Anyone who has thumbed through shelter magazines and wondered who could live in such pristine, overly styled interiors will be happy to learn that Allison Arieff does not. Granted, the trailblazing former editor-in-chief of Dwell, who promoted a combination of design and sustainability long before it was fashionable (and helped the publication win a National Magazine Award along the way), does have a living room filled with furniture by some of the biggest names in modern design. Yet she practices what she preaches—living small—in a 1,200-square-foot home with her husband and their two-year-old daughter. It’s stylish, but not pristine. Arieff, who writes the By Design column for the New York Times, recently started a new gig as editor-at-large at Sunset magazine. Here, she offers her take on design and sustainability: “Green buildings don’t have to look like spaceships or hippie shacks.”

You recently moved into a Victorian after living in a San Francisco apartment for many years. How do you make an old place more modern? We’re sitting on some answers to that question. That’s a Saarinen womb chair, and a white plastic coffee table from Moroso that’s actually kid-friendly—it has no sharp edges. The sofa is vintage Scandinavian. My husband picked it up, and we had it recovered. The oak and paper cord chairs are by Hans Wegner, but they’re new, not original. We got them at Room and Board.

So, your advice is to offset traditional architecture with modern furnishings? The kind of contrast I find most interesting can be seen in the magazine World of Interiors, where musty old castles have extremely minimalist John Pawson furniture.

You have designer furniture in your living room, and you have a toddler. But obviously, you’re not of the plastic-slipcover mentality. I remember a friend’s house in the ’70s that had an all-white living room. We sat on the edge of it and looked at it—we weren’t allowed in it. I don’t want to live that way.

Instead of a trendy baroque chair upholstered with mod graphics, you’ve gone for modern classics. Fashion and design are industries that need to have trends. You invest in either a cashmere sweater or the top you won’t be able to wear next season.

What’s your pet peeve? I’m not for what I call “witness-protection-program modern”—houses that look like someone just picked up the Design Within Reach catalog and ordered everything in it. Not that there’s anything wrong with DWR, but you have to have some sort of connection to your furnishings. All the big art pieces in this room belonged to my mother, who was an art appraiser. I have an emotional connection to them.

Modernism has really gone mainstream in the past 10 years. How has that trend manifested itself in the Bay Area, known as a bastion of traditionalism? Every time I drive around the city, I see a lot of facade renovations. I think people want modern.

Altering a facade can be pricey. How can someone update an exterior without breaking the bank? Modernize the landscaping. You can also make subtle changes to

the exterior. My husband designed a row of aluminum planters for the top of an existing wall and had them fabricated [see below]. We filled them with grasses. We also added a door at the curb. Now it’s totally private and a nice outdoor place to hang out.

You’ve been writing about sustainability for a long time. How have you made your house greener? We added energy-efficient windows and planted vegetables in a space created by Trevor Paque, who specializes in urban farms. We’re growing 40 varieties of heirloom vegetables, including radishes, squash, beans, tomatoes, and herbs. And we’re looking to install a greywater system for the yard.

What about household stuff? I use Mrs. Meyer’s cleaning products, and we’ve tried to cut out the plastic from toys and food containers. It’s hard to go cold turkey. As you can see, I’m not wearing a hemp T-shirt. You can’t be perfect in your sustainability choices, but there are little choices you can make that will have an impact.

What are the not-so-green modern conveniences you can’t live without? With a two-year-old, the dishwasher and the washer and dryer.

Now that eco-chic is so widespread—and even a buzzword—what will phase two of the sustainability movement look like? The end goal shouldn’t be that people are walking around saying, “I have a green house.” It should be that your house is inherently green because it’s the right thing to do. The term eco-chic smacks of the trend—which suggests that it’s on the way out already. I would like to see sustainability used like the term healthy.

You’ve written and edited books in collaboration with your husband, Bryan Burkhart, on the Airstream trailer, spas, and prefab housing. What’s your latest obsession that might be book-worthy? Big-picture ideas about how and where we’re going to live. People are finally realizing that it doesn’t make sense to drive two hours to work anymore.

You’re speaking at West Coast Green this month. What’s the topic? Community. In places like Glen Park, where I live, I know my neighbors, we have one car, and my 85-year-old neighbor can walk to the market. How do you transfer that to a new development? Those are the interesting challenges facing designers, rather than how to make another groovy chair.

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Editor's picks

Arieff scoured her personal Rolodex for four of her best resources:

Aluminum planters: “Quasimodo Metal Works in Berkeley.” quasimodos.net

New old windows: “We wanted double-pane windows with the look of the original windows. We researched and found Arellanos, in the Mission. They installed windows for the whole house in one day after they fab­ricated new wood frames.” arellanoswoodwindows.com

Backyard farms: “Of course, we’ll still have to go to the market, but we’ll be growing enough produce for ourselves and another family. Few things are as emotionally satisfying as picking a perfect tomato from your backyard.” myfarmsf.com/test.htm

Greywater: “Grey­water systems tend to fall into the DIY category. The best guidance for creating your own

is from Greywater Guerillas.” greywaterguerrillas.com