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PAPER FOR WATER TURNS ORIGAMI ORNAMENTS INTO WELLS
By Sabrina Gomez
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Katherine and Isabelle Adams were only 8 and 5 when they learned a child dies every 15 seconds from unclean water.
“We learned that women and girls often bear the brunt of hauling the water,” Katherine said. “What really got us inspired and involved at such a young age was the fact that girls our age in other countries weren’t able to attend school because they were hauling water all day.”
LEFT TO RIGHT: ISN employees show off their paper origami ornaments. A Christmas origami ornament hangs as part of Paper for Water’s Christmas Tree project. COURTESY MOLLY FLABIANO AND PAPER FOR WATER
In response, the sisters founded Paper for Water in 2011 and, in the years since, have provided clean water for thousands of families worldwide.
The girls started by making origami Christmas ornaments and exchanging them for donations to fund water wells.
The effort has grown to the point where Paper for Water has raised more than $2.5 million and funded 300-plus projects in 20 countries.
In 2020, ISN, a global leader in contractor and supplier information management, looked for safe remote ways to volunteer.
Paper for Water held a virtual event where employees learned how to fold origami Christmas ornaments.
“Our employees had such great feedback from the activity and were so impressed with Paper for Water (that) we knew this would be a long-term partnership,” said executive
GET INVOLVED
Visit paperforwater.org or email info@ paperforwater.org to learn about volunteer opportunities or get the book One Piece of Paper at a Time.
assistant Molly Flabiano of ISN. “Through our partnership with Paper for Water, clean water was given to communities in Sierra Leon and Peru.”
ISN’s volunteer work came as part of the Christmas Tree Project, launched by Paper for Water in 2017. “We work with corporate organizations where they can make either a donation towards Paper for Water or host a volunteer day for employees where they can learn to fold origami,” Katherine said. “We take those origami pieces and decorate Christmas trees at their respective corporations and companies, or it can be a donation of the Christmas tree to another place.”
This year ISN employees folded away and donated their Christmas tree to The Family Place, a nonprofit that serves as a haven for women and children victims of family violence.
Such sponsorships help the Adams sisters provide clean drinking water “one piece of paper at a time.”
How Rhythm and Harmony Can Bring Your Interiors to the Next Level
The words “rhythm” and “harmony” likely bring music to mind, but these are also terms that interior designers use to describe our work. If you’ve ever wondered MARGARET CHAMBERS what it takes to design a cohesive and interesting room, you’ll want to study these design principles.
Rhythm
You can lead a viewer’s eye throughout the room by repeating a pattern or color among your furnishings and accessories. This kind of visual flow is called rhythm. The use of rhythm can be subtle: For example, a particular shade of yellow in a painting could be echoed in the pillows on the sofa.
You can also create interest through progression, in which you line up your accessories from large to small, small to large, or even from light to dark in tone. A series of similar but differently-sized vases in an entryway is a charming example of progression.
Harmony
Another way to achieve balance in
CLOCKWISE: Architectural detail gives the foyer of the SMU Theta sorority house built-in rhythm. The elegant staircase curves as it rises, inviting the eye to follow. Gold and yellow accessories create another kind of visual rhythm in the sitting area below. Framed de Gournay wallpaper panels fill the stairwell’s high-ceiling space and create a rhythm that follows along with the rising staircase. A series of framed, dried flowers add rhythm to the wall over this beautiful Regency bench in this Southern chic Preston Hollow abode. MICHAEL HUNTER WITH DESIGN BY MARGARET CHAMBERS
your interiors is through harmony, in which all the elements of your space relate to each other in a pleasing way. A room has harmony when almost everything in it is part of the same color family: in other words, a monochromatic color scheme. While a room with contrasting colors and rhythm is exciting, a room with harmony is especially restful. Monochromatic color schemes are great for rooms you want to relax in, such as the bedroom. A symmetrically designed room will also feel more harmonious than an asymmetrical room.
You don’t have to make everything in your room all of one color to achieve harmony. Generally, 60% of the room should represent your dominant color, 30% should be your secondary color, and the last 10% should be for accents. Distributing similar textures throughout your room will also help: from coarse textures like brick and timber paneling to smooth textures like polished concrete and glass.
Now that you’ve read about a few examples of rhythm and harmony, hopefully, you can approach your interiors with a fresh eye and see where you can make improvements. Keep in mind that you need the right amount of contrast to avoid ending up with a boring design.
Margaret Chambers, a registered interior designer (RID) and member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), leads Chambers Interiors and Associates. Her colleague Caitlin Crowley helped edit this column. Visit chambersinteriors. com/blog for more design advice.
