Have a Merry "maku" Christmas!

Merry Xmas and best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2009 to everybody!

Lots of good stuff coming down the green pipeline for 2009 from your favorite Eco friendly outdoor furniture company...!

Custom Projects

Just in case anybody reading our blog is interested in custom sustainable projects / furniture, Maku Furniture can do any furniture for any environment. We recently completed a project at the Intercontinental hotel in Chicago and the Four Season Atlanta has some Maku Benches on order!

You've seen the pictures of the EVO loft in downtown LA and that was a spur of the moment project. So if you are looking for custom 1 off piece or have a larger custom project Maku is your go to brand! We'll get you a great price on or under budget and can react to short timelines!

You can contact us by clicking here

By the way, we have a few new pcs that we will be adding to the collection just in time for the holidays. Why not make it a green xmas!

Welcome Urban Patio!

If you live in Nashville TN , have a design project, or just happen to be cruising through town stop by and check out Maku's newest retail and design partner - Urban Patio. A fresh shipment of Maku Lounge Chairs, side tables and other cool Maku pieces are en route!

Evo Lofts L.A.

Check out these Custom Maku table tops we made for a designer that is showcasing a bunch of product at the EVO lofts in Downtown L.A. If anybody is intersted in custom projects Maku is your go to. We can do anything custom no matter the quantity.

Big thanks to Menzie and Dan for working with Maku Furniture on this project!

7 years ago today 9.11.2001 Never Forget!

About this time 7 years ago (6:00 am) I was waking up to do my usual routine of looking out the windows to check the wind and then head down to the beach for a surf. A quick log in to the computer to check the bouys and see what direction the swell is coming from so I can choose the right break to surf.

Of course, I like to flip on the TV and check the news too. My daughter was 4 yrs old and my son was 2. It was that second that I turned on the TV and knew that something very tragic had happened to our country. At that very moment everything seemed so surreal and while my children may never fully understand the ramifications of this day 7 years ago, they will know the history and reasons why our country was attacked. My thoughts go out to each and every family member and person that was directly affected by this heartless attack.

The USA continues to be and will always be the greatest FREE nation in the world!

Bill Byrne BBPR extrodinaire

Bill Byrne or BBPR the Numero Uno PR Agency to budding Furniture Guru's, Actions Sports Brands, Men of Style, and All Things Project Blue just had some amazing coverage on Good Morning America.

Project Blue is an Eco Awareness program supported by our friends @ Dakine, Billabong, O'Neill, Electric, Reef, and Nixon. As they say "it's not a charity, it's a plan of action!"

As you know we get stoked on anything that helps our oceans and Project Blue as well as the brands I mentioned above are all about bringing greater awareness to the peril of our oceans through the Surfrider Foundation which we support as part of our partnership in 1% For the Planet. Support these brands and they will support mother earth and her vast waters! Check out the coverage here!

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5758062

Junk

I came across this blog a couple of weeks back and have been meaning to post it for all to see. http://junkraft.blogspot.com/

This is the trials and tribulations of 2 guys whom are "Sailing" from So.Cal to Hawaii on a boat made entirely of JUNK! More specifically -

"Sailing to Hawaii on 15,000 plastic bottles and a Cessna 310, to raise awareness about plastic fouling our oceans."

They are currently 180 miles from Hilo HI and have transversed the North Pacific Gyre a couple of times along the way. As you may have read in the past, The North Pacific Gyre is essentially a huge blob of floating plastic in the middle of the pacific where 2 currents terminate and millions of tons of plastic congregate and photo degrade. The environmental impacts of this pollution are affecting everything in the area and making it's way back to us through the food chain.

Here is a link to more info about the crew behind this amazing voyage!

Best day of Surf ever!

The waves today were 2 ft, crumbly, and an on shore wind but I had the best session of my life and didn't even catch a wave.

Today my 9 yr old son Mason paddled outside and in to the lineup and caught his own waves! He has been surfing for 2 years but until today stayed in the safety of the shore break where he could "hop" onto the whitewash after the wave broke. Well my boy can finally say he is a surfer since he paddled out with me and caught his own waves. I'm one proud dad for sure!!

Here is a pic of him with his new "used" board that we picked up from the crew @ K5 a few months ago. (sorry for the poor quality I took it with my cell phone...)

New Vivavi showroom!

Our Buddy Josh Dorfman aka the Lazy Environmentalist has opened a new Vivavi showroom in the exclusive and super eco friendly Riverhouse overlooking the Hudson.



Check out the maku lounge chair on the inside corner of the photo above. Thanks Josh and Jodi!!

Date my Ex: Jo & Slade

Looks like Jo and Slade from the Real Housewives of Orange County are back at it again with the ever riveting and always intriguing "Date My Ex" on Bravo TV.

At least they had the good sense to feature the Maku Dining Collection on the show!

Who would have ever guessed that Slade was so environmentally conscious all the while driving that big ole Hummer... :) Good on you Slade for taking the initiative to outfit your styling pad with some stylie and eco friendly furniture!

Here's a vid snipet from the show titled "The Threatening Breakfast!" Wow the tension in the air is so thick you could cut it with a knife. LOL! Anyway, check out this vid with about 30 seconds left and you'll see a great shot of the Maku dining Collection! Thanks Slade you big eco friendly Stud! Oh and tell Jo to call us, she's hot!

http://video.bravotv.com/player/?id=277325

Mod Livin - New Store!

Our Good friends at Mod Livin in Denver have opened up another location. We're talking Mod Livin x's 2! Check out the Mod Livin blog for all the great happenings in the Denver area.
And oh yeah, don't forget to stop in and check out some of the great Maku Furniture pcs they have on display.

R.I.P. Ray...

A bit of a somber post today to celebrate the life of my Friend Ray Lang. Ray passed away yesterday while racing motocross at the Loretta Lynn races in Tennessee. The LL races are the top amateur races for every level of MX.

Ray and I worked together with a number of Snowboard and Action Sports companies and he was not only a friend and incredible person but lived life the way he rode. Hard, Fast, and to Win.

While some might not agree, I would say we can all be so lucky to go out doing something we love!

R.I.P. Ray, you vibrancy, energy, and verve for living will be missed!

Arbus Magazine

The Maku LE Lounge Chair is Featured in the newest issue of Arbus Magazine. Many thanks to Shaan @ Nest Living for getting some Maku love in this killer zine!

Pics from Nest Living

Check out these shots of the Maku Lounge Chair and the Maku Side Table that Shaan from Nest Living in Jacksonville Fl sent in of his new store. Looks great and we are stoked to be represented in such a great space!! If anybody is in the Jacksonville area be sure to stop by and say hello to the Nest Living crew.

Reclaimed Wood production...

As you know at Maku Furniture we use only 100% reclaimed woods throughout our entire collection. Here are a couple of pics of the raw reclaimed wood before and during processing. It's hard to imagine that this these old beams will turn into beautiful outdoor furniture!

By the way, we have put a full analysis on the benefits of using reclaimed woods and as soon as we put a few finishing touches to it we'll post it up for all to see. Pretty much it boils down to this -
For every production run of 100 pcs in the maku collection using Reclaimed wood, Maku preserves 14.72 acres of plantation grown trees absorbing over 36,800 lbs of CO2 and toxins from the air! pretty cool eh!?!

These Beams were taken from a building that was torn down in favor of more modern construction materials.


This is the wood after it has gone through first processing and has been cut down into workable pieces to build Maku furniture.


These are slats for the Maku lounge chair and Maku chaise lounge!

Men's Health Best Life Magazine

Check out this little bit of radness! The ever sophisticated mag of all things healthy and cool - Men's Health Best Life features none other than yours truly in it's latest issue! 2 great pages with the heartwarming story of how a snowboard executive branches out and starts a contemporary outdoor furniture brand with sustainability at the heart of the DNA. Ala Maku Furniture! And how about the nice product shots of the Maku Chaise, Maku Lounge Chair, and Maku Bench.

Many thanks to my good friend Bill Bryne of BBPR for the tremendous job in helping put this story together! Here is a link to the story in HI RES from the BBPR blog

Baja bbq firepack

Check this sweet little bbq kit from my friends Mike and Maaike! This would be the perfect compliment to a night chilling on the beach in a Maku Lounge Chair...

eco-friendly instant charcoal packaging designed by Mike and Maaike for Design Annex/ Lazzari

The Baja BBQ Firepack is charcoal packaging that lights instantly and burns away in the grille, making the barbeque experience simple, clean and chemical free. Made from 100% recycled biodegradable paper pulp, the package contains 2 lbs of natural lump charcoal and features an integrated chimney that creates perfect hot coals in 15-20 minutes without the aid of chemicals or lighter fluid. Available at gourmet supermarkets. Manufactured by Lazzari/ Design Annex - patent pending

to see how it works, visit mikeandmaaike.com

Yikes, 1 month!

WOW, sorry for the lack of updates! I can't believe it has been 1 month since I last posted. I guess a week in Europe (Great beers in Belgium..!) and the daily daily that needs to get done with a quickly growing business has kept me from updating the blog regularly.

The good news - We're here and we are rocking! Warehouse went from overflowing with product to dang near empty in less than a month. Don't worry, production is in full swing and the product pipeline is filling the warehouse back up so keep on ordering the best 100% sustainable furniture.

I've got lots of good stuff to update including some very cool pictures from this current round of production plus a cool analysis I did on Maku Sustainability and how reclaimed wood compares to plantation grown...

More to come in the next few days and thanks for checking it!

Stuctured Green

Mike from Structured Green in Savannah GA sent us these killer pics of their new store. If you are in or around the Savannah area you definitely have to go by and check them out. For all their info click on the "Where to buy" page on the Maku website. And if you want to buy some Maku pieces from Strutured Green they have the Maku Lounge Chair, Maku Side Table and Maku Chaise in stock!

Going Solar for under a G!

I found this cool little article courtesy of the Sierra Club. It talks about how you can go solar for under a $1000 and start down the path to low cost eco friendly living! I'm digging on the Solar Ipod Charger!

Solar Projects for Under $1000

While installing enough solar panels to power your home might not be affordable in the short term for many, there are several less expensive solar projects that most home owners can handle.

Some utilities offer incentives and rebates for installing solar panels on your home. Contact your local utility to find out if they offer such incentives. (Here's an example of an incentive program in California.) Lastly, the government will pay you back 30 percent of the cost of your solar installations, up to a maximum of $2000.

Here are a few examples of what you can do for about $1000 or less:

• Outdoor solar lighting for decks, walkways, gardens, porches, and garages: $75 per lamp. These are probably the easiest and cheapest solar additions to your home.
• Complete solar cabin kits to power an outdoor shed, or remote cabin: Starts at $975 for 80 watt output, $1610 for 165 watt output. After government tax breaks, that's $683 and $1127 respectively.
• Even a solar iPod charger! Works with other MP3 players and PDAs also. Only $44.

Here's an excellent, comprehensive guide on solar installation (pdf) from the California Energy Commission. You can also purchase a wide array of installation guides from book sellers. Here's one example.

Maku makes #6 on the Chicago Tribune Eco List!

Check it out, the Chicago Tribune lists Maku Furniture as #6 out of 20 ways to live green. Even our friends over at Carlsbadistan picked up on the story!

If you are in the Chicago area be sure to stop by Orange Skin and say hello and find out the latest and greatest in the world of modern design.

Welcome Nest Living!

Welcome to the newest Maku Furniture partner, Nest Living. Shaan and crew have a cool little store in Jacksonville Florida and we are stoked to be working with them!

Here's a big high 5 to Nest Living!

YIKES!

I am sure that most of you have heard of the tragic death of a local San Diego man whom was an accomplished ocean athlete - surfing, swimming, diving, fishing, triathlons.

This is the first confirmed Great White attack in San Diego in almost 50 years and our thoughts go out to the entire Martin Family for their loss. While we don't know Mr. Martin, as surfers we have a tremendous amount of respect for those that have an equal appreciation for the ocean and from the media reports he sounds like a pretty cool guy!

White sharks travel substantial distances from Alaska to Baja Mexico and I would venture to guess this female shark is long gone. (I hope...) In the meantime I snapped this picture from the beach on Saturday....

10 ways to better mother earth!

Best Wishes from Maku Furniture for a wonderful Earth Day 2008! Check out these to easy ways to help Mother Earth. Courtesy of our friends @ Surfrider Foundation.

10 Things You Can Do Now to Soften Your Impact on Mother Earth:

1. Reduce, Reuse then Recycle as much as possible, including paper (newspaper, office paper, corrugated boxes), glass, plastic, aluminum and steel (and water!!). Use the back of every piece of paper.

2. Be conscious of your water usage and try not to let too much go down the drain and don't let any go down the street because of over watering.

3. Conserve energy, use energy efficient lighting and ask your utility company to use renewable energy. Turn lights/TV off when not in use.

4. Find an alternative to chemical pesticides for your lawn and buy organic produce when possible to reduce pesticide use in farming.

5. Eat locally grown organic foods. Limit or eliminate meat from your diet and purchase only those brands of tuna marked "dolphin safe."

6. Join a Surfrider beach cleanup or organize a cleanup of your own!

7. Use public transportation whenever possible and, when driving, try to carpool. Bike or walk for short trips…and gain a health benefit too.

8. Get your toes in the sand! Visit and support our parks. Help teach young people to appreciate the beauties of the natural world.

9. Educate yourself on important environmental concerns and know how your elected officials stand on the issues.

10. Spend time teaching a child about the importance of a healthy environment.

Earth Day 2008 Kudos

For Earth Day 2008 I thought I would give some props to more mainstream companies that are making strides to become green.

At the top of the list is Target. Yes that's right the mass merchandiser with the funny dog, the Red Target, and The Flying Tomato. Now I can't even remember the last time I was in a Target Store but I have long admired them for the ability to re-invent themselves and almost create a pop culture icon.

The basic and most important premise's behind Target's marketing machine is never loosing site of "The Brand". For those interested in Branding and Marketing, here is a great story from Fortune Magazine

Branding / Marketing 101 runs pure in Target and that is what I like about this company.

Now to the original reason I started talking about Target. In the most recent issue Newsweek Titles "Who is the Greenest of them All" that landed on our door step and interesting 2 page spread caught my attention.

Here is a scan of that ad. For Target to take on such a massive endeavor as trying to reduce the number of plastic bags they use (ok, cost cutting is probably the true reason) and be able to do something good for the environment is pretty much genius in marketing and branding terms. (See initial comments...)

Or, is it Greenwashing...? I would venture to guess that despite the cost savings in reducing the number of plastic bags Target uses, at the very heart of this initiative is a desire to what is right and good.



This same issue of Newsweek had some very interesting Fixes for the planet and companies / ideas that are probably worthy of further study and investment.

1. http://www.ecocycle.org/
2. LED Lightbulbs
3. Greener Golf Fairways
4. Kiteships to offset Container Cargo Fuel Costs
5. Plastic Solar Cells
6. The Aptera

Earth Day 2008 Tuesday April 22nd

Coming up this Tuesday is Earth Day 2008. What better way to make a Green Statement and commitment to the Environment that starting on Earth Day. Just make 1 commitment to the eco system and stick to it for the entire year and use it as a growing point to continue adding on for years to come.

Be it driving less / riding your bike to work one day a week, recycling (more), making an effort to pick up trash that somebody else has so rudely dispersed on the street. Or investing in green home products such as Maku Furniture

Even the little things can make a big difference if we all do it!

Maku debut's on MTV's "The Real World"

Check it out, The new Season of MTV's "The Real World" debuted tonight. Filmed in Hollywood, the 20th Season of The Real World is focused on eco living and sustainability. And of course what other furniture company than Maku Furniture would be involved!

Tonights episode had lots of really good shots of the Maku Sectional, Maku Bench, Maku Chaise, and Maku Lounge Chair. The set and design crew @ MTV did a great job in placing all the Maku pieces throughout The Real World set.

Some people might question why Maku would be involved in a show that focus's on young 20 somethings "finding" their way through life with strangers in front of a camera but this is exactly the kind of non traditional approach to the world of home furnishing that we like.

Structured Green Grand Opening!

This Saturday April 19th (3 days before Earth Day 2008!) Savannah's first sustainable living showroom opens. Maku Furniture is proud to be one of the key brands represented in Structured Green so stop by and check out the Maku Lounge Chairs and Maku Chaise lounge that Mike and Raquel have in stock. You can also special order any pieces in the collection that are not in stock.

A BIG HIGH5 to the entire crew @ Structured Green and best wishes for a successful opening!

West Coast Salmon run all but gone...

Being tied closely to the ocean, I see macro and micro changes in our eco system all the time. Both good and bad.

Fortunately here in North County San Diego the kelp beds have made a comeback! They were all but gone a few years ago and then an agressive kelp reforestation program brought it back. Not only does the kelp offer a home to many species of oceanic life but it also creates some nice glassy surfing conditions inside the kelp when the wind is blowing on the outside.

What does kelp in North County San Diego and Salmon have to do with each other. Well, much like the kelp forests a few years ago the west coast salmon have now all but disappeared. As recently as 2002, 750,000 adult salmon were counted in the run up the Sacramento river. It is estimated that less than 90,000 Chinook ran last fall and that number is projected to plummet to as little as 58,000 this fall. Less than 10% of the salmon that ran in 2002 an over 90% decrease!!

While certainly I feel that some of this can be attributed to climate change and perhaps cyclical nature, there is no doubt in my mind that most of the decline in the west coast salmon run is attributed to man. More runoff / pollution / sediment build up in the Sacramento river basin from increased building, farming, and pretty much people not caring about our impact on our eco system.

There are solutions to these problems, I always talk about the easy ones such as recycling. It's not that hard to put your plastics, papers, bottles and cans in a separate container for the garbage man to pick up. Remember the North pacific gyre and the blob of plastic the size of Texas floating in the ocean...?

Eating organic foods that don't use synthetic pesticides which runoff into the river and oceans creating algae / plankton blooms and sucking the oxygen out of the water.

Conserving energy and turning off lights or electronics when you are not in the room.

When are we as an entire society going to start seeing the impacts firsthand and change the way we live to help mother earth heal from all this damage? It appears that we are willing to pay $4 for a gallon of gas and looks like we will be paying $30+ for a pound of wild Salmon in the near future. At some point society has to take a stands and say enough is enough look at what we are doing to our environment. I think that time is nearing.

Act locally and think globally. I know that's kind of a played out saying but it's true and we can each make a difference together if we take a stand and do what is right.

Getting a new board!

Got these pics from John up at Cole Surfboards showing me a new board that Cole is shaping for me. There is a lot of cool new technology happening with surfboard shaping right now and this particular blank from my buddy Matt @ Prop Surf has a "quadrabolic" stringer meaning there are 4 stringers on the outside rails of the board as opposed to the traditional single stringer down the middle.



The idea behind this is that as you do a bottom turn you load the board with energy and as it comes out of the turn the energy releases from the board giving you more speed down the line. And speed is your friend when surfing! The energy transfer is very similar to the way a snowboard or ski will flex through the apex of a turn and then give you that pop as you come out of the turn.




So far this board looks amazing and I can't wait to try this thing out, Cole just needs to put his touches on the board and then off to the glasser it goes. Shouldn't be too long until it completed, Thanks Cole!

Better Living Show - Portland

Our good friend Dennis from Eclectic Home in Portland sent in this shot of the Maku Dining Collection from the Better Living show last weekend. Dennis and Eclectic Home continue to set the standard for Sustainable Furniture Retailing in the NW and it is great to have him as part of the Maku Furniture Family!

Check the Eclectic Home blog for more updates.

Welcome Structured Green!

Check it out, Maku Furniture just added another member to the family! Mike and Raquel are super cool southern cats with a great new store called Structured Green in Savannah, GA. Their website is up and running and the new store will be open in the next few weeks. A fresh shipment of Maku goods like the Maku Lounge Chair, Maku Side Table, and Maku Chaise are on their way so if you live in the Savannah area be sure to stop by and say hello!

Word has it that the new Discovery channel Planet Green is going to do a feature on Mike and Raquel's new store!

It's pretty rad to not only see these terrific Sustainable Retailers popping up through out the country but equally cool that Maku Furniture is privileged to partner with them!

A big virtual High 5 and Congrats Mike and Raquel!

Organic Cotton

Our friends over at econsciousmarket sent over this great info on Organic cotton.

DID YOU KNOW?
It takes 1/3 lb of toxic chemicals to produce just one conventional cotton T-shirt. How many tees do you have in your closet?
Conventionally-grown cotton crops account for twenty-five percent of all the pesticides used in the U.S., many of which are classified as the most toxic by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Organic Cotton: What is it?

Organic cotton is grown and harvested with natural fertilizers and in soil free from pesticides, defoliants, fertilizers, drugs, hormones, or synthetic chemicals. Organic farmers rely on crop rotation, mechanical cultivation, and botanical or biological means to control pests and weeds.

All of us @ Maku Furniture have been longtime supporters of companies such as Mission Playground and prAna that have been manufacturing super stylie clothing with an eco minded attitude since back in the day or one of our favorite up and coming brands RVCA

But "The Fabric of our Lives" i.e. Cotton is used in far more products than just clothing. Be it bedding and linens or as cottonseed oil in the feed that used for the livestock and ultimately the milk you drink... Just another way that unwanted pesticides can end up in your home and on you dinner table!

Earth Hour 2008!

Join Maku furniture, hundreds of companies and millions of people in taking a stand against global warming and participate in Earth Hour 2008 this Saturday @ 8pm.

On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships–Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco and Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.

What will you do when the lights are off? We have lots of ideas.

Join people all around the world in showing that you care about our planet and want to play a part in helping to fight climate change. Don’t forget to sign up and let us know you want to join Earth Hour.

One hour, America. Earth Hour. Turn out for Earth Hour!

"Best in show" Mod Livin - Denver

Check it out: one of our newest members of the Maku Furniture family, Jill and crew @ Mod Livin in Denver are holding their 2nd annual Best in Show plastic puppy event. All proceeds from this event go to benefit the Denver Animal Care Foundation which provides low cost veterinary services to those who would otherwise be unable to afford it.

Looks like a fun time so and you can vote online for your favorite!

Top "5" Green Living Facts

Sorry for the lack of updates. As spring is quickly approaching Maku Furniture continues to gain more and more momentum in the marketplace and there doesn't seem to be enough time in the day, which is good of course...!

So while reading the Sunday paper yesterday morning while chilling on the Maku sectional in my backyard, I came across this little gem of info in the North County Times real estate section. The Article is titled "It's easy living green, eco friendly homes reduce carbon footprint"

The story goes on to talk about a new development called Del Sur in Black Mountain Ranch (as if San Diego needs more development..!). But the good news is this 1800 acre development will feature eco friendly building tactics such as Tankless water heaters, Solar Power, weather based irrigation systems. It's good to see that despite the rampant over development of what once used to be a Wonderfully small city by the beach is in some cases taking a green approach.

A big HIGH5 to the Black Mountain Ranch LLC development group for taking some initiative in green home building!

Now back to the original intention of this post. The top 5 "Green" Living facts as brought to you by the ever progressive North County Times.

• The U.S. Residential sector is only 2nd to Chinese heavy industry in terms of INeffecient energy use ((McKinsey Global institute)
• If every home replaced the 5 most used bulbs in the house with efficient compact fluorescent bulbs over 1 trillion lbs of greenhouse gases would be kept out of the air over the course of the bulbs life. (of course it can be debated that the process for manufacturing fluorescent bulbs outweighs the benefits...)
• Green Building, design, and construction drastically eliminate the V.O.C. that we are all potentially exposed to over time.
• Landscape irrigation accounts for nearly 1/3 of all residential water use. If these were replaced with Weather based systems over 24 billion gallons of water annually could be saved according to the EPA.
• An average 2000 sq ft home generates an estimated 4 tons of construction waste. With a little planning and prep it is possible for 90% of that waste to be recycled! (Hello, Any home builders listening...?) Think of the financial savings...
  

Green Beer, Green Living, Green Furniture, and my great grandma

Wow, the quad whammy on St Paddy's day.

First a very happy Bday wish to my great grandma who was born on this day in 1898. She's be gone about 10 years now but every St Paddy's day I tip one in honor of her!

Green Beer - You've probably heard us mention New Belgium Brewing from Colorado and Full Sail Brewing from Oregon. Not only are these guys some serious brew masters but they really exemplify the "Green Business" From utilizing the winds of the gorge at the Full Sail Brewery to brewing the Organic Mothership Wit at New Belguim these companies IMHO are setting the standards what eco friendly business should be all about.

Green Living - While we are never ones to turn down a good beer, the Green of St. Paddy's day should be more than just understanding the heritage of the Irish and partaking in the culture. It should be a day where we all look at our impacts on the eco system and what we can do to lessen that impact. We really like to talk about recycling because it is one of the easiest things you can do. As we have written in the past about the viscous blob of plastics floating in the North Pacific gyre, it is a no brainer to recycle your plastics - bags, containers, bottles, etc. Even using a camping bottle for your water everyday is better than drinking from 5 different plastic bottles each day...

But lets not forget about recycling things such as paper too. Recycling paper uses 60% less energy than manufacturing paper from virgin timber. So not only are you saving a tree but also reducing your carbon consumption footprint by using products that take less energy to manufacture.

Green Furniture - Well thats an easy one because that is what we are all about. To all of us at Maku Furniture, "green" is more a way of life than a "marketing story". From supporting and wearing eco friendly clothing brands such as Mission Playground, participating in beach cleanups, recycling paper, plastics, and cans, to eating organic foods and of course partaking in some of the great beers of Full Sail and New Belgium Brewing companies. Especially on this great day of March 17th!

So I leave you with one last thought an old Irish limerick

There was a young lady one fall
Who wore a newspaper dress to a ball.
The dress caught fire
And burned her entire
Front page, sporting section and all.

Big time media coverage!

Just finished an all day photo shoot with a top Men's lifestyle magazine. I don't want to let the cat out of the bag until the issue comes out but it should be a killer story on Maku and myself.

Many thanks to PR guru and all around nice guy Bill Byrne of BBPR for setting this up. It has taken well over 6 months for this to come to fruition and I couldn't more stoked right now!

Further proof that Maku continues to grow and garner more attention despite the challenging economic conditions. Look for more details around June when this issue debuts!

Yeah Keir , 1st place Nippon Open!

Way to Keir, 1st place at the Nippon Open in Japan!! Sweet! Keir of course rides for Maku Furniture, Burton Snowboards, Gravis footwear, a bunch of other cool companies, and is a Carlsbad loc!

Check out all the results and good stuff here.

More on the Global Green Oscar Party

Here's a cool little video of the Global Green Oscars party I found on Lime.com Around 2:11 is where you start to see a bunch of Maku Furniture and our good friend Daniel from Vernare.

Welcome Orange Skin to the family!

WOW, 2 new Maku Furniture partners to announce in 2 days!

Chicago is one of my favorite cities in the world and home not only to many great pubs and of course my favorite mother-in-law (ok, she's my only mother-in-law, but she's super cool!) But also home to one of the finest modern furniture retailers in the country - Orange Skin.

Graunk, his partners, and the rest of the Orange Skin crew not only hold down the title relating to all things hip and modern in Chi town, they are also involved in many design projects throughout the midwest.

We are really excited to have Orange Skin representing us in Chicago and welcome aboard!

Welcome Mod Livin - Denver

Check out it - Maku Furniture is pleased to welcome Erick, Jill and the crew from Mod Livin in Denver to the family and officially rocking Maku in their amazing store. If you live anywhere in the rockies and especially the front range, Mod Livin is a must see store.

We are really excited to partner with Mod Livin and look for great things to come!

Somebody is getting it!

I've been meaning to post this for a while and just now getting around to it. Thomas Prais is the editor of Furniture style magazine and a while back he did a great little article on marketing to a younger more affluent and vibrant demographic. Of course this article included some commentary on Maku's strategy and a few quotes by your truly. In the world of Baby Boomeritus old school furniture marketing it was refreshing to see that Maku's strategy was starting to resonate!

A few months later he followed it up with a small online piece talking about the power of email / electronic communication as a form of branding. Those of you industry types that are on our mailing and get our newsletter know what I am talking about.

Here is a link to the online story that Thomas wrote

And here is some brief commentary at the end of his segment. Thanks for the great words Thomas it is refreshing and I am really glad that what we are trying to do is starting to resonate in a fairly stagnant old school market place!!

Thomas 2.0 Responds: I think Maku has put together a pretty smart marketing strategy. Other than, perhaps, at the very highest end of the furniture price spectrum, the furniture industry seems to be highly committed to hobbling along with small marketing budgets, and advertising strategies from the 1950s. Most furniture marketing seems to be flyers and commercials featuring uninspired product shots and a promise of low, low prices. Which I guess is fine, IF the key to commercial success is waiting for a consumer to decide she wants to buy something and then making sure she knows that your company sells that said something, and IF she even notices your commercial sandwiched between their favorite TV show and far more compelling, entertaining commercials (and that’s assuming she doesn’t TIVO past commercial breaks entirely). What I like about Maku, which reaches out to Gen X and Y consumers, is that they’ve picked up on this lifestyle branding thing pretty well, going out to Extreme Sports venues, sponsoring competitions, etc. In other words, they’re connecting their product with something their intended audience cares deeply and passionately about (and, in this case, the consumerrs have the scars to prove it). If your selling something to sit on, I guess a price story is the only one that makes sense. But if you can transform your product into the locus where a consumer’s life intersects with her desires, passions and self-image, well then you’re creating desire, not just waiting for it to happen. I don’t think a lot of people in the industry understand how important brands are in the lives of my generation (I’m a Gen-Xer). I don’t particularly like that aspect of my generation, but there it is. We Gen-Xers carve our identities out of the stuff we buy. We Gen-Xers love our IKEA, our Starbucks, our J. Crew. When we get together we talk about the stuff we’ve bought and how great (or awful) a brand is. Shopping becomes our master narrative, consumption is how we change the world. So we especially love it when a brand is associated with things we either (a) care about or (b) like to think that we care about. In addition to its Extreme Sports angle, Maku also associates its brand with art, travel and saving the environment. I think they’ll do well in the long term. Thomas 2.0, Furniture Style Magazine 12/20/2007 at 10:50 AM

Global Green party update

sorry, no pics yet waiting for them to arrive from some of the photog's and like a knucklehead, I forgot my little digi cam in the car...

But, the party was pretty cool and for an amazing cause over $420,000 was raised! There were a lot of A list celebs chilling on Maku pieces from Sophia Bush, Selma Hayek, Penelope Cruz, and Molly Sims (all ohhh so hot!) to Oliver Stone, Bill Maher, Adrian Grenier and I think I saw Pete Wentz or an emo look alike.... :) from Fall Out Boy, yeah Pete way to get your green on!

All in all it was a super fun event and we were privileged to be involved with Global Green, Vernare, Cisco Home and all the other great sponsors of the party. Oh and by the way, my favorite brewery New Belgium was dolling out some great Mothership Wit that made things that much better!

Here are a few clinks with some added coverage of the event.

Click Here

Click Here for a few pics of celebs and Maku pieces in the background or on them

Click Here

5th Annual Global Green Oscars "pre party"!

Getting ready to head up to LA for the Big "Global Green" pre- Oscars party tonight. Oh no, what am I gonna wear...! I don't think my typical flip flops and shorts / t shirt is gonna cut it...

Maku totally dialed in the Spider Room at The Avalon with a bunch of cool pieces like our sectional and lounge chairs in conjunction with our ultra hip West Hollywood retailer Vernare for all the VIP's to chill on.

Should be a fun night for a good cause and I will post up some pictures tomorrow! In the mean time here are a couple of links with info about the event.

click here and here for more good stuff

Maku and Vernare Rocking the Grammy's green!

So check it out, Maku in conjunction with our rockstar West Hollywood retail partner Vernare were Rocking the 50th Annual Grammy Awards @ the Green with Music luxury Retreat.



Located in the lobby of the super hip South Collection Building in downtown L.A., rockers, actors, agents, producers and those shi shi PR people were all checking Maku out and chilling on the goods!

Here is a little snipet of some of the coverage we received. Many thanks to Daniel and his crew for representing us so well and to Treehugger and Fox 11 KTLA for giving us some love!

Click Here for the Treehugger.com coverage

Click Here for LA Fox 11's coverage. About 1/2 way through the segment you'll see some great shots of the furniture!

But wait, there's more to come from the NAACP image awards last night and from the Oscars later next week with the Global Green Oscars Party that we will be a part of! Check back in the next couple of days on updates from those events and our participation!