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Please Join Me with Trudy Dujardin, FASID, LEED AP

About Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

Trudy Dujardin is known for her passion for eco-elegance, demonstrated in award-winning interiors that combine sophistication and luxury with sustainable design. Believing that a healthy home is the ultimate luxury, she strives to integrate respect for historical preservation, the surrounding natural landscape, and the highest level of interior design. She received both the 2007 and the 2008 Award of Excellence for Green Design from the Connecticut Chapter of ASID and the 2007 Outstanding Alumna Award from Southern Connecticut University. Trudy has been an instructor at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn., teaching the university’s first semester-length class on Sustainable Design. She serves on Traditional Home Magazine’s Green Advisory Panel, has written a column, Gently Green, for Nantucket-based Portfolio Magazine, and is a member of the advisory board of athome Magazine. Her breathtaking interiors have appeared in the most prestigious industry publications, including Architectural Digest, Coastal Living, Connecticut Cottages & Gardens, N Magazine, Nantucket Home & Garden, Nantucket Today and Traditional Home. She has been active for many years with the Design Futures Council, the International Board of the Joslyn Castle Institute for Sustainable Communities in Omaha, Neb., and has been a presenter at environmental conferences around the nation, including EnvironDesign 7 in Washington, D.C., and EcoSpheres in Lincoln, Neb. Trudy was involved in the formation of the first Leadership Summit on Sustainable Design and Architecture for the Design Futures Council, an Atlanta-based think tank for design professionals. Trudy has worked in sustainable design since 1987. She is a LEED Accredited Professional, recognizing her thorough understanding of green building practices and principles. From their offices in Westport, Conn. and Nantucket, Mass., Dujardin Design Associates creates interiors nationwide.

Unplugged

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

I’ve recently made a promise to myself to unplug more often from the internet, social media and my i-phone. While I value the ability to stay in touch with my business, clients, family and friends, it’s too easy to spend a day emailing and texting and not have any thing accomplished at the end of it. I was encouraged in my resolve when I watched an episode of Bill Moyers on PBS that aired October 18, 2013, with MIT professor, author and clinical psychologist Sherry Turkle.

In her book Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, Sherry Turkle says, “As we instant-message, text and Twitter, technology redraws the boundaries between intimacy and solitude…We discovered the network–the world of connectivity, to be uniquely suited to the overworked and overscheduled life it makes possible. And now we look to the network to defend us against loneliness, even as we use it to control the intensity of connections.”

She describes groups of people in classrooms, meetings and social gatherings, all on their phones, as “there but not there.” Where people used to speak to each other when they had down time, now they use it to catch up on e-mails. Time to read, time to talk, time to see the world around us, has been replaced with a screen. With our attention elsewhere, we don’t interact with the people who are next to us.

Watch the Bill Moyers interview with Sherry Turkle here, where she discusses the problem of constant interruptions. She says that technology promises us that we never have to be alone, never have to be bored, and that we can always be heard by someone, somewhere.

For an opposite approach to life, that of mindfulness and being present, Pema Chodron talks to Bill Moyers about the value of not only powering down our electronic devices, but also quieting our minds. According to Chodron, spending time in solitude each day through meditation makes room for new experiences. It’s an excellent antidote to our fast-paced, constantly connected lives. She says that even when her mind won’t stop its chatter during meditation, she still thinks more clearly when she is through.

Comedian Louis C.K. has refused to buy cell phones for his children, which he considers especially toxic for young people: “You need to build an ability to just be yourself, and not be doing something. That’s what the phones have taken away–the ability to just there like this. That’s being a person, right?” Watch him talk about it with Conan O’Brien here.

Turkle refers to the seduction of being constantly connected and endlessly entertained as “moments of more, and lives of less.” She asks us if technology is offering us the lives we want to lead? And if not, what can we do about it?

Ironically, Bill Moyers turned to his Facebook audience for advice on how to unplug. Here’s what they had to say:

Create Sacred Spaces: Make the kitchen and dining room a device-free zone. Turkle espouses this idea, but warns parents that it will be impossible to do if you wait until the children are teenagers to institute it. Start when they’re young, and set a good example.

Collect the Phones: Some people have had success with putting a basket on the table by the front door, and collecting phones as people come in. If you like, you can add a sign that says, “Place your devices here so we can socialize while we visit with each other.”

Develop Self-Discipline: People are becoming more conscious of their constant cell phone use, and are making it a rule for themselves not to text or email when they’re with friends and family.

Embrace your partner: Turn off the phone and kiss, says Bradley Harper. And repeat.

A writer I admire is Richard Louv, author of the international bestseller Last Child in the Woods. In that book, he warned of the dangers of children growing up with what he called “nature-deficit disorder,” and inspired an international movement to reconnect kids and nature. In his next book, the Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder, ” he speaks this time to nature-deprived adults. He says that our society has developed an outsize faith in technology, and that we are leaving behind the power of the natural world.

He encourages all of us to find our “one true place” in the world, a piece of land or water that calls to us. For me, Nantucket has always been my “one true place;” my home on Long Island Sound is another. Not all of us are blessed with living in the region of our choice, but Louv says we can make our home our “one true place” by discovering and becoming fully immersed in our own bioregion, bringing more nature to our homes and gardens

I’m reminded of a remark I heard from Chris Luebkeman, an educator and director for Global Foresight and Innovation at Arup, a professional services firm. At the Design Futures Council meeting I attended this fall, he spoke about email overload, and said, “My inbox is full. If you need to be in touch–call me.”

Let’s all see if we can’t empty our inboxes, and unplug for the holiday season. I’m looking forward to quality time with the people I love.

A Window to Our Future

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

Earlier this month, I participated in the Leadership Summit for Sustainable Design, hosted by the Design Futures Council, as a member of the Delegation of 100. The Summit was an amazing gathering of leaders in the sustainable design movement, who share a belief in our ability to shift the relationship between humans and the environment, and to create systems that are truly sustainable.

My involvement with the Design Futures Council is one of several commitments I have in place to work toward a more sustainable earth. It encompasses both my “green” design work and my dedication to educating my clients and readers, as well as a personal passion for protecting the environment.

Held this year in Minneapolis (guess whose statue this is!), the participants and speakers inspired me to believe in a future for our children and grandchildren that can support both the growing numbers of humans on the planet as well as the fragile environment we live in.

I’ve heard the term “a conga line of geniuses and scientists” applied to the Ted Conferences before; it certainly applied to the Summit as well. It was hard to choose what is most important to share from such a list of exemplary individuals, all who exhibit such “intellectual rigor” (one of the bywords of the conference!). I finally chose architect and author Ed Mazria, for his work with his organization Architecture 2030. It’s so important for all of us to understand what’s at stake in the world, and what we can do to help!

I am greatly concerned, along with leading environmental scientists, about climate change and global warming. The risk to us all, and to future generations, is in doing business as usual. We need to make changes to bring the world’s temperatures back to where they were in the pre-industrial era; at the very least we must keep our global warming to under a 2 degree increase.

The architecture and design community must take the lead in transforming the way we live, work, and utilize the eco-system. Our built environments must reflect a genuine concern for the next generations, and a willingness to engage with government, business leaders and public policy to find the right balance.

Mr. Mazria has reshaped the international dialogue on energy and climate change to incorporate building design through his organization Architecture 2030.

Architecture 2030 recognizes that buildings are the major source of global demand for energy and materials that produce by-product greenhouse gases. Mr. Mazria’s impassioned support for innovative sustainable design strategies is leading a new generation of concerned industry leaders to embrace his vision for the future.

Specifically, Mr. Mazria has emphasized the need to keep the global temperature increase below the two degree centigrade threshold. Entire species disappear when the temperature changes only a fraction of a degree. The recently released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPPCC) Fifth Assessment Report concludes that to keep the increase below two degrees, global greenhouse emissions must peak by 2020, and then begin a rapid decline.

Mr. Mazria has focused on China, currently urbanizing at a rate unmatched in human history, as an opportunity to create healthy, resilient and integrated regional infrastructures, cities, towns and buildings that are models of economic and urban sustainability. Projections indicate that within 20 years, China’s urban population will grow by 350 million people, creating 221 cities with more than one million inhabitants. In order to take advantage of the opportunity to plan and design sustainable, carbon neutral built environments that protect and enhance natural resources, Mr. Mazria and Architecture 2030 are working toward a carbon neutral China Accord.

The China Accord urges that cities, towns, urban developments, new buildings and major renovations in China be designed to be carbon neutral, meaning they use no more energy over the course of a year than they produce or import from renewable energy sources. If reaching carbon neutral is not practical, then they urge developments to be designed to be highly efficient with the capability to use renewable energy sources in the future.

Architecture 2030 is organizing signatures from all those who have offices in China, or current or future plans for projects in China, to add their signatures and pledges to the Accord, to influence urban development in China and throughout the world. More information is available at architecture2030.org.

Architecture 2030 isn’t just concerned with China, however. Mr. Mazria’s 2030 Challenge is about reducing the carbon footprint of architecture everywhere, first by eliminating the use of fossil fuels in new construction, and then by cutting the use of fossil fuels in existing buildings by 50% by 2030. He plans to hit those targets through a new initiative called the 2030 PALETTE: an online design tool to help produce low impact, people friendly projects.

For instance, this “green” school utilizes daylighting from multiple sides to cut energy consumption. It provides more even lighting, and reduces glare, often created when light comes primarily from one side. The online tool gives advice on how to properly daylight a building, from providing windows on opposite walls, to incorporating high ceilings and walls with light shelves to direct sunlight deeper into a space.

The online tool provides information ranging from the micro–daylighting in buildings–to the macro–defining growth boundaries to limit urban sprawl. The work of Architecture 2030 is critical to our future, and will help to determine whether climate change is manageable or catastrophic.

Important work is being done by other concerned groups as well. In late September, I attended the annual conference of The Nantucket Project, an organization that hosts a gathering of some of the world’s leading thinkers and visionaries to help shape the dialogue on the most important issues we face. I was gratified to attend this year along with Senator John McCain, Chris Matthews, Greg LeMond, Michael Pollan, Louis Schwartzberg, and many others for presentations, discussions and education from experts in a variety of fields.

Here I am with John McCain at The Nantucket Project

I learned so much at both of The Nantucket Project and the Leadership Summit; there’s so much more I wish I could share with you. Here are three more inspirations:

Check out Jim Harris, the author of A Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste. The book presents hundred of case studies showing how environmental leadership can drive profitability and improve the bottom line.

And available through Netflix, there is a must-see documentary film called Chasing Ice. It’s environmental photographer James Balog’s record of the world’s changing glaciers, captured through time-lapse photography. He compresses years into seconds to show how these ice mountains are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Last, please watch the film Nature’s Beauty Inspires Gratitude , a short film by award-winning cinematographer Louie Schwartzberg shown at a TEDx talk. His time lapse photography captures breathtaking images through, as he says, “beauty and seduction–nature’s tools for survival.” I was so moved by his film treatise on water, “One Drop.” I hope it becomes widely available for viewing soon.

Our world is vast and fragile, and climate change is real and deadly. I”ll continue to share my thoughts on how we can take action together. I’d love to hear your thoughts, too.

Something in the Air

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

We often think about fragrance as something light, a delight, an aroma that is carried on the breeze. We love the lavender-laden air of Provence, the balm of herbs growing in our gardens, the honeysuckle clambering over a trellis to reach our bedroom window. There’s the smell of rain after a thunderstorm, the richness of soft soil and fallen leaves in autumn, and the heaven of a pot of soup simmering on the stove. In our chemical-dependent world, however, fragrance is not so much a pleasant breeze as it is a heavy storm cloud, making it hard to breathe.

A report by the women’s health advocacy group Women’s Voices for the Earth found that sensitivity to fragrance is more widespread than thought. Apparently tens of millions of people in the U.S. are sensitive to common fragrance ingredients in household and personal care products. What makes it almost impossible to identify and avoid fragrance allergens, however, is the fact that companies are not required to disclose the tens to hundreds of ingredients that make up a scent.

Some companies do voluntarily disclose this information. Seventh Generation, one of the leaders in the green products industry, has been disclosing all fragrance ingredients, including allergens, since 1998. They go as far as listing every essential oil that is added to their products.

Symptoms from fragrance exposure and sensitivity can include respiratory effects, immune system impacts, headaches and allergic reactions. The addition of chemical fragrances is common in cleaning products in particular; the European Union has identified 26 chemicals that are likely to cause reactions in sensitized individuals, including Amyl cinnamal, Benzyl alcohol, and Hydroxy-citronellal. See a complete list here.

You can search for fragrance free products, but it’s not an easy task. Fragrance is found in 96 percent of shampoos, 91 percent of antiperspirants, and 95 percent of shaving products. And it goes beyond the addition of chemical fragrances. The Environmental Working Group has been actively campaigning for safer cosmetics, evaluating nearly 80,000 personal care products. Their findings are alarming: there are an average of 13 chemicals found in the bodies of teenage girls, for instance, including dangerous products such as phthalates, triclosan, parabens and musks, all endocrine disruptors.

Although it may require a search, you can find organic, fragrance free products to support your health, and make you feel beautiful. Some of my favorites are: Nature’s Gate lotion (fragrance and paraben free), Seventh Generation, Nurture My Body (not all fragrance free), Jason (means “healer” in Greek), Kiss My Face (olive oil and aloe vera), and Burt’s Bees Baby Bee Nourishing Lotion (99% natural and fragrance free but not necessarily organic). .

Evan Healy (philosophy: The Skin Breathes) is a skin care line that can be found at Whole Foods. You can also check out Juice Beauty and Jurlique!

If you’d like to learn more about what major cosmetics companies are using in their products, make a visit to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep: a cosmetics product database. You may be surprised to learn that the products you trust contain chemicals that are linked to endocrine disruption, among other concerns.

A book and website you may also find of interest is No More Dirty Looks: The Truth About Your Beauty Products and the Ultimate Guide to Safe and Clean Cosmetics. The authors, Siobhan O’Connor and Alexandra Spunt, leave no bottle unturned in their expose on the most dangerous ingredients in widely used brands and the best clean make up, hair care and skin care products.

And finally, while you’re treating your body well, check out Julie Morris’s cookbooks: Superfood Kitchen and Superfood Smoothies. Superfoods are the most nutrient desnse foods on earth, with a remarkable ability to heal, energize and promote radiant good health.

Kale is one of my favorites. Here’s a quick and easy way to add it to your dinner table:

Organic Braised Kale

Place 2 tablespoons olive oil in a Dutch oven, heat, and add minced garlic and onion to taste. Sautee until slightly browned. Add kale and braise until kale is wilted and not tough. Approximately 15 minutes, or longer if you prefer. Sprinkle on some freshly ground black pepper and grated parmesan cheese. Health and good taste in a serving!

My personal philosophy is A Healthy Home is the Ultimate Luxury. A healthy body is the ultimate necessity for a good life. Take good care of yours!

Embracing the Autumnal Earth

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

Autumn is a second spring, when every leaf’s a flower.–Albert Camus

God gave all men all earth to love, but since our hearts are small, ordained for each, one spot should prove beloved overall.–Rudyard Kipling

For how many people do you think might yet stand on this planet before the sun grows cold? That’s the responsibility we hold in our hands.–David R. Brower

We need the tonic of wilderness; to wade sometimes in marshes where the bittern and the meadow-hen lurk, and hear the booming of the snipe.–Henry David Thoreau

How many hearts with warm red blood in them are beating under cover of the woods, and how many teeth and eyes are shining! A multitude of animal people, intimately related to us, but of whose lives we know almost nothing, are as busy about their own affairs as we are about ours.–John Muir

There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart…pursue those.–Michael Nolan

Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see. –Neil Postman

The photo above is of my husband Frank’s grandson, Vidal, and the light of my life. We try to spend as much time as we can with Vidal outdoors, as I am a believer in the Children and Nature Movement, chaired by Richard Louv, the author of Last Child in the Woods. Sometimes called Leave No Child Inside, you can learn how to start your own movement here.

If there are children in your life, I urge you to read Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. I promise you that you will be inspired to make more room for nature in your every day life, and in the lives of the children you love.

Life on Nantucket with Author Nancy Thayer: Second in a Series

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

A Guest Post by Bestselling Author and Nantucket Resident Nancy Thayer

On Island Girls and Houses

In my novel Island Girls, a young woman named Meg returns to her father’s Nantucket house for the first time in years. When she arrives, she sees:

“White clapboard, three stories high, with a blue front door sporting a mermaid door knocker…On either side of the front door, blue hydrangeas blossomed, and pink impatiens spilled from the white window boxes. It was a storybook house. A house with many stories.”

Houses hold the stories of our most private lives, and the hues, textures, and furniture reflect our dreams, hopes and memories. As a writer who has lived year-round for almost thirty years on Nantucket, I find that many of my novels begin with a house.

Meg, now a college professor, is eager to return to her bedroom in the historic old house.

“Like all old Nantucket houses, this one rambled oddly around, with rooms that had fireplaces or closets built in at odd angles. But the path to the bedroom, her bedroom, was embroidered into her memory like silk thread on muslin.”

We are all shaped by our past, and so are older houses, which we shape, and which, if we allow them, shape us. One thing I admire so very much about Trudy Dujardin’s interior design is her sensitivity to the past, to the life of each particular house, and her ability to match that to the desires of each particular owner. It seems to me that something spiritual seeps into the wood and walls of a house, enriching it, just as scotch aged in oak barrels is enriched.

The house my husband and I live in was built in 1840. It’s a tall, narrow house, with beautiful wide-board floors and peculiar additions, often called “warts” on Nantucket. When we first lived here, our children were nine and eleven, and we used the attic for a playroom and for my son’s private lair as he grew older. But I always coveted the attic because of its view of the harbor and two lighthouses, and when our children were in their twenties, we had a half moon window put in, refinished the walls and floor, and now I have a true room of my own to write in.

I write on a computer set on a practical new desk from Staples, but I also have an antique walnut desk with brass pulls in my study, and a wicker bookshelf that holds correspondence, calendars, notebooks, etc. I love having old furniture around me. So much that I see, hear, and touch inspires me with material for my books.

In Island Girls, “Meg cherished the room because of the slightly warped, ink-stained wooden desk and creaking cane-bottom chair placed against the back window, where she could sit and write or contemplate the starry sky and dream.”

Of course, houses must change, just as people do. The driving plot of Island Girls is the father, who has left the Nantucket house to all three daughters–who have different mothers. (Their father was a charmer, to say the least.) The three girls have become estranged, but their father’s will requires them to live together for the summer in the Nantucket house.

Their first argument begins with two of the sisters both wanted the same back bedroom, “with morning glory wallpaper and…a spool bed, covered with soft old cotton sheets and a patchwork quilt in shades of rose, lemon and azure, echoing the colors in the hand-hooked rug covering most of the satiny old pine floor.”

Some extremely modern events take place in this old house. Houses are for the living, after all, and just as we respond to them, they settle around us however we are, so a room once full of settees and music boxes becomes a media room with comfy sofas and a flat screen TV. Houses shelter us against the literal and figurative storms of life, they keep us safe, and they wait for us to come home.

I didn’t know until I was writing the last chapter of this novel exactly how it would end, which sister would get the house, if the ending would be happy or sad…and as in all my novel,s my characters surprised me. I think it will surprise the readers, too, and I hope it makes them smile.

A Comfortable Place to Sit

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

One of the most important considerations in designing a home is the comfort of those who live there. I believe that a home should be beautiful, as beauty lifts the spirits; it should be a sanctuary for health and well-being with clean air and non-toxic surroundings; and it should be be a place of comfort. A house is not a home without a space to curl up with a good book, put your feet up at the end of a long day, and enjoy a snuggle with pets or people you love.

When I designed my home in Madaket, one of my husband’s requests was that our living room be a place where he could truly relax. He wanted to be able to come in, put his feet on the cocktail table, and have a beer with friends. Nothing in this room is too precious. The sofas were slip covered in crisp navy and white so that they could be cleaned easily, and a comfortable wicker chair lets our guests know that this is a summer home, where relaxation is encouraged! (The white canvas is indoor/outdoor fabric, and completely washable!)

I love to read, and I find window seats to be irresistible for hiding away with a book. The light from the window, changing as the day goes by, the view into the garden, and the scent of a summer breeze takes reading in the middle of the day from a guilty pleasure to a perfect respite.

A window seat in a bedroom is always a delight! A space devoted to intimate comforts should have a place to take a little nap in the middle of the day when your schedule allows.

Creating a comfortable home requires planning; there should be welcoming chairs everywhere, with lots of daylight streaming through the windows, and a sense of order so you can really rest. Ottomans let you put your feet up, and a little chairside table will hold both your book and a cool drink.

If you are fortunate enough to have a beautiful view, then a comfortable place to relax and watch the sea and sky is always appreciated. It’s the perfect place to enjoy your morning cup of coffee as you slowly wake to the day.

When you sit down with a good book or to watch a movie with your family, you may not realize that your upholstered furniture too often brings chemicals such as formaldehyde, brominated flame retardants (PBDE’s) and dioxin into your home through off-gassing. Fortunately, today we have the option of choosing soy-based versus foam cushions, recycled filling for pillows, and organic upholstery fabrics. Some of the world’s healthiest fabrics are also the most luxurious, including organic cotton, hemp, linen and wool.

Firelight and the smell of burning wood brings its own kind of relaxation, especially when you’re enveloped in a cozy chair close to its warm glow.

A porch, veranda or deck can be another living area, serving as a quiet library during sunlit hours, and the perfect spot to watch evening fall with candlelight and a glass of wine to toast the end of day.

Most of us live busy lives, sometimes too busy, and it’s good to take a moment to sit down occasionally, and enjoy what we’ve accomplished. As A.A. Milne said (as Winnie the Pooh), “Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”

It’s Time for Plan Bee

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

The humming that you hear when you step into the garden in summer is the song of hundreds of bees, honey and bumble, moving pollen from one flower to another as they feed. Not only a charming aspect of the garden, bees are responsible for the successful pollination of fruits, nuts and many vegetables, including many of the plants you grow in your backyard. Honeybees are critical to agriculture. Best-selling food author Michael Pollan has estimated that they pollinate thirty to forty percent of the food we consume.

With so much at stake, the health of our honeybees has to be a primary environmental concern. For the past few years, though, bees have been dying off from what was, at first, an unknown cause. Labeled “Colony Collapse Disorder,” the die off began to get the attention it deserved from scientists worldwide. Several theories were proposed, including mites, viruses or other pathogens, or a decline in natural habitat. Increasingly, however, scientists began to identify two main sources of concern: farming monoculture, where bees suffer a dietary imbalance from feeding on only one kind of pollen, and a new class of neurotoxin pesticides, called neonicotinoids.

(I first wrote about the danger to bees in April 2013; you can read that post here. )

Although nicotine has been used as an insecticide since colonial times, today’s nicotinoids are different. Based on nicotine, they also include clothianidin, thiametoxam and imadacloprid, among other chemicals. They’re used to coat plant seeds, and are released as a lymph inside the plant as a permanent insecticide. Bees who have sucked dew from maize leaves that absorbed neonicotinoids becojme disoriented, get lost on their way back to the hive, and die.

Nantucket beekeeper David Berry, owner of the Nantucket HoneyBee Company, says, “(The nicotinoids) are literally part of the tissue of the plant itself. It seems to be collectively lethal to bees. The wax in a beehive is like a sponge. Over time these chemicals collect in the wax and seem to become much more damaging to the bees.”

There is some good news, though! Greenpeace reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is introducing new labels for neonicotinoid pesticides that will prohibit the use of those pesticides when bees are present. The labels will include information to reduce spray drift, and in red letters, they will read “this product can kill bees and other insect pollinators.”

Europe has already gone one step further, and has banned the use of neonicotinoids entirely, due to their fatal impact on European bee colonies. A bill was just introduced in Congress to impose a ban on neonics until a scientific study can prove no harm will come to bee colonies from its use. Greenpeace has a three step plan that includes:

Banning the seven most dangerous pesticides
Preserving wild habitat
Restoring ecological agriculture

Ultimately, there must be a ban similar to Europe’s in order to protect our vital bee population. Labeling is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough.

Here’s How You Can Help

You can sign the petition asking Congress and the EPA for the ban on neonicotinoids, support local, organic farms in your region, and plant a bee-friendly garden of your own.

Your choices do make a difference in keeping the earth around you a healthy home for bees and other wildlife. Here’s a step by step plan to help you create a bee-haven, with some added tips from beekeeper David Berry:

Step One: Do not use fungicides, herbicides or pesticides in your garden, relying instead on natural controls for insects and other gardening problems. Read my tips on organic gardening here.

Step Two: Plan your garden to include pollen and nectar sources as close to all year round as possible. On a warm winter day, honeybees may be out foraging for food for their young.

Step Three: Start with the earliest bloomers, including witchhazels, willows and Acer maples. David Berry adds that letting part of your property go back to its wild state helps to feed bees and other beneficial insects. He stresses that urban areas can be wonderful places for bees to collect nectar, too, where people plant gardens and water them. The next most important time is the middle of the summer, when the heat builds and not much is in bloom. That’s when plants such as Russian Sage and Lavender can be helpful. Clethera, sometimes called Sweet Pepper Bush, blooms on Nantucket in mid-summer, produces a beautiful fragrance and makes great honey. Luckily for Nantucket beekeepers, much of Nantucket’s open space has clethera growing on it, says Berry.

Step Four: Plant masses of flowers, as single plants may not attract bees. Another tip from David Berry: look for older cultivars. The older variety of plants are better for bees, including clover as part of the lawn. It wasn’t until the fertilizer companies convinced people that clover was a weed that it began to disappear. Clover makes some of the best bee nectar!

Step Five: Plant with the bees’ favorite colors: purple and blue, followed by yellow and orange.

I would add my own petition, that if we are to protect the earth and all the living things in it, that we must first remember to see beauty in the smallest forms of life, and then share that beauty with a child. Here are wise words from one of my favorite naturalists and authors, Rachel Carson, from her book The Sense of Wonder:

“And then there is the world of little things, seen all too seldom. Many children, perhaps because they themselves are small and closer to the ground than we, notice and delight in the small and inconspicuous. With this beginning, it is easy to share with them the beauties we usually miss because we look too hastily, seeing the whole and not its parts. Some of nature’s most exquisite handiwork is on a miniature scale, as anyone knows who has applied a magnifying glass to a snowflake.”

Learn more about Rachel Carson and her work here.

For a humorous look at the life of bees, watch Bee Movie, written by Jerry Seinfeld! The cartoon does point out that without bees pollinating our flowers and crops, plant life and our food chain would be in serious danger. Watch a short clip here.

For more information on bees, visit HoneybeeLives.org.

Life on Nantucket: First in a Series

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

Please join me on a little trip to Nantucket this month! I’d like to highlight some of the things I love about this island, and what makes it so special to me. I’ve been coming to the island since I was a child. I’ve owned five homes here, including one in town (the historic Captain Parker house) and one in Monomoy, as well as my current home in Madaket. In the summer, all roads lead to Nantucket.

The Captain George Parker House

Not only do I live here part time and work here, I also shop here, and do my best to support the good works of Nantucket’s charitable foundations and non-profit organizations. It’s my way of giving back to the community that’s given so much to me. August is a wonderful month. There’s so much going on–the town is bustling, the shops are busy, parties are everywhere and the community is happy to support the many fabulous events in honor of some very deserving organizations.

The Dane Gallery

Glass artist Robert Dane and his wife Jayne operate The Dane Gallery at 28 Centre Street. I’m a collector of Robert’s beautiful glassware and bought some wonderful cobalt blue glasses there this summer. Robert and Jayne represent artists working in glass, basketry, ceramics and wood; they’re one of the premier contemporary art galleries in the country. Visit them online here. The photo below is whale art by artist Raven Skyriver: another example of his artwork is in this month’s What I Love post.

Walk Now for Autism Speaks: August 17

Once again, my husband Frank, our three Bichons (Tuffy, Ellie and G.G.) and I will participate in the signature fundraiser for Autism Speaks, their annual Walk Now for Autism Speaks, to raise funds for autism research and raise awareness of this complex disorder. Dujardin Design Associates is proud to sponsor signs along the path, signaling our ongoing support for individuals with autism and their families. The Walk starts from Jetties Beach on August 17; learn more about it here. I hope you’ll join us on Nantucket, or on one of the Walks around the country.

Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s Boston Pops Concert

August 10th will mark the 17th annual Boston Pops Concert to benefit the Nantucket Cottage Hospital. The music starts at 7:00 p.m., and the beachside fireworks go off at 9:00! It’s one of the best summertime events on the island. This year, the very talented Katie Couric will host the event, and the special guest is Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe-nominated star Matthew Morrison, perhaps best known for his performance on the top rated show Glee. Details are here.

Swim Across America: Making Waves to Fight Cancer, August 24

The Nantucket Island Open Water Swim takes place on August 24th at Jetties Beach. As part of Swim Across America, an organization dedicated to raising money and awareness for cancer research, all funds raised will help support new oncology services at Nantucket Cottage Hospital and free cancer support programs offered by Palliative & Supportive Care of Nantucket (PASCON). Join in by swimming either 1/2 mile or 1 mile, or support the swimmers by making a donation. Learn more here.

When I’m not meeting with clients, overseeing design installations, or attending wonderful on-island events with friends, I’m enjoying all the beauty, wonder and mystery that living on an island offers. The sound of the sea, the smell of salt air and the seafaring history make living on Nantucket like nowhere else on earth.

With your back to the wind and your face to the ocean, you can almost see the whaling ships of long ago arriving in the harbor, laden with treasures from around the world. We’re 30 miles out to sea, and a world away. If you haven’t experienced the island, I hope you’ll visit soon. Whenever you arrive, there’s always a light on.

If anyone needs me, G.G. and I will be on the porch.

On Safer Ground in Nantucket Today

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

The August 2013 issue of Nantucket Today features a Dujardin-designed home with a unique story: this beautiful Edwardian-era residence was saved not once, but twice, from the perils of the sea. Built in 1908 on the sandy ground of Sconset Bluff on Nantucket, fierce storms and pounding waves in recent years have eroded the fragile shore, placing the house in danger of being swept out to sea.

The owners of this elegant home first shifted it farther inland in 2006, but it wasn’t far enough. The second move for the house was cross-island to Monomoy in 2010, where the house now watches the waves in the harbor from a safe distance. With the sea no longer a too-close neighbor, spectacular gardens have been planted outside with massive hedges, and organic vegetable and fruit gardens instead of sandy paths.

I first designed this home in 1996, so there’s an odd sense of deja vu for me as I walk through these rooms. An updated family room, breakfast room and kitchen replaced a maze of rooms that once was the servant’s wing.

The world of 1908 is still in evidence in the house, recalled by the back servants’ stairs and the original call box with bells for the library, the guest rooms, and the original owners of the house, Mr. and Mrs. Dustin.

As befits a home that has lasted for generations, there is a beguiling mix of ages throughout. In the entry, a 19th Century gilt mirror adds a touch of grandeur, arching over 21st Century whale art in handblown glass by Raven Skyriver.

An enfilade of rooms opens one upon the other, offering tantalizing glimpses of subtle blues and yellow, creams and whites, richly finished wood floors and plush rugs underfoot. Dignified antiques add a decorous note to airy spaces.

There’s a ribbon of soft color that runs through the house; shades of bluebells and buttercups wrap the rooms in tranquil tones that lit spirits on even the foggiest days.

The home’s original setting on Sconset Bluff is honored in an oil painting that hangs over the living room mantel, a reminder of those more precarious days.

Just as the house itself has had its second, and third, chance at life, many of the well-loved pieces throughout the home were reupholstered for their own second chance. The homeowners’ unique stories are told here, too. The 1840’s breakfront in the dining room is home to a collection of heirloom china teacups, given to the wife’s mother at her wedding shower. Each guest arrived with a different teacup, creating a charmingly mismatched set that has been treasured for years.

In the master bedroom, an elaborately carved 19th Century bed from the West Indies blends effortlessly with contemporary lamps and white lacquered night tables. There, seaglass colors soothe both body and mind.

Nantucket residents know our island is a fragile place. Climate change and stronger storms continue to buffet our shores, creating an uncertain future for seaside homes, wherever they face the waves. In this house by the harbor, the owners have surely done their duty by their home, lovingly preserving it for years to come.

All photography courtesy of Jeffrey Allen; visit his website here.

Fabulous Foyers

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Trudy Dujardin, FASID, Leed AP

Penthouse in New York showcases a view toward the Steinway satinwood piano in the living room. The piece on the right is a fine example of Faux Bois; the wallpaper is silk string. Photographer: Durstan Saylor

What makes a foyer fabulous? A foyer is the first glimpse of your home for your guests, and as such, it should provide a gracious welcome. A beautifully designed entry way is a breath of rest and calm after travel and time spent on the road, for you and your family as well as your guests. More a throughway than a living space, it should be clean and uncluttered. Even a small entry should feel spacious.

Nantucket House opens to a beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean. Next stop: Portugal! On the left is a 18th Century French Provincial painted bureau and an 18th Century barometer; floors are reclaimed chestnut. Photographer: Terry Pommett

In American Colonial style homes, the straightaway hall often separates the house into two distinct halves. The entry hall opens to doors at each end, affording a view through the house, with the staircase to the side. A table, lamps and framed pictures creates a room-like vignette, where family and visitors pause for a moment before proceeding into the home.

The Beach Nest features two custom designed pieces in rattan, a red coral mirror in the style of an 18th century Chippendale mirror, a handpainted harlequin wood floor and an umbrella stand featuring a collection of canes. Photographer: Terry Pommett

In modern American and English houses, and in many vacation homes, the entry hall and the living room are combined, and there is no separate room designated as a foyer. There should still be an area clearly defined as an entrance, with at least a small table and a vase of fresh flowers to set a welcoming tone. A mirror is often included, where guests and family members can make a quick check of their appearance.

Nantucket Traditional greets guests with an eighteenth century painted bench. Photographer: Terry Pommett

Adding unique and personal artwork, such as this Christian Thee custom mural above, serves as an ice-breaker and conversation starter. We had this mural designed to celebrate the best-loved places in this St. Louis-based couple’s lives, so although the largest portion of the map is dedicated to Nantucket, it includes the Texas flag, the Arch of St. Louis, and other items close to the their hearts.

Greenwich Elegance features two antique Chinese windows framed as pieces of art and a custom-made bench with an antique Aubusson pillow on top. Photographer: Erik Rank

Foyers can be the most formal part of the house, with a reserved tone. It is, after all, the public area of the home, where not only friends and family but strangers step inside. A formal feeling can be achieved with symmetry and balance, where paired wall art, lamps or potted plants delineate the boundaries.

Captain’s Quarters celebrates its seaside setting with a custom star rug, and a Dujardin-custom staircase with recessed paneling created by Senior Designer Price Connor. Photographer: Durstan Saylor

If there is space, it’s nice to add chairs or a bench to the entry. It adds to the warmth of your welcome.

Connecticut Green is sustainable design at its best, with an interior window for lighting. The newel post, bringing a bit of Nantucket to Connecticut, resembles a lighthouse with lights that change color. Photographer Durstan Saylor;

Soothing neutral shades and consistency in design are important when the entry has a view into other rooms of the home. My collection of walking sticks add punch to the foyer in my home in Connecticut, above. Each is unique, and the stand gives guests a fun look at one of my unusual collections.

Briar Patch dazzles with an unusual mirror created from a zinc architectural element from France above an 18th century French candle cupboard. Photographer: Terry Pommett

An antique spinning wheel and a set of nesting baskets are conversation starters in this entry way. An ivy plant is lovely here, instead of flowers, and serves to bring life to the space.

Captain George Parker House

In an historic home, such as the sea captain’s house I renovated years ago on Nantucket, period furniture in the entry way is part of the careful attention to authentic details carried throughout the rest of the house.

Harbor House promises delightful surprises ahead when guests arrive at a half-moon garden gate. Photographer Terry Pommett

Finally, remember that the entrance to your home begins outside. A charming gate, beautiful plantings or comfortable seating on a covered porch offer a tantalizing hint of what’s behind the front door.