When it comes to decorating your home, you don’t have to sacrifice style and creativity just because you want to be a good steward of the environment. Yes, you can turn lifeless rooms into beautiful living spaces popping with color, even as you maintain your eco-sensibilities.
So, while you consider environmentally friendly things like running only full loads in your dishwasher and washing machine as well as taking quick showers to save water, don’t forget that reducing your carbon footprint can also be accomplished through mindful decorating.
In order to give you some ideas on the possibilities, what follows is a look at eco-friendly decorating ideas that’ll make a big impact.
Buy Used
Whether you’re looking for a coffee table, a sofa, a television stand, or anything else, you can find pretty much anything you want at a thrift shop as long as you’re willing to patiently do the leg work. You can even expand your search by using sites like eBay to find high-quality vintage items at bargain prices. You’ll not only be able to get great pieces to decorate your home, but also get them at potentially huge discounts. If you opt to buy a used piece of furniture that is made from real wood, you can sand, stain, and seal it so that you ultimately end up with a brand new take on a used piece of furniture. This will help you to decorate your living space and to benefit the environment since you’ll be reusing and repurposing.
Install Thermal Curtains
If you want to change the dynamics of a room, say, your family room, why not change your traditional curtains with thermal curtains? Thermal curtains will help you to cut down on your energy use making your home more energy efficient, and you won’t have to sacrifice style for eco-friendly considerations. All you’ll need to do is choose a thermal curtain lining and then hang it behind whatever curtain you fancy.
Go with Hardwood over Carpet
Do you want to replace any carpeting in your home? If so, go with hardwood flooring, which is definitely a more eco-friendly decorating idea than carpet. Carpet gives off various toxins, and you don’t want your family to be inhaling these toxins for years to come. So, go with the option that is more environmentally friendly and better for the overall health of you and your loved ones. Also, consider that carpet usually will last no more than about a decade — usually less, actually — while hardwood flooring can last much longer if taken care of and maintained.
Use the Right Paint
You’ve probably already figured out that a little paint can go a long way towards turning a room devoid of character into a room pulsating with life. But if you want to be eco-friendly, you need to be careful about exactly what types of paint you use. Paint with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are environmentally unfriendly and are not very healthy for you and your family. It is now possible, however, to find paint with low or no VOC content, and you won’t be limited in terms of the colors you can get since the sky’s the limit. With some eco-friendly paint, the other tools, and a coat or two of paint, you’ll be able to beautify your home and wake up dead walls.
It is definitely possible to give your home a new look with some eco-friendly decorating, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Remember that being environmentally responsible doesn’t have to come at the expense of style. You can have both. Good luck!
