Keywords for interior decoration might once have been chic, stylish, and contemporary. Now, however, as people are adopting a new mindset about lifestyle, the keywords to use are organic, ethical, recycled, renewable, and locally-sourced.
Items to Use
Choosing to decorate your home with sustainability in mind need not be difficult, or even expensive. You don’t need to throw everything out and redo the entire house – in actual fact this might be more harmful than good, as you could just be adding to waste.
A good tip, is where you can, go for minimalism. Rather than cluttering up your house with odds and ends, you could choose a few, well-sourced and eco-friendly pieces that accentuate open space, natural light, and whatever flooring and paint you’ve chosen.
Try sourcing furniture from second hand shops. Recycling is as light on your wallet as on the environment, and can be very retro and unique. You might need to take some extra time to shop around and dig up the gem amongst the unwanted piles of bland, so maybe take some friends and make a day of it. Just think how much more you will love that quirky piece than something you just picked out of a catalogue.
The impact on the environment is not the only thing to consider, but also the social-impact. Try to use goods that are not exploitative or mass-produced in a factory that undermines local sources. Where possible, try to incorporate items that are recycled, natural and support local industries, such as handcraft ceramics, natural textiles, indigenous art etc.
Walls and Floors
Use paint that is nontoxic, for both the environment’s sake and yours. Paint has never typically labeled all their ingredients, but as people are becoming more environmentally-conscious, more and more paint companies are giving more information about what goes in their paint cans. Look for paints that use recycled, natural, or bio-based content. Also, still use good quality paint that will last, because having to repaint again and again would defeat the purpose of sustainability.
When doing your floors, the common assumption might be that wood is good because it’s natural. However, that is not the case if you’re contributing to deforestation. Woods like bamboo, cork and coconut timber is sustainable, because these woods are quicker to grow and lighter on the eco-system. For rugs, use natural fibres like sisal, sea grass and bamboo, or organic wool with hemp or cotton backing that uses natural rubber adhesive.
Sustainable interior decorating reflects a lifestyle choice that values yours and your loved one’s health, the environment, and society. This need not be time consuming, frustrating, or even expensive, but can be a fun and creative process.
Queenie Bates is an avid writer, researcher and interior decorator.
