Environmental awareness at home goes beyond recycling or energy consumption. It can also be applied to decoration. In the same way that there is more and more awareness against fast fashion in clothing, in the field of design there is a clear commitment to sustainable decoration.
What is sustainable and ecological decoration?
Sustainable decoration is another step in the trend towards more sustainable homes and more environmentally friendly housing, including energy efficiency.
Sustainable decoration can be defined as that which takes into account environmental and sustainability criteria. This involves decorating and organizing the house with less polluting and durable materials, but also with fewer elements to control consumerism.
In short, going beyond the purely visual and aesthetic to integrate an environmental component into home decoration.
Keys to decorate your home sustainably
How can you get started in sustainable decoration? Here are the best tips to bring this new trend, not a fad, into your home.
Recycle and reuse your furniture or that of others
Reduce, recycle and reuse are the three Rs of sustainability. This strategy meets two of them. Before throwing away any of your furniture, think about how you can give it a new life in your home.
Likewise, before buying a new piece of furniture, consider whether you can reuse used furniture. Nowadays, it is very easy to buy second-hand furniture that is cheaper and also helps reduce consumption.
Buying second-hand furniture and selling the ones you no longer want helps the circular economy work and creates much less waste.
Bet on DIY
If you like crafts and you are not afraid to innovate, you can create your own decoration using recycled materials. The best example is wooden pallets that can be used as a bed base or sofa, as well as a structure for your hanging garden, to give three examples.
On the Internet you will find a multitude of pages with ideas for decorating your home with waste and recycled materials, especially if you are looking for a rustic touch.
Embrace minimalism
Consume better and also consume less. Minimalism is a style of decoration and at the same time a philosophy of life.
Minimalism is about reducing things to the essentials. In the case of home decoration, it would mean getting rid of furniture that is not necessary or essential, which means having less furniture and fewer objects.
Minimalist homes have a simpler and more functional style, which also makes the impulse to buy new items to decorate less.
Optimize lighting
A recommendation that serves both to decorate sustainably and to improve the energy efficiency of the home.
Start by decorating and laying out your home to make the most of natural light. You can install curtains or people to control the light coming in or not to block it too much.
Continue to invest in energy-saving light bulbs and smart lighting systems. Energy-saving light bulbs are an investment that will pay off in just a year. They save you money and electricity.
Say goodbye to plastic
When it comes to sustainability, materials are key. When it comes to decorating and purchasing bed linens and other household items, avoid synthetic fabrics and embrace environmentally friendly materials.
The translation is that you should prioritize natural fabrics and fibers such as cotton, wool, linen or esparto grass over synthetic fibers. And if you have to use synthetic materials, look for recycled ones.
If you want to go a step further, you can also look for furniture made from biodegradable materials or those that have undergone fewer treatments, which reduces pollution when manufacturing them.
And when it comes to painting or doing construction work, use eco-friendly paints and sustainable materials such as stone, brick or untreated wood instead of cement.
Join the green of plants
Plants help improve air quality and provide a natural component to the home that will also give it that touch of sustainability on a visual level.
These are the main tips for decorating your home in a sustainable way. If you also want to finance it in a sustainable way, there are green mortgages that offer better conditions for the most efficient homes.
And if what you need is to renovate your new home to achieve the level of energy efficiency and sustainable decoration you are looking for, there are also special mortgages for buying a house and doing work .
