What could be less like shopping in a big box store than being offered a cup of tea while you choose a paint color?
That's what it's like when you visit EcoHome Improvement in Berkeley, California.
While the store serves primarily local customers, a visit to their website provides plenty of inspiration, and it's as close to being there as you can get online. Like this dreamy bit:
"At the Paint Bar™, you have a place to sit, have a glass of water or cup of tea, browse color decks, books and magazines, and spend time looking for just the right color."
Owners Taja DiLeonardi and Nina Boeddeker believe that green can be stylish and offer up a unique mix of products in a stress-free environment. If you're away from the East Bay, chances are you can find some of these favorites in your local green building store:
• Yolo Colorhouse zero-VOC paint
• Marmoleum linoleum flooring, which EcoHome Improvement also sells locally as fabricated countertops
• EcoTimber FSC certified flooring
But they've got more than a few other products that we haven't seen anywhere else. If you're in or around Berkeley, won't you share your favorites?
Promise me a cup of tea, a chair, and natural daylight everywhere I have to make major purchases, and I'll be queen of the greens by next week.
That is a nice little bit of marketing for your basic stressed-out yuppie demographic.
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