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Here are seven tips on how to create an eco-friendly and sustainable home with conscious interior decor. Read on!
If you’re looking to lessen your family’s carbon footprint, a great place to start is your home. There are many ways to create a sustainable and environmentally conscious space in your home. Let’s explore some of them.
Turn to Sustainable Decor and Furnishings
On your path to creating a conscious home, sustainability in your design, decor, and furnishings is key. Sustainable decor and furnishings will last longer than traditionally made goods for the average consumer. This is because of the long-lasting, high-quality materials that sustainable furniture is made of, including:
- Bamboo, which is easy to grow and durable
- Metal, steel, and aluminum are easily recyclable
- Rattan, which is slow to wear and tear when woven, and it also grows faster than trees
When looking for sustainable decor and furnishings, consider buying used items, investing in high-quality items, and ensuring you purchase from an ethical brand. More and more retailers are hopping on board the ethical train, and even major retailers like Joybird are starting to supply eco-friendly home decor. For every item sold, Joybird will plant more trees than it was used to manufacture that item.
When shopping for a sofa, think about what’s going to last the longest. For example, modular sofas can change with you. Whether you decide to redecorate a room following feng shui principles, your growing kids need more space, or for any other reason, your modular sofa can adapt and you will avoid having to keep buying new furniture pieces.
Bring New Life to Old Things by Repurposing
If you’re ready for a bedroom makeover and think you need to buy a whole new bedroom set, think again. Instead of rushing to buy new furnishings, repurpose and recycle what you currently have. If the color of your ottoman doesn’t go with your new coat of paint, you don’t need a new ottoman — just reupholster your current one to match your current vibe.
Turning your current “trash” into beautiful “treasure” is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to transform your room into an environmentally friendly oasis. And don’t forget to donate or recycle the items you aren’t interested in keeping to repurpose.
Find Eco-Friendly Furniture
Eco-friendly furniture is becoming increasingly popular these days. It is furniture that is either used or upcycled or furniture that is made with sustainable materials. No matter the way, eco-friendly furniture is timeless and will significantly help lower your carbon footprint in the future.
If you’re looking for furniture that is more eco-friendly, try to find pieces that are made of natural materials. Also, try not to buy items with too much storage space. For example, large shelves and closets will just encourage you to buy needless items to fill up their space.
Invest in Eco-Friendly Technology
Making your home more eco-friendly also means reducing your energy usage. Start small, for example by switching out your lightbulbs with eco-friendly versions like the Sunco Lighting Dimmable, and Indoor/Outdoor Flood Light. They can shine for up to 25,000 hours, while the average, non-conscious lightbulb burns between 750 and 2,000 hours. Talk about some sustainable savings!
Tubular skylights, or solar tubes, are another excellent way to reduce your energy usage. These are tube-shaped devices you mount on the ceiling to increase the amount of natural lighting in a room. They can bring the sunshine into the darkest corners of your rooms, beautifying any space and reducing your reliance on artificial light.
Choose Eco-Friendly Finishes and Paints
Use only paints and finishes that contain extremely low or zero levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These paints are water-based, which makes them much less harmful than high-VOC paints that contain petroleum-based solvents and emit harmful gases.
“Greenify” Your Home With Plants
Perhaps the simplest way to add some green to your home is to bring a few plants inside. Indoor plants help improve the air quality in addition to boosting the aesthetics and brightness of a room.
Shop Local
When shopping for new decor items for your home, consider products from local artists and craftsmen. This is important for your local economy while also helping reduce your carbon footprint.
Also, choose ethical design when you can. Ethical designers ensure moral behavior and responsible choices go into the making of their products. These choices and behaviors include:
- Exploitation
- Animal welfare
- Working conditions
- Sustainable production
- Fairtrade
- Production and manufacturing that are environmentally safe
Good luck on your journey to building an environmentally conscious home, and don’t forget to send us pictures of the ideas above you’ve tried!
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