How green is your sofa?
There is a great deal of talk about ‘greening’ your home on the outside to reduce energy costs and heat loss (and rightly so) but what about the inside of the property? Can we improve the carbon footprint environmental friendliness of our home interiors?
There are various factors to consider when looking at our home décor: the carbon footprint of each individual item in a room, such as the sofa manufacture, or the chemical content of the paint on the walls; the sustainability of the resources used for each product; and the health issues surrounding the products for your family e.g. off-gassing of paints and varnishes or MDF boards? Let’s face it, unless we were lucky enough to start from scratch within the last few years, we all have houses that are pretty toxic and not very eco-friendly.
So how do you go about ‘greening’ the interior or your property? First of all, let me say what you shouldn’t do – do not jump in with both feet and scrap everything you possess in order to replace it with a ‘greener’ version. Our resources are scarce and the landfill sites are full. Take it one room at a time and take stock of what you have. Can some of the items be revamped and used in the new room scheme? Can they be passed on to a friend or needy student setting up their first home? Your local freecycle group will be grateful for pretty much any item – there is always somebody who can make use of something you no longer need.
Greening your rooms: Step by Step
Now that we have that straight, here is what to do next. Take it a room at a time and think carefully about the following aspects of the room:
- Lighting – Can the wattage of the lights in use be reduced? Do you need to introduce new light fittings with greater efficiency? How about building in some new technology such as timers, dimmers or sensor switches. LED designs are improving all the time and can look stunning in any room scheme (check out our design collection)
- Flooring – Don’t scrap the old carpet if it still works for the room scheme you want. If it doesn’t work or is too worn, then look at the many different options out there such as bare or naturally stained/painted floorboards with rugs made of sustainable materials like wool, felt or sisal. The new style cork flooring or revamped rubber flooring or Marmoleum can look great in the right room and there are several companies out there launching 100% broadloom wool carpets that have been left undyed. Check out your local carpet retailer for more information.
- Wallcoverings – this aspect is becoming much easier with the growth of the natural paint market. Beware of some paint suppliers claiming to be ‘green’ because of low VOC content – they should have ‘0’ VOC content and if they don’t there are many out there who do! (check out our offerning of AURO paints). Wallpapers are now being produced using paper from managed forests and non toxic dyes and we have even discovered gorgeous ceramic tiles with 30-40% recycled content!
- Window Dressing – A great tip from Oliver Heath in his Urban Eco Chic book, is to try to bring as much light into a room as possible to reduce the amount of time we are reliant on electric lighting. Painting the windowframe and sill white can help reflect light into the room as well as designing curtains or blinds that sit back from the windows and do not cover too much of the glass. Take a look at our wide range of organic curtain and blind fabrics for inspiration. We can make any of them up into curtains and blinds according to your measurements.
- Furniture – Finally, take a good look at your furniture. Can any of it work in the new scheme? Could a beloved chair of sofa be re-covered in a new organic upholstery fabric? Look at repainting a bookshelf or coffee table to give it a fresh look. Many second hand shops carry sets of stylish dining chairs which can look fabulous with a new seat cushion. Eco Style means that it does not have to match and it is often much more fun to have a collection of stylish yet slightly mismatched pieces in one room rather than everything looking uniform. Have fun creating your own style! If you do decide to buy new, take the time to source furniture made in an environmentally sensitive way using timber from FSC managed forests and as locally made as possible.
- Kitchens & Bathrooms – these are the rooms that can cost the most in any house, but they are often the most wasteful when it comes to energy or water usage. We are lucky these days that companies are innovating all the time and new technology has brought about energy efficient appliances, fixtures and fittings for both of these rooms. Many leading bathroom suppliers now carry low flow taps or showers and eco bathtubs that take much less water than traditional tubs. Rubber flooring, Marmoleum and recycled ceramic tiles come into their own in these room schemes and there are now some truly stunning worktops made from recycled materials such as wine bottles or shells! (check out Glass ECO)
Now that's green living!
For any other information or tips please do not hesitate to contact me at any time and I will love helping you to solve your eco design dilemma! You can reach me at angie@geccointeriors.co.uk
