So, this evening I attended a discussion held by our friend, Blue Crump, of Cityspace Construction at the new Whole Foods in Short Pump. I’ve been wanting to catch one of his classes for some time now, and he did a great job teaching attendees about residential solar options to help offset energy consumption (and costs). His presentations are down-to-earth and make green construction and renovation concepts easy to understand. Blue offers free classes there and at Ellwood Thompson’s to share green ideas with homeowners throughout the Richmond area.
Feel free to visit the Cityspace website for more information on this business and their free educational classes.
Digging around on the internet, I came across this clever video that demonstrates how to safely remove paint from metal objects around your home. This homeowner used a common household appliance to do the trick, and didn’t need to use any toxic chemicals.
We’re excited to share with you that Richmond now has its first green retail home-improvement store, EcoLogic!
EcoLogic is located at 1606 W. Main Street in the Uptown district of Richmond, and carries a variety of beautiful products available for making your home a better and healthier place. Among the products carried at EcoLogic are natural linoleum, salvaged hardwood flooring, cork flooring, soapstone and slate countertops, PaperStone countertops (yes, they’re made from paper), recycled glass tile, eco-friendly paints and earth plasters (our favorite, American Clay), and LED lighting.
At Dramatic Changes, we use AFM Safecoat products and American Clay, and we are thrilled that Fred and Stephanie have chosen to carry them in their store. These great products deserve all the attention they can get! For more information on EcoLogic, feel free to stop in their store for a tour, or you can visit their website here.
The Richmond Symphony Orchestra League will soon present its 13th Designer House. The beautiful home, Tara II, a distinctive white mansion, is located close to the Country Club of Virginia, and towers over its spacious front lawns and looks onto Cary Street.
There will be approximately sixteen design areas which will be transformed into individual showcases for some of Central Virginia’s most renowned and up and coming interior designers. Dramatic Changes is fortunate to have been brought in to paint several of these spaces, and we’re providing a few “before” pictures in this blog entry.
The Designer House will make its debut at an elegant Gala Opening Night Party on Friday, September 12 and open to the public September 15 through October 12.
For more information, including how to purchase tickets, visit this link.
A little while back, we posted a picture of a bathroom that needed a bit of color help. The combination of salmon-pink tile and mint green appliances was a little much for the owner. She struggled to choose a color to balance them out. Here’s the update on the color that was chosen for the walls - Chocolate Brown! What do you think? Do you have any nightmare rooms in your house that need some color support? For more color consulting ideas, visit the Hue blog.
I get this question all the time. I was talking with a contractor earlier this week, and I told her that paints are one of the easiest, most cost-effective ways you can use healthier products in (or on) your home. In a market where people are becoming increasingly aware of green alternatives, we offer reassurance that painting doesn’t have to be a home improvement that breaks the bank.
There are over 10 different brands of low- and no-VOC paints and wall-coverings available here in Richmond. There are even more within an hour’s drive. Most people are surprised by this, and they’re even more surprised when I tell them that these paints not only rival the quality of traditional products, but they’re also cost-competitive. If you buy paint from a reputable local paint store, you’re probably looking to spend between $30-40 a gallon. To purchase an eco-friendly version, you’ll likely spend between $32 and $45 a gallon. This also means that our painting quotes reflect a reasonable materials cost for work within your home.
If you’re looking for healthier paints in Richmond, feel free to contact us. We can help you find the right product for your home improvement job.
I was recently introduced to an organization that brings issues related to sustainability and eco-friendly living called Back Porch Initiatives. As you’ll see on their site, Back Porch is a non-profit organization working with communities to cultivate local responses to the national and global issue of energy consumption. The Back Porch team is committed to collaborating with communities on existing resources, leveraging new ideas, and developing practical, economical and environmental solutions.
Back Porch has extended an invitation for us to present during one of their weekly community conversations on Monday, July 21st, 2008. We’ll be speaking about healthy paint options available here in Richmond, and will also likely discuss the local green-building resources. We will be at Globehopper Coffeehouse at 2100 E. Main Street in Richmond’s historic Church Hill. This event is free and open to the public.
If you aren’t free to attend this coming Monday’s conversation, please know that Back Porch holds these talks every Monday evening from 7-8 pm at Globehopper.
Choosing a contractor to do home improvements can feel like a confusing process. Certain contractors have notoriously bad reputations for being difficult to work with, so how can you ensure that you’ll get a quality company to provide the service you need?I give you Angie’s List.
More than 650,000 consumers use Angie’s List to find high quality contractors, service companies and health care providers.
· Companies don’t pay to be on Angie’s List
· Their staff reads every review before you do
· Live support through Their call center
· Award-winning Angie’s List magazine
· Help from their Complaint Resolution Team
· Discounts from highly rated businesses
We hope this resource is helpful. We encourage our customers to offer feedback about our company on the site, along with others that they’ve used in the past. Your experiences will serve to help others in need of a quality contractor they can trust.
