Less is more for interior design's 'green queen'

Real Estate Weekly, Dec 15, 2004 by Daniel Geiger

If interior designer, Elaine Lewis, has her way with a space, it won't simply come out looking stylish.

Although inculcated with a strong aesthetical sense from extensive world travel, experience in the antique business and many prolific years as an interior designer, Lewis doesn't measure the success she has had in designing a space solely by the attractiveness invoked by its fine accoutrements, furniture, carpeting, layout and/or decorations.

For her, its utilization of environmentally friendly materials is paramount.

Showing admirable stewardship towards the planet's resources, Lewis tries to incorporate, whenever possible, responsibly harvested wood or sustainable wood alternatives such as bamboo for her designs and in the furniture that she selects.

Her ethos for "green" designs is two pronged however.

Just as she is concerned for the earth's habitats, Lewis strives equally to insure the welfare of a space's occupants. According to her, many of the materials commonly used to adorn our living and working quarters are hazardous to our health.

Lewis believes that commonly used products like varnished wood, treated leather and upholstery, carpeting, even the glue used in furniture, all contain a myriad of toxins and cancer causing agents that are especially dangerous taking into account our prolonged and consistent exposure to them both at home and in the workplace.

Lewis considers it her mandate to use alternative or all-natural products that pose no health risks.

"I think that one day doctors and scientists are going to find that a lot of the illnesses we have are caused by the chemicals we're exposed to in our everyday environments," Lewis said.

"There are so many toxic chemicals that are used to process the fabrics and materials commonly used in our furniture and in the varnish on our floors and in the carpeting. And we're getting exposed to them every day. It's not good for us and I'm doing something about it in my designs."

Lewis's expertise in crafting interiors that are both stylish and healthy hasn't gone unnoticed by leading developers.

Green gurus, the Durst Organization--whose soon to be built Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park is designed to be one of the most environmentally efficient buildings in the world--recently commissioned Lewis to de-sign four model apartments in The Helena, their new luxury residential tower on the west side.

"It's wonderful to be able to incorporate my beliefs for a healthy lifestyle into my profession," Lewis said. "Working with the Dursts has been special because I think I have a lot of the same beliefs towards the environment that they do. We're really on the same page and it's just so exciting working with them."

Lewis got her start in the 70s when a well-placed friend offered her the chance to design the interiors for 21 apartments in a new residential development. Work with well-known developers, suc as the Lefrak Organization, followed and Lewis quickly began to build a name for herself. Although she preferred, and still does, designing space for commercial space and residential high rises, Lewis managed to find time to do personal residential designs for celebrity clients Sidney Poitier, John Mackenroe and the Rolling Stones.

Versed in everything from Feng Shui to design theories that incorporate a client's astrological sign into the layout and decoration scheme, Lewis describes her style as "modern, simplistic, hard edged, free from any clutter" and influenced mainly by her many travels throughout Asia.

Lewis published her book, Less is More, in 1995, which details many of her designs throughout the 80s and early 90s. Its success, she says, has inspired her publisher to prompt her to draft a follow up.

"I've got a great idea for another book, but right now I just don't have the time," she said. "I'm so busy and having such a great time doing designs right now that things will have to settle down before I sit down and get writing."