There is an endless list of things to think about when you’re decorating your house. You’ve got to pick colour schemes, come up with a decor style, find the right furniture and then work out the logistics of living in your house while you’re turning it upside down to decorate. But have you thought about your impact on the environment? Maybe you’re not bothered about that and that’s fine, but if you are the kind of person that wants to live a sustainable lifestyle, you need to consider it when you’re decorating your house. Here’s how to do interior design the sustainable way.
Upcycling
Anything you buy new has an impact on the environment so you should avoid it where you can. Upcycling is one of the best ways to do that. Take some old battered furniture and a bit of hard work and you’ve got a brand new piece to put in your home. Just look what you can do with a set of tables with some spray paint, for example. You can do this with pretty much any piece of old furniture which is ideal because you’re not contributing to manufacturing. It’s also way cheaper than buying new because if you just go around some old second-hand shops, you can find great stuff for next to nothing.
Second-Hand Furniture
If you don’t fancy trying your hand at upcycling, you can still get some great stuff second-hand, you’ll just have to look in different places. Antique stores are a bit more picky about what they take so you’ll be able to get things that are in better condition. However, if you’re going for a more modern look, it doesn’t really work. But you can get more modern stuff from second-hand specialists like Eames furniture. If you’re going to these specialists, you’re not going to get the same cheap prices that you’ll get if you buy the more worn stuff but you won’t need to do anything to it.
Sustainable Paint
Most normal paint is made with a lot of nasty chemicals that really aren’t good for the environment. Some of that paint is naturally going to end up getting washed down the drain when you clean your brushes and that’s bad news for the environment. Some people also have concerns about their health because those chemicals are floating around in the air. Luckily, there are plenty of eco-friendly paint options that you can use instead. They’re not that popular yet and most people still use the normal stuff so you might have to search around to find them but it’s worth it if you want to decorate sustainably.
Design For Longevity
There is inevitably going to be some waste and environmental damage from any interior design project, no matter how hard you try. That’s why you want to make sure that you’re only doing it when it’s absolutely necessary. When you’re doing interior design projects, always design for longevity. That means doing good quality work that is going to last a long time, rather than a rushed job that you’ll have to do again in a couple of years.
Follow these basic rules and you’ll be able to do all of your decorating in a sustainable way.
Nb. Collaborative post.
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