The interior design fanatics amongst us just love any excuse to give our homes a brand new zest of life. A new year is as good an excuse as any, so let us take a look at a few neat ideas. As with any purchasing decisions, it is our responsibility to look for earth-friendly options as much as we can:
1 . Eco-Friendly Paint Job
One of the quickest ways to make your home look beautiful and fresh is to give your walls a lovely paint job. To keep things green, ensure that you invest some eco-friendly paints. These paints are created especially to have no VOCs or low levels of VOCs, standing for ‘Volatile organic chemicals’. Natural paints, for example, are made from ingredients like plant dyes, vegetable oils, water, and other naturally occurring minerals. With natural paints, binders are used like clay, milk protein, or lime. Natural paints use renewable resources, plus they are compost friendly and biodegradable. These paints cause no adverse health effects so you can breathe easy while you are painting away!
2. Appliances Upgrade
Upgrading your appliances gives your home a makeover, plus ensures that you will be switching your old energy-wasting products for new energy star rated ones. From your dishwasher to your toasters and kettles- energy star products are your best bet. While you are at it, consider your lighting (both indoors and outdoors) and your electrical wiring. Hire an experienced electrician to give your home a once over and get everything up to a perfect standard.
3. Plants And More Plants
For a real easy and green way to give your home a boost, new plants are exactly what you need. Plants are a beautiful touch to our homes, as well as keeping us healthy by removing harmful toxins from our indoor air. The Dracaena plant, for example, can be a fabulous and strong look to revamp your living room. These plants are low maintenance, so they are an excellent choice if you lead a busy lifestyle. Dracaena plants remove trichloroethylene and benzene from the air plus can easily survive different seasons and temperatures. Peace lilies are another beautiful option; these can be a great idea for your bedroom since the plant emits oxygen at night.
4. Earth-friendly Accessories
Accessories are a fun and simple way to give your home a quick-fix spruce. From cushions to throws, tablecloths or rugs; there are plenty of materials out there which are kind to the earth. Hemp is a top fabric to shop for when you are buying your accessories. Hemp only needs a little water to grow, plus it enriches the soil in the production process. It is one of the best biodegradable materials, plus it is durable, so you will be investing in a great, long-lasting product. Jute is another great material to look out for while you are accessory shopping, Jute trees release oxygen at a higher rate than most other trees and jute also absorbs carbon dioxide as it grows. Like hemp, it is biodegradable, plus it is compostable too.
