The home is a place where people consume just about every type of energy in its different forms. Lowering energy costs, reducing your energy consumption profile, and living sustainably are admirable goals. There are steps you can take to make your home more eco-friendly, whether you’re building from the ground up, decorating a new home, or renovating your interiors. The following are some green ideas for your home.
Let the Light in!
Are you building a home? Building a green home, also known as a net-zero home, costs the same as building a traditional home. When considering ideas on how to design a sustainable house, make sure that windows are a prominent feature of the home. You want the option to maximize the amount of natural light available to you. The more daylight that comes into the home translates into lower energy costs because you’re turning on the lights less frequently.
It’s equally important to have eco-friendly windows and doors. There have been many improvements in recent years in framing materials and windowpane glass. Research and advice from experts like your interior designer will help you determine which type are best for your climate, your unique home, and your budget. The advantages are many, especially better insulation creating savings on electricity for heating and cooling.
Incorporate Living Plants in the Interior Design
Plants bring the outdoors inside and add color to the room in pleasant ways. They also help regulate humidity, absorb chemicals, and release oxygen into the air. And they do all this work for you in exchange for sunlight, water, and nutrients.
If you’re not a fan of the potted plant look, but want plants in the home, consider buying plants that grow on trellises or install vertical gardens on the wall. Greening the wall is one of the easier ways to make your home into an eco-home. This is one of the many environmentally friendly home design ideas that’s simple to achieve.
Interior Design with Sustainable Materials
The act of creating an object requires the expenditure of energy. Producing fabrics, furniture frames, and padding all have an energy cost. It’s something that’s unavoidable, but you may minimize that energy cost by buying furniture using sustainably harvested materials.
Synthetic fabrics have a convenience in that they’re easily cleaned and have stain-resistant properties. With today’s busy lifestyles, many homeowners would find it difficult to give up these benefits. Work with your designer to evaluate the pros and cons of synthetic vs. natural for your upholstery and window treatments. The chemicals used to dry clean more costly eco-friendly or natural fabrics might override the selection of synthetics in high-traffic areas. Synthetic materials don’t degrade or break down as quickly as natural materials that have an immediate gain of less consumption vs. an impact on the environment long after the furniture is no longer useful.
More companies are producing environmentally-friendly fabrics. Many of the well-known high-end fabric makers, such as Robert Allen and Schumacher, have jumped on the bandwagon. Prices for eco-friendly products continue to be higher than their counterparts. Let’s hope these prices become more reasonable in the future so these products can become more budget-friendly.
Reuse and Recycle Building Materials
When looking at sustainable renovation ideas, consider using recycled or reclaimed materials for your designs. Architectural salvage companies are full of used building materials, appliances, hardware, and more that have plenty of life left in them. And by using recycled building materials for your renovation, you keep the materials out of the waste stream.
Perla Lichi Design Can Help Your Home Become Eco-Friendly
The expert design team at Perla Lichi Design understands what it means to make a home eco-friendly, whether you’re building from the ground up or doing a home renovation. Contact us today at (954) 726-0899 or through our contact form to discuss your needs and desires for your home’s interior design.