Spring has sprung, you can feel it in the air!  It's time for Spring Cleaning again!  Of course we all want a cleaner house, but we don’t want to spend money, and we especially don’t want to use chemicals.  Here are 35 ways to address those dirty issues with natural materials and household items you already own.

Where do wine barrels go at the end of their lifespan?  People have been using reclaimed wine barrel wood for years, but not in such a stylish way - as a tabletop or bartop lazy server.

Chris Deffenbaugh from Wooster, Ohio hand-refurbishes each 22-inch oak barrel top, preserving the original wine maker’s markings and all the colorful, textured evidence of the barrelhead’s previous life.

Ever been bothered by a lampshade that just won't stay on straight no matter what you do?  How about chandeliers with multiple lampshades at crazy angles?  I found this great little item from our friends over at Daily Grommet to straighten that problem right out!  The best feature?  It allows clip-on shades to fit energy-efficient spiral CFL bulbs!  It also works with incandescent bulbs up to 150 watts and can be reused in different fixtures.

It's called Magic Toob, a silicone tube invented by a former chemist that has a rubberized surface able to grip the sides of uneven shapes like CFLs.  And lots of us are still not using those energy-efficient spiral bulbs because they don't fit our traditional lampshades!  Sure, you could buy a bulb-shaped CFL, but they cost four times as much as a spiral-shaped one.  And with the US government poised to mandate a phasing-out of incandescents as early as 2012, we should be making the switch, already.

Our friends over at Q Collection recently sent out an email blast highlighting the steps they've taken to become more sustainable in their fabrics, furnishings and accessories lines. 

Here's one of my favorite pieces, the Abigail Settee:

In the past few years we have seen some amazing developments in product life cycles. William McDonough and the Cradle to Cradle concept has opened both manufactures and consumers eyes to the use and end use of products. We have seen many companies adopt the Cradle to Cradle certification, however, there has been one glitch I have noticed over the years. A product may be able to be made into itself in a closed loop cycle, but how is the product at the end of its life cycle actually identified and reclaimed? 

During a recent quest to select a fabric for one of my projects, I came across  the new FRESH line from Valley Forge Fabrics. The fresh line is made of 100% recycled plastics and is processed into fibers. In addition, Valley Forge has nailed to concept of reclamation and has clearly outlined this process to allow both the designer and end user to use this program effectively. Both the fabric line and the finished product or furniture piece the fabric is places on is identified with the recycle symbol below. When the fabric or furniture piece is replaced Valley Forge will pick up their FRESH fabrics and deliver it to the closets fabric recycler who will then will turn the fabric into blankets, foam for pillows, plastics for car interiors, and other various plastics in the open market. Although the fabrics are not being upcycled (which they are working on), the fabric fibers are diverted from the landfill into another useful product.  Valley Forge FRESH fabrics are a great resource for ecotextiles.