Make your living room eco-friendly with some of these “green” decorating ideas!
What’s a better place to start going green than your living room? And when I say “green” I don’t mean getting a lot of plants (although that can be one part of it, why not). There are so many ways you can turn your house green, even if it wasn’t originally built according to the eco-friendly standards. And before covering the rest of the house, why not start from the place where you spend most of your time.
It has the most options for going green, and can thus make the greatest impact both on the environment, and on your health, at the same time. So here are a few suggestions on how to make the living room more eco-friendly. Some of them may require a bit larger investments, but are definitely worth the money. In any case, you don’t have to apply them all at once.
Get Eco-Friendly Furniture
Photo: Via Pinterest
When selecting new furniture for your home, make sure it is made of eco-friendly materials, preferably renewable ones as well. You can recognize such furniture by the GreenGuard label, which ensures lower levels of toxicity emissions. What’s more, you can turn to the Sustainable Furnishing Council for the list of all eco-friendly manufacturers of living room furniture.
Photo: Apartment Therapy
Change Your Flooring
This might sound like a lot of work, but it will definitely pay off. The idea is to use renewable floor materials. The top ones would be the fast growing bamboo, tile, sea grass, cork, linoleum and wool. If you really can’t renounce a wood floor, at least make sure it’s made of FSC wood. This means it’s confirmed the wood is coming from sustainable forests. It’s good to keep in mind that the major part of tropical woods, such as, for instance, mahogany, come from the rainforests, so it’s advised to avoid them.
If changing the entire flooring is too much for you at the moment, at least consider changing your carpet. A new carpet is an essential that will make your living room pop, without too much effort. Wool is a good choice of material, since it’s renewable and harvesting it does not hurt the sheep it comes from. Also, some companies offer carpets made of recycled nylon, which is further recyclable, so it’s an example of the so-called “cradle to cradle” manufacturing, since once you decide to throw out your old carpet, it can be recycled into a new carpet again.
Photo: Glitter Guide
Use Eco-Friendly Wall Paints
The factor that decides a paint’s eco-friendliness are the so-called, VOC, that is, “volatile organic compounds”. These ingredients have been connected to various health issues, and even cancers. They represent the gases which are emitted in your house after your walls are painted.
There are some companies who produce VOC-free paints, which are of no less quality than the standard high quality paints. You will recognize eco-friendly products by the green seal you should find on the label, so that should help you choose. This is a very important factor when it comes to your and your family’s health, and also when it comes to the overall air quality and gas emissions.
Whichever option you choose, it will be a great improvement for your overall quality of life and for the environment. So try to keep it up and move further on the “green” way.
To contact Skylar’s Home & Patio Furniture San Diego
9160 Kearny Villa Ct, San Diego, CA 92123, USA
858-939-1360
