If you’re looking for ways to become more environmentally friendly, you may think about changing habits within your lifestyle first. Your home interior may not be the first thing on your mind during the transition to becoming more eco-aware.
Luckily, interior design trends have been moving in this positive direction, even within mainstream designs. You can see this in crazes such as homes filled with plants and the come back of natural materials such as stone and bamboo.
Surprisingly, your home may actually be more environmentally friendly than you first think. So, interiors experts at Art Windows and Doors, share their top tips and trends to make the most of these natural resources.
Plants
Plants are kind to the environment as they remove formaldehyde, benzene and carbon monoxide from the air around you. As well as this, they also positively affect your sleep quality and mood, win-win!
They’re also naturally beautiful and offer a sense of freshness and clarity. Bringing a little of the outdoors inside your home will stop you from feeling enclosed. Plants that smell great such as lavender help your home smell amazing and if you were to place it in your bedroom it would help regulate your sleep too.
Natural light
The right amount of natural light can make a difference to you and your space. Best of all, it’s free. Let as much natural light into your home as you can. Efficient double glazing with weatherstripping will reduce the amount of energy leakage you have in the winter, which will also help facilitate your eco-friendly life. After all, what’s the point in investing in sustainable and eco-friendly interior if you’re windows and structure waste energy.
Materials
When looking for new home additions, take time to look into the materials they’re made from and even how they’re manufactured. Natural materials such as organic cotton, linen, hemp and cashmere are great choices. They are sustainable materials that interior advocates’ use as their go-to choices.
Wool is actually a great material as it is hypoallergenic, biodegradable, moisture absorbent and odour and dust mite resistant- that’s a lot of positive properties for one material to have.
Leave the furniture that’s made from plastic moulding and invest in furniture that’s made from natural woods and other sustainable materials (bamboo is great for this). Ensure your countertops and tables aren’t made from plastic, you can choose organic marble and stone instead as they are much more sustainable and friendly to the environment.
Flooring
Your flooring is such an important choice as the market is populated with synthetic materials and vinyl. Vynil is made out of toxic plastics so you’ll want to stay away from that. A great alternative to vinyl is to use wood, linoleum or surprisingly, cork! If you really want to get serious about how your purchasing affects the environment, you can also buy local materials to cut down on transportation costs and emissions.
Carpets should be made from natural fibres such as wool, cotton and jute. Avoid VOC-filled synthetics which are found in most carpets (the same goes for rugs too).
Avoiding waste
Another more top-level way to avoid wastage is to not follow trends just because it’s what’s ‘in now’. Trends come and go so if you buy something just because it’s trendy, this will encourage wastage. Buying things you love (trendy or not) will likely lead you to keep that item longer.
In addition to cutting down wastage, consider long-lasting furniture. Solid wood furniture will stand the test of time and it will also be there until you don’t want it anymore (if you look after it). Choose solid wood furniture that is joint by tongue and groove instead of glue.
There are many ways that you can make changes to your interior on your journey to becoming more environmentally friendly. It’s important to also remember how toxic cleaning chemicals can be.
If you’re on your way to a sustainable lifestyle, make sure you use eco-friendly cleaning agents. Having an environmentally friendly home just takes a little more consideration. Below is a visual that can give you some insight into some tips and trends too.
Top image credit: Unsplash
