Designing Maine: Canstruction 2011

Designing Maine: Canstruction 2011: No the title of this blog is not one of my typical spelling errors! Canstruction is a nonprofit group who hold an annual completion’s to rai...

Canstruction 2011

No the title of this blog is not one of my typical spelling errors! Canstruction is a nonprofit group who hold an annual completion’s to raise awareness of the plight of our communities food banks. It’s mission:” To engage, amaze and inspire the community to work together raising canned food to feed hundreds of thousands of hungry people.” This group has reach out to our design communities to submit entries from around the world. The object is to create a sculpture made from cans of food. After the competition the all the cans are donated to a local food bank. For additional information and photo's of the the international awards and a design treat go to: http://www.canstruction.org/photo-gallery/international-competition-winners. All I can say is don’t underestimate the mind of a creative thinker!

Maine’s upcoming Canstruction will be help in Biddeford on October 22 through November 4. The sculptures can be seen throughout the downtown area, with awards being given on October 28. For more information on Maine’s competition check out http://www.feedtheengine.org.

Canstruction is the type of activities that makes helping others a true pleasure!

Designing Maine: Dress your windows for winter!

Designing Maine: Dress your windows for winter!: Summer months are when we strip everything from our windows so we can enjoy our views and the warm summer sun streaming in. But with the col...

Dress your windows for winter!

Summer months are when we strip everything from our windows so we can enjoy our views and the warm summer sun streaming in. But with the cold temperatures creeping back in, it is time to cover up our windows and conserve energy for the winter. I really like cellular blinds they are one of the best for energy savings. Combined them with draperies and you will see a decrease gallons of fuel you burn for the season. Presently cellular blinds still qualify for energy tax rebate making them an even sweeter deal for your pocket book. That being said I like them because they are easily adjustable, which means on those nice sunny winter days you can easily pull them up out of your way and enjoy a little solar gain for the day and easily drop them for the even to conserve energy.

Cellular blinds in my opinion are a win win addition to your home or business. They look great and save energy, so consider dressing your windows for winter.

Designing Maine: To Much of a Good Thing!

Designing Maine: To Much of a Good Thing!: There are very few people today that don’t collect something. We all think if we hold on to our things long enough they will become valuable...

To Much of a Good Thing!

There are very few people today that don’t collect something. We all think if we hold on to our things long enough they will become valuable. And the fact is it just might. So we collect, and we collect, till the collection takes over our spaces and there is no room left for living. If you’re not one of these collectors, I’m willing to bet you know someone who is.

Collections can be a great asset to any space provided it doesn’t take over the space. Having too much clutter no matter what its perceived value is not a good thing. It creates very uncomfortable living environment. Have you ever enjoyed that afternoon stroll through a museum? How relaxing it can be. These are building design to store collections, yet in any good museum the collectables are arranged so each piece can be admired. The space almost seems sparse. The museum curator only displays a small amount of their collections at any one time. This allows you to enjoy the beauty or interest of each piece in a calm and pleasurable manner. The concept we need to bring to our own environments is the same as the museum. To display too much at once takes away from each piece and our brains become very over stimulated to the point they appear to have shut down on us. To fashion spaces at home or work we need to pick and choice what we what to display so we can enjoy these item as well as the space that occupies them.

Our home is our sanctuary the place we go to unwind from a long day at work. If you’ve had a bad day at work you don’t want to come home to an over stimulating environment where you can’t relax, unwind and enjoy the company of your family. Remember to much of a good thing is no longer a good thing.

Designing Maine: What’s behind the Home trends for 2011?

Designing Maine: What’s behind the Home trends for 2011?:  The Joy of Small Houses_ Businessweek  This year’s home trends have been for smaller, greener, and more urban homes. Why, might you ...

What’s behind the Home trends for 2011?



The Joy of Small Houses_ Businessweek



This year’s home trends have been for smaller, greener, and more urban homes. Why, might you ask? Smaller home are more efficient and take up less natural and manmade resources. This is good for the environment today and into the future as they continue to use fewer resources, such as fossil fuel to heat and cool the house. But there are other small impacts we don’t often hear about with a smaller homes, they take less chemical to clean it, less paint, and maintenance to maintain it and so forth. These small changes add up in a big way over time, so little thing when done by the masses can have a big impact.

Green trends continue to grow and will continue beyond 2011 as the world continues to learn that working with the environment is better for both the environment and all living creatures within it. The study of Biometrics has taught us what nature has already figured out. While in life we need checks and balances for sustainability. The green trend will continue to grow as we learn through these studies of natural how to better create sustainability.

Much like most ancient societies we are rediscovering the benefits of urban centers. The close proximity of living spaces brings down the cost of transportation, reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. It improves our psychical health as the most convenient mode of transportation becomes walking. And most importantly it leaves our country side for farming and wildlife, but which is critical for our existence in life. So once again our trends are good for both our health and our environment.

Time will tell if we can continue this positive trend into the future, but if we each take steps forward to educate ourselves and learn how the benefits out weight the inconveniences of changing old habits, we will be rewarded with a healthier life and environment.