Mod Green Pod’s Mission: Making Green the New Pink

By Marni Elyse Katz
November 16, 2009

Nancy Mims, Co-Founder and Creative Director of organic fabric and wallpaper company Mod Green Pod, believes that a healthy home need not be a boring one. Just one look at her funky Austin abode, which she’s dubbed the “Mod Green Pod test lab,” and it’s clear that this thirty-something designer, businesswoman and mother of Clara, 8, and Atticus, 3, practices what she preaches. From her signature Butterfly Jubilee wallpaper on the library wall to the various MGP prints that cover the sofa, two chairs and ottoman in the living room—not to mention the Bloom duvet in her daughter’s room—Mims admits, “It’s pretty much all Mod Green Pod at this point.”

The Inside Source: The last time we spoke, you had just emerged from two weeks of hibernating, with the sole purpose to design. Have you been back in design mode since then?

Nancy Mims: I’m actually in a design frenzy right now. It’s so hard to jump back and forth from handling the business end of things to designing, so I sort of have to check out to get creative. I’m currently working on designs for a client who is doing a product line of home furnishings. They’re going to license the Mod Green Pod name for the patterns I create, which will be printed on organic cotton, like my own line.

TIS: I know your last round of patterns was inspired by springtime and the outdoors. What’s turning you on this time?

NM: I’m looking at Japanese designs, I often go back to traditional Japanese motifs that are found in kimono. I have a collection of Japanese kimono, and I get so much inspiration from them. I like to modernize by giving them Western angle. Of course, that tactic has been used eight million times, so the challenge is making it new. I tweak the motifs and pare stuff down. I make symmetrical motifs asymmetrical and vice versa.

TIS: Are there any particular motifs that run though your collections time and again?

NM: I’d say Art Nouveau and Mid-Century Modern are my two biggest influences and you can probably trace back elements from those eras in all of my designs. It is just sort of in my brain, so their appearance is inevitable.

TIS: What colors are you loving? Any you simply don’t like?

NM: I get sucked into color and I go through phases of loving certain colors. I still can’t get enough of grey. I like various shades of grey mixed with brights. My blue solid, Water, which is a shade in between turquoise and teal, is one I really, really, really love. I’m not even a blue person, but I can’t stop looking at that blue. I’ve never been a big fan of purple. Recently it seemed like purple was everywhere, so I tried to like it, but I just couldn’t.

TIS: Give us the details on what makes your products "green."

NM: The textile industry is very chemical-intensive. Many fabrics have formaldehyde for wrinkle-proofing and color fastness, features that provide convenience, but are bad for the water, and us. MGP is a member of the Organic Trade Association (OTA), which means we follow their guidelines from harvesting to finishing. We use certified organic cotton that is produced through traditional farming methods, without pesticides or insecticides. The inks we print with follow Global Oranic Textile Standards. They come from Germany, and don't contain toxic chemicals like heavy metals or phalates.

TIS: Where do you produce your fabrics?

NM: We’re also becoming more devoted to U.S.-based production. This year, we spent a few days visiting mills here. It was depressing to see how diminished the textile industry is in the U.S., so it made me more motivated to produce here and try to do what we can to revive the industry and help create jobs. The infrastructure and mills exist, as do people who want the jobs. My huge dream is to help old mills here go “green.”

TIS: You must be an eBay shopper or a thrift store junkie.

NM: Yes! Almost everything I my house is vintage. Some things I get on eBay; some are family pieces. I buy a lot of old, junky chairs from two junk shops in my neighborhood—there are two great ones between my house and the Mod Green Pod office. I recently had a Victorian era chair refurbished and went to great lengths to make it as green as possible. The upholsterer sourced organic cotton batting and muslin, and she used the original horsehair.

Mims found the following treasures on eBay, and told us how she’d transform them from drab to fab—in Mod Green Pod fabrics, natch.

Roll over items for details

Castelli Modular Sectional Sofa

NM: As soon as I saw this modular sofa, I pictured each of the six sections in a different Mod Green Pod fabric. Ever since we received our new solids collection, I’ve wanted to use to mix and match our solids with our prints. I’d do just about anything to see these sections upholstered in the following six prints and solids, in this exact order:

(starting bid, $700)

Mod Green Pod’s Mission: Making Green the New Pink

NM: As soon as I saw this modular sofa, I pictured each of the six sections in a different Mod Green Pod fabric. Ever since we received our new solids collection, I’ve wanted to use to mix and match our solids with our prints. I’d do just about anything to see these sections upholstered in the following six prints and solids, in this exact order: Aspire in Peppercorn. Raspberry Solid, Atticus in Cherry, Chocolate Solid, Bloom in Persimmon/Peppercorn and Water Solid.

Antique Fainting Couch

NM: I’d love to have this Victorian fainting couch, so I could swoon and sniff smelling salts in style. (The smelling salts would rest on an

(buy it now price, $345)

NM: I’d love to have this Victorian fainting couch, so I could swoon and sniff smelling salts in style. (The smelling salts would rest on an Eero Saarinen tulip side table, of course). Butterfly Jubilee in Licorice and Earl Grey is the perfect choice for this piece; the modern nod to the fussy old damask ties the centuries together, and the butterfly wings mimic the symmetrical curve of the couch’s back.

Set of Six Danish Modern Dining Chairs

Out of respect for the clean lines and subtle curves of these classic dining chairs, I’d choose my most straightforward modernist design,

(buy it now price, $795)

Out of respect for the clean lines and subtle curves of these classic dining chairs, I’d choose my most straightforward modernist design, Atticus in Basil.

French Regency X Base Carved Stool

I was immediately attracted to the carved scrolls of the stool’s feet. I’d love to see the woodwork painted a crisp white (using no-VOC paints) and the cushion upholstered in my scrolling

(buy it now price, $239)

I was immediately attracted to the carved scrolls of the stool’s feet. I’d love to see the woodwork painted a crisp white (using no-VOC paints) and the cushion upholstered in my scrolling Clara print, a playful pairing.

Queen Anne Mahagony Wingback Chair

Wingback chair

(buy it now price, $530)

We’ve had many of our customers cover family hand-me-down chairs just like this one, and they turn out remarkably fresh and modern. My favorite print for wingbacks is Grand Jubilee in Licorice. The movement of the print really brings life to a stuffy old Archie Bunker type chair. I have a very similar chair in my own house that’s covered in this exact fabric! Throw on a pillow covered in Atticus in Cherry for added zip.

French Bed Frame with Leather Upholstered Headboard

(buy it now price, $450)

I’m re-designing my kids’ room right now, so I have children’s rooms and furnishings on my mind. This bed would be so adorable in a girl’s room with the woodwork painted shiny charcoal grey (no-VOC paint) and upholstered with Wee Jubilee fabric in raspberry. I’d love to see it with Butterfly Jubilee wallpaper in the new combo of raspberry and earl grey dancing on the walls behind it.