The front hall at our house is a decompression chamber in disguise. Here’s my concept: no matter how stressed out you are, no matter how crabby, when you walk through the front door, this space is guaranteed to restore you.

When we bought the place ten years ago, I picked out a vivid jungle pattern with lush and detailed foliage, birds, turtles, and insects all climbing the walls. You could almost hear the cicadas in that space. My husband would sometimes come in after an intense day at the office, grumbling a bit, and presto! Mr. Pussy Cat! He was transformed simply by walking through the “jungle”.

Yes: that was beautiful (and effective) wallpaper, but it wasn’t green. It was printed on another continent, with high-impact inks, on non-FSC paper and — like most wallpapers — it had a coating of toxic vinyl.

Two summers ago, we had to replace the jungle paper because of an involuntary major demolition-renovation. I called the decorators who sold me the jungle paper. I explained that I’d like to use a “green” paper this time: made in the USA, with low-impact processes, no toxic ingredients, organic if possible. They came over with swatches that ranged from bland to blah to blech. I complained: “They look like dishwater! Why can’t green wallpaper be interesting, fun, shocking?”

Enter Nancy Mims and Mod Green Pod:

“Twelve years ago a designer friend saw my doodles,” Nancy told us. “She said, why don’t you sell those? It had never occurred to me before! I jumped in and eventually formed Mod Green Pod with my sister-in-law. Both of us have little kids and we wanted to bring ethics to the company — including organic cotton, healthy inks, and no toxic anything, ever.” Click here for more on Mod Green Pod’s green practices and processes.

Nancy’s kids fool around with her fabric:

“I bought this chair for $40 at a thrift store. It’s amazing what you can find, even on the side of the road! I love the idea of turning some trashy item into a one-of-a-kind piece. I love saving a piece of furniture that might otherwise get tossed.”

We love this idea, too, and we’re going to stay in touch with Nancy as she transforms this unfortunate chair into something beautiful. Stay tuned for the result! Here is the fabric she’s going to use:

“I want to help people learn the art of re-upholstery. My grandparents’ generation would buy a piece of upholstered furniture and redo it every couple of decades. We need to get back to that idea, I think. Too much of the time, my generation just tosses their furniture, goes out and gets more.”

Here’s Nancy impersonating framed artwork on a Mod Green Pod wall:

And, here’s our Front Hall a.k.a. Decompression Chamber:

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