On Saturday, I attended the Luxe Home Open House at the Merchandise  Mart in Chicago.

The event  featured Nicole Facciuto the host of HGTV's Red, Hot, and Green discussing

eco-friendly remodeling of the kitchen and bath's  Nicole mentioned that she grew up

on a walnut farm and that is where her interest came from how the environment affects

our lives.

     Nicole is an extremely vibrant, passionate speaker whose focus is on making conscious

eco-friendly choices while re-modeling.  At the beginning of the speech, she questioned the audience

as to how many make an effort too be eco-friendly in their homes.  The response

was about 10-15%.   As well as educating the audience about some of the terminology

used, she shared a slide presentation of some of her projects.  Some of her

suggestions for choosing eco-friendly products where the type of paint used,lighting,

re-cycled glass counter tops, bamboo and cork.

     My favorite part of the presentation was when she featured a piece of art on the bedroom wall.

It was made from old books which she had climbed in a dumpster to retrieve.

She had bound them together and put an antique finish on -stating anyone in the

audience could do it.  A lot of her purchases where from vintage shops, keeping the

cost low.  She had found drapes and matching cushion covers for about $200.

She concluded with be aware, but not overwhelmed, of different options that we can all

use.

     The Luxe-home open-house was delightful.  I visited quite a few of the boutiques.

I loved the tile work.  I took a tour of the Dream Home - done by the designers.

It was exquisite.  Most of the boutiques had appetizers, wine, or Perrier.  At Kohler,

it was Champagne.  I was tempted, but I was drinking a Starbuck's.  The craftsmanship

was truly worth seeing and it made for a very enjoyable Saturday.