Are you planning an interior makeover for your home? If so, what are your main goals in changing the interior? Do you want it to look more luxurious? Do you want new colours? Has it just been the same for ages and you’re sick of it and want a change? Whatever your reasons, one good element to always throw into your decision-making is a genuine desire to make your designs and plans a bit greener.
So, before you log into your online interior designer planner like FURNISHD or whatever other services you’re using, think about the following advice on making interior design a bit more eco-friendly.
Tip 1: Decorate with Plants
Instead of buying ornaments and other decorative objects made from plastic or other artificial materials, how about using plants instead? By making plants the main decorative object in your refurb, you help to create a better environment for your home, create cleaner air, and also don’t contribute to the seemingly never-ending waste of plastic and other useless junk that people try to sell us.
Plants are beautiful, plants are practical, plants are functional. Above all, they’re also decorative and come in many sizes, colours, scents and more to please every individual taste under the sun.
Tip 2: Reduce VOCs
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be found in virtually all household products, and especially in the substances we use to colour and decorate our homes: paint, adhesives, air fresheners, furniture, carpets and more. They’re organic chemicals that evaporate even at room temperature and contribute negatively to pollution and other air contamination.
All it takes during your refurb is to read up on VOC content in your new refurbishment tools and objects. If you’re consulting with a contractor, tell them you want to minimise VOC exposure and they will have lots of insight into how to quickly ensure that.
Tip 3: More Natural Light
If your refurb is really extensive and includes windows, blinds, curtains and other features, then try to ensure that a room gets as much natural light as possible. It minimizes the need for artificial lighting, which subsequently cuts down on energy consumption during the day. It’s so easy to get a window too small or badly positioned in such a way that means you need the lights on in the middle of the afternoon just to read the paper properly.
Tip 4: Use Energy-Efficient, Responsibly Sourced Materials
If there are construction elements that require new raw materials, then make it clear that you only want to use those that have been ethically sourced and have demonstrable advantages in energy efficiency. They should be manufactured in safe conditions and be sold and traded using just business practices. It sounds like a real luxury, but if everyone was working in this way, it wouldn’t be considered a “premium” at all, because it would just be the way we do business.
Tip 5: Source Locally
Another consideration when thinking about sourcing, including sourcing of furniture, carpets and other items on top of the raw materials, you should try to minimise the distance between the source of these items and you. The closer it is to home, the more sustainable it is. For instance, bringing in expensive African or South American wood hewn from ancient and now endangered forests is not a good example of local sourcing. On top of the ethical issues surrounding its acquisition, you also have to transport it on carbon-spewing ships or planes.
The fact is that making your renovations greener is just about taking a moment to reflect on each decision you make:
- Is there a way for me to get these things in a more sustainable way?
- Am I making use of any hazardous or harmful substances?
- Has there been unnecessary waste or pollution created by any of my decisions