27
Aug 10

Maegan gets married…part II

Posted by Maegan

I couldn’t forget to share with you the details of my reception and all that went into making my wedding a memorable time!  After the ceremony guests made there way down towards cocktail hour on the pool deck and finally to our party tent on the water’s edge.  I was so thankful the weather was incredible that weekend.  The Maine coast was a prefect backdrop for the pops of fuchsia and turquoise decor!

One of my favorite Merida Viewpoint rugs, Hydrangea Red Star, welcomed each guest as they walked into the tent. I chose to use Hydrangea Nikko Blue as an accent rug to help define the gift and cake tables.

Special touches of my vintage inspired theme popped up here and there throughout the tent. My table seating chart was made from an old frame we spray painted gold and made into a cork board. The cork was lined with digitally printed fabric inspired by the invitation created by Spoonflower.

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23
Aug 10

Perfectly Pure!

Posted by Whitney

As many of you know, our new Pure rug collection launched this week and is officially off the ground! This collection has been a long time in the making, but after two years of development with our partners in Belgium, Pure is finally here – and it was well worth the wait.

Our Pure Collection marks another innovative leap forward for Merida as our first 100% natural, compostable wool rug. Made from 100% un-dyed wool, Pure comes in five naturally occurring sheep colors and has a natural Jute backing. I was shocked to compare the difference between the back of a Pure rug and the back of a synthetic rug…it just looked so much healthier.

Now, I know what you’re thinking; there must be a hefty price-tag that comes along with a natural, organic rug that has a beautiful traditional construction. As it turns out, after years of troubleshooting this issue we finally hit the nail on the head. At one of our best price points to date (retailing around $6.64 per square foot), these rugs won’t break your bank.

Available as area rugs or for wall-to-wall installations, these rugs have low VOC-emissions and are a great way to naturally carpet family rooms, playrooms, nurseries, and bedrooms.

So what’s behind the name “Pure”?

Pure Collection by Merida

Pure Stone rug in wall-to-wall application

We wanted to select a name for Pure that truly conveyed the most incredible part of these rugs, being that they are 100% natural, biodegradable, and compostable. We came up with a lot of different ideas, from “Breathe”, to “Serene” (for its calm, peaceful and worry free nature), to “GeaCare” (gea is Latin for earth, and care since this product represents caring for the world we live in).
Ultimately we decided that the name “Pure” sums things up nicely. The materials in this collection are in their purest, natural state. They have not been treated with chemicals, they are 100% un-dyed, and they contain no harmful glues. They are 100% pure!

Learn more about the Pure Collection >
Order samples of Pure >
Start a Pure rug quote >

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26
Jul 10

Maegan Ties the Knot with a Creative Twist on Colors

Posted by Maegan

Some of you may know me as Maegan Fee, Merida’s Creative Director. I’m now Maegan Gaffey after my June 19th, 2010 wedding at the Newagen Seaside Inn on Southport Island, Maine. It was a weekend event where all family and friends were welcome to stay at the beautiful inn filled with an itinerary of fun activities!

At Merida I’m constantly staying on top of color trends and bringing them into our products. I took the same approach with designing my wedding and I wanted to share the inspiration behind the design. I’m thrilled with how all the elements came together and my vision for a refreshing twist on a vintage inspired wedding came to life!

With this vision, I was able to pick my colors and start designing the details. My palette consisted of Fuchsia and Turquoise as the bold tones, and Chartreuse, Black and Gold as the accents. I started with the creation of my invitations and allowed those elements to tie everything else together.

The pattern that covers the invitation actually was influenced by the bridesmaids dresses. I wanted to showcase this pattern on the invitation to give guests a sneak peak of what was to come. Inside, was a fabric wallet created to hold all the important information for the weekend such as, the Itinerary, Map and RSVP Card. My hope was that guests would actually use the wallets throughout the weekend and eventually have a keepsake afterward.

I chose to work with talented local artists to help in the creation of the invitation. I worked closely with Cassandra Flinn, a graphic designer out of Rhode Island, to come up with a unique style and layout. The fabric wallet was created by Carrie Saunders from Anna Street Studio. Both artists were awesome to work with and were open to my ideas as well as contributing theirs to come up with an incredible presentation!

The bridesmaids were all very excited about the bold, patterned, nontraditional dress I found for them at Anthropologie. I kept their flowers and hair simple and clean to allow the dress to breathe.

Peonies in a bright fuchsia popped and made for a strong statement against the bold pattern. I accessorized each with a peonies hair clip, and a topaz pendant and earrings from Sarah Richardson’s jewelry collection, Pebble. Their bouquets were all wrapped with fuchsia ribbon and sealed with a vintage rhinestone pin I found at various shops throughout Maine.

The rest of the wedding party all represented the bight pink and turquoise either in their attire or as an accessory. Carrie used the remaining material and ribbon from the fabric wallets and created a matching ring pillow, which was a great way to bring the elements together.

I even had my own pink accessories to fit in with the rest! As for my Monique Lhuillier dress, I feel in love with the vintage lace and sleek silhouette. I thought it worked perfectly into my theme!

The Inn was the ideal backdrop with it’s clean lines and classic architecture. Located right on the point of the Island, the scenery was amazing! We worked with an incredible photographer, Robin Nathan, who captured my vision beautifully. The detail and pops of color really came through her photos to help tell the story.

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23
Jul 10

5 Ways to Stop Junk Mail and Save the World

Posted by Whitney

At Merida we believe that sustainability, beautiful design and happy healthy living all go hand-in-hand as demonstrated by our natural area rugs. Being eco-friendly is also something else – convenient.

“Convenient” you say? How many tips to the garbage can have you taken in your life to toss junk mail? If you add up all the junk mail you ever received and tossed it out at once, how many trash bags would you need to carry out?

Here are some staggering figures:

  • 70 hours = the time you waste per year dealing with junk mail
  • 100 million = the number of trees destroyed yearly to produce junk mail.
  • 9 million = junk mail produces more C02 than 9 million cars
  • 41 = the number of pounds of junk mail the average person receives per year
  • 1.5 = the number of pieces of actual mail the average person gets per week
  • 10.8 = the number of pieces of junk mail the average person gets per week

If the US Postal Service delivers junk mail at a 10:1 ratio to the mail I’m sending – why does the price of a first class stamp keep rising? Shouldn’t the burden of covering the rising costs of the Postal Service rest on the junk mailers disproportionately? Wouldn’t this do more to curb the practice and save the planet than making me pay more to send my mom a birthday card?

This post isn’t about Postal Service Reform so I’ll get to the point, which is learning how to stop junk mail, helping save the planet and uncluttering your life. Here are my five tips. I’ve done 1-4 and they take 15 minutes which seems like a small price to pay for putting an end to the train wreck listed above.

1. Hang up on the Yellow Pages. Do you even use the phone book with yellow pages that get’s dumped on your doorstep? Mine goes directly from my doorstep over the railing into the recycle bin. Stop getting them forced on you on your doorstep at www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/stop-yellow-pages

2. Fire junk mail at work: How much mail do you get for employees no longer at your company? There is a database at the Ecological Mail Coalition (www.ecologicalmail.org) that solves this. By entering ex employees’ names into their database you can stop this mail. Marketers run their mailing lists through the Ecological Mail Database to remove people who won’t get their marketing materials.

3. Give yourself some credit: There is no shortage of ways to apply for credit cards or get insurance quotes so why do you need to be bombarded with offers? Stop these and other financial offers which use your credit score to pre-screen by going to www.optoutprescreen.com. To me this is also a matter of privacy!

4. Shop Where You Want: We all enjoy a nice browsing a catalog from time-to-time but how many do you get unsolicited that you will never order from? Those random catalogs can be stopped at www.directmail.com/directory/mail_preference. After filling out their form, the only catalogs you will receive will be those you ask for such as from the vendors you purchase from.

5. Send in the troops: This is actually pretty cool. A non-profit company called 41Pounds.org will stop junk mail on your behalf for just over $8 per year and they give you a 100% guarantee. What’s more, they donate 1/3 of their proceeds to environmental causes and planting trees.  Let them fight junk mail for you at www.41pounds.org/signup/

I hope this gives you some real solutions for saving yourself time, eliminating clutter and helping to save the planet.  I urge you to share this link with your friends, family and even Facebook. For these steps to really make an impact on the planet we need to get lots of people to join in!

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