summertime. Stick a straw in it (and repeat stern “two hands!” instructions over and over) and I’ve got a spill-proof starter glass for Isadora. Available at Uncrate, $8. — Angela M.

What do you do with your old glass jars? Send suggestions and ideas, please!