Your Home and Your Health

Stephen Kohlbeck started Tilde Design Studio and Tilde Furniture with a desire to change the face of luxury.   With our oudated focus on mass consumption of nonrenewable goods and a dependence on toxic chemicals, he knows that there is a better, more responsible path to take.  When setting up the design studio’s resource library, virtually all materials were eco-friendly and sustainable.  When creating the furniture manufacturing company, he spent over a year experimenting with non-toxic materials to discover unusual and practical methods to create and finish their furniture.  The result is what was desired: innovative luxury without the stigma of the status quo.

This short section focuses on the health of your home and our planet.  We would love to discuss this in further detail.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTS

• Per the EPA, a newly-constructed American home is likely to be up to 10 times more polluted on the inside than the outside, and contain 3 to 5 times more VOCs.
• Per the New England Journal of Medicine, 40% of our children will develop a respiratory disease.
• We are witnessing a much greater frequency of chronic respiratory diseases.
• Effects from our toxic environments include headaches, nausea, damage to the liver, heart, kidneys, central nervous system, and cancer.
• The leading causes of indoor air pollution are the chemicals in finishes, furnishings, clothing, and cleaning agents.  These chemicals include formaldehyde, toluene, ethylene glycol, and brominated flame retardants.
• 25% of the world’s pesticides are used on cotton crops

SOLUTIONS

• Paints & Stains: Solvent-free, Water-based finish materials with no heavy metals or toxic chemicals, Natural color pigments, Plant-based oils and waxes, Water-based polyurethane without formaldehyde and toluene, Lead-free dryers.
• Sheet goods: No added urea-formaldehyde.
• Upholstery with natural latex foam, from the rubber tree, and organic cotton batting, instead of petroleum-based latex foam and fill.
• Hard floor surfaces instead of carpet
• Use stain and fire protection only when it’s most practical and necessary.

TILDE IN-HOUSE ECO PRACTICES 

• Office is 100% powered by wind source energy
• All paper products are recycled content, from toiletries to stationary
• Scrap paper is used before virgin paper
• Anything that can be recycled, is recycled
• Processes are highly computerized and communication is digital, whenever possible
• The office is located within mass transit arteries and close to restaurants