Inhabit Wall Flats: Bamboo Growing Up the Wall
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 06.27.06
A great way to bring some life to your boring white walls, these wall flats by Inhabit have peel-and-stick adhesive tabs, automatic pattern repeat, and (perhaps the coolest part) are made of 100% bamboo pulp. As we all know, it's one of the world's fastest self-repleneshing resources; to insure that the tiles are healthy for you, too, they're molded in a chemical-free process. Since they're essentially bamboo paper molded into sexy shapes, it's also fairly easy to recycle. Got boring walls? These wall tiles are simple, modern, versatile and get the TreeHugger thumbs up. ::Inhabit Wall Flats via ::2modern Design Talk
What a fantastic way to decorate with an easily available resource! I wonder how my landlord would feel about these....
They're expensive though; $84 to cover only 22.5 square feet? I really like this idea. I wonder if there's a cheap way to do something similar, especially in a rental place where you can't paint the walls.
If you're looking for a lower cost alternative with the same recycled, low-impact design, check out V2 wall tiles from Mioculture. 28 bucks for 12 square feet from Target.com (or for the same price direct from their site which is glitchy right now, as they justy updated it, but should be fixed in the next week)
Target:
http://tinyurl.com/hfesv
Homepage:
http://www.mioculture.com/
Very cool design, but I wonder about cleaning. While I doubt one really cleans their walls all that often, I can attest they do get dirty. And after seeing/helping my mother scrub her living room walls in prep for a repaint (long over due after 20 years), I can just imagine how difficult this would be on a textured surface. Where you could use one of those new fangled swiffer jobbies or a drier mop/sponge to quickly whip down a flat surface, this texturing adds much needed hassle.
What about using fun fabrics in large sheets to make well places wall hangings (staples keep them up if done right, and the holes can be filled in with plaster and paint or white out when you move) or funky curtains. The fabric can be recycled later for a quilt, bag, or top. If you aren't such a sewer, get a large queen size sheet (or find a funky one from a second hand shop) and cut two small holes on the edges of the larger hem! It might be a "dorm worthy fix" -- but if done right this can really look good and be inexpensive to boot.
That's a lot of flamable stuff on the walls. Anyone know if it's treated with retardents? If so, that's not so green...
-Mike