With the cost of living on the rise, you may be wondering How to reduce Your Household Bills and help the environment. While practices such as recycling grey water and installing solar energy panels are great ways to cut the expenses and preserve natural resources, your efforts need not stop at your daily consumptions but go toward how you decorate your home as well.
The eco-friendly movement has caught up with home decor. Whatever your taste, this trend has no limits when it comes to beautifying your home. Follow these green home decorating ideas, courtesy of Hippo.co.za, that show style doesn’t need to come at the cost of the environment.
Go treasure hunting at the flea market
Flea markets and second-hand shops are treasure troves of trendy furniture and other cool stuff you didn’t know you needed.
It might seem unusual to shop for stylish decor at your local flea market but the best thing about sourcing your furnishings and accessories secondhand is that you can easily get your hands on hard-to-find or one-of-a-kind items. Of course, you’ll be keeping your carbon footprint small, and you’d be surprised at the things that would make a stunning addition to your coffee table or bookcase. If you’re really lucky you could end up with a priceless possession like the New York family who bought a dish at a flea market which was actually an 11th-Century Chinese bowl worth $2 million. Or the German student who found a 17th-Century Painting at his secondhand market.
Get creative
Wave your magic decor wand and turn a pumpkin into a carriage.
You can also do your bit for the planet by breathing new life into old furniture or repurposing household items as decorations. Add legs to an old suitcase and turn it into a display table, bent dishing spoons can be turned into wall candle holders, an old ladder can be painted and turned into a bookshelf, or use an old rug as a wall painting. Looking at ordinary items from a different angle will enable you to add a handcrafted finish to your decor.
Colourise the green way
Add a punch of colour to your room’s look by using bold palettes that are free of volatile organic compounds.
This year, we’re seeing livelier and inviting colour palettes providing the backdrop for living areas. The days of painting your walls white throughout your home are fading away; in 2018, a dramatic red will add a solid sense of style to your lounge while a deep turquoise will flatter your bedroom from every angle. Whether you’re colouring a single wall or creating shapes and lines – you can decorate your space without those nasty paint fumes by using non-toxic paints made from natural ingredients such as water, vegetable oils and plant dyes.
Go light on the environment
Give candles the green light in your home.
Don’t just light a candle when there is a power-cut or when Christmas arrives. Candles can be both practical and fashionable, plus they can have therapeutic qualities when infused with scent. Use them as centrepieces on your dining table or place them in the bathroom to enhance the experience of a hot bath. Use brightly coloured candles to add some personality to your room, or match and contrast them with your wall colours. Whichever use you put them to, be sure to avoid the ones that contain VOCs and toxic scents. Rather opt for ones made from natural materials such as soy or beeswax, and fragranced with natural plant oils.
Decorate with sustainable wooden furnishings
Furniture sourced from sustainable forests can still enable you to create maximum visual impact in your home.
A piece of wooden furniture – whether it’s a table, couch or your kitchen cabinets – can give your decor some organic flair, however, not all wooden furniture may be nature-friendly. You can do your bit to help combat deforestation by buying wooden furniture obtained from sustainable forests. Buy furniture made from teak, mahogany or oak that gives your room a welcoming accent without damaging the planet.
Using eco-friendly home designs helps you to protect the environment, but who will protect your home’s signature style? A burst pipe can easily spoil that beautiful rug or couch you may have spent hundreds of Rands on, therefore, it is recommended that you to prepare for such a peril by taking out Household Insurance. This way, and depending on the type of policy you choose, you can pursue your decorating dreams without having to worry about the financial burden of damage to your prized possessions.
