Local designers offer tips
on creating stylish,
eco-friendly kitchens.

WRITTEN BY ILLANA GREENBERG

"Green" elements in this Millennium-designed kitchen include white

cabinets painted with Benjamin Moore Natura paint and maple plywood

interiors, a recycle center, automatic compost bin, under-cabinet LED

lighting and a hardwood floor with a water-based low VOC finish.

P 1 6

• NOVEMBER 2009 •

JIN platinurn

Today's interest in an eco-friendly life-
style is no longer just for the natural-
living minority. From organic foods to
hybrid cars, living green has become
commonplace way of thinking. And
one of the best places to begin is in the
kitchen.
If you think you need to sacrifice
design or quality to make your kitchen
eco-friendly, Jodi Caden, the owner/
designer of the Caden Design Group
in Birmingham, can prove otherwise.
"There is a push to create designs that
are ecological and sustainable," says

Caden. Natural and recyclable glass
and stone, salvaged floors and doors
from old barns and kitchens, and bam-
boo cabinets and floors are trends that
Caden is incorporating into her new
kitchen designs. The results are stunning
creations full of character and beauty
— and with a much lower environmen-
tal impact.
Designers are coming up with other
creative methods of keeping kitchens
green. "We're using finished maple ply-
wood in cabinet interiors and Plyboo, a
Easy Being Green on page P18