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A New Eco-Chic Home Decor Boutique Plants Its Roots on the Eastside

Furniture and decor shop Tree opened in Bellevue in April

bedroom

This article originally appeared in the September 2018 issue of Seattle magazine.

This article appears in print in the September 2018 issue. Click here to subscribe.

Business owner Nicole Wakley wants shoppers to feel at home in Tree, her Bellevue furniture and decor store, open since April. Her interpretation of home is an inspirational one: inviting, full of beautiful, eco-friendly pieces and smelling of jasmine and tea rose.

Wakley made the transition from a career as a corporate attorney to pursue her passion for sustainable living and interior design, opening her first store, Tree’s sprawling downtown Tacoma showroom, last fall. Both stores offer an internationally curated collection of handcrafted furnishings, from reclaimed live-edge teak benches to Scandinavian-inspired oak bed frames. Many items are one of a kind, but signature collections, designed by expert craftspeople, include best-sellers such as the extendable oak tables.

Part of Tree’s business model includes giving back; the company has already planted more than 80,000 trees worldwide and regularly partners with nonprofit organizations. Also, it sells only sustainable merchandise that Wakley ensures is built to last. Eco-conscious and aesthetic? Now that’s our kind of home.

Bellevue, 1028 116th Ave. NE; 833.855.8733;  tree.co.

Can Alaska Kelp Help Washington Crops Beat the Heat?

Can Alaska Kelp Help Washington Crops Beat the Heat?

A Ketchikan company is working with WSU researchers to see whether its kelp-based biostimulant can help grapes and berries withstand environmental stress.

From the floatplane, reddish-brown kelp traces the edges of the small islands between Ketchikan and Prince of Wales Island like brushstrokes on the surface of the water. Up close, on a rare 70-degree July day in Alaska, the kelp is glossy and beautiful, though the wind coming off the water makes it nearly impossible to…

PlantCon Is Coming for Seattle’s Windowsills

PlantCon Is Coming for Seattle’s Windowsills

The nation’s largest gathering for houseplant lovers makes its Pacific Northwest debut this August with 200 booths, hands-on workshops, and a DJ.

My house is full of plants, enough that I’ve lost count. Houseplants have the same suspicious math as tattoos: One is rarely the final number. I propagate cuttings in jars of water, regularly rearrange corners of the house in pursuit of better light, and like to imagine the entire collection is improving the air. That…

Noir Lux Lights Up Fourth Avenue

Noir Lux Lights Up Fourth Avenue

The Seattle candle brand’s new two-level pop-up brings workshops and community gatherings downtown through September.

It’s often said that good things come in threes, and for Colina Bruce, founder of the lifestyle and home fragrance brand Noir Lux, that’s certainly proving true. With a flagship shop in Belltown and an outpost in Ballard, Bruce is rounding out a Noir Lux trio with the opening of the Noir Lux Collective on…

Better Together: This Take on Co-Housing Emphasizes Quality and Community

Better Together: This Take on Co-Housing Emphasizes Quality and Community

The Seattle project presents an out-of-the-box model, where investors are also residents, and the design focuses on longevity and tenant retention—not profit.

Growing up in rural Detroit, Chad Dale spent many after-school and weekend hours playing with neighborhood kids in an open lot near his house. It’s an experience he always hoped his children would have someday, but by the time he became a father in Seattle, land was at a premium: either already developed or prohibitively…