Having an eco-friendly home does not translate to a spartan life. Going green can add a touch of elegance of your home or office, and keep the environment healthy. Green interior decoration is focused on maintaining and improving the health of those residing at home, and on the deteriorating condition of the world due to green house emissions.
Here are a couple of ways in which environment friendly interior decoration can be carried out, without compromising on comfort levels:
1. South-Facing Windows
This is an aspect that must be considered at the time of construction itself. When you plan out your rooms, try to place your windows in a southern direction so as to allow sunlight to stream in for a longer period of time. Natural light not only allows you to save up on electricity bills, but creates an active atmosphere that can’t be duplicated by the brightest man-made lights. Workplaces that have ample sunlight illuminating them somehow rejuvenate workers, keeping them going.
2. Interior Décor With Plants
Potted plants add personality to a structure. Your home taken on deeper hues when you have beautiful plants adorning corners, blooming by the window or decorating your porch / balcony. Express yourself through the art of bonsai or choose the plant with vibrant flowers that infuse enthusiasm in your house. Waking up to the refreshing odor of plants and the soothing act of watering and nurturing plants are added benefits of these decorative pieces unparalleled by statue or paintings.
3. Energy Efficient Lighting And Appliances
The need to go green is a keenly felt one. As a result, manufacturers of electronic appliances are incorporating green technologies into their products. Use energy efficient lighting like LED lights that not only provide bright light, but also regulate your carbon footprint. LED TVs, energy efficient air conditioners, refrigerators, ovens and washing machines are all liable in sleek designs that add character to your home. Energy efficient lighting for residences and offices are available in designs that form works of art by themselves, nothing up the style quotient.
4. Energy Efficient Windows
Specially engineered energy efficient windows now flood the market. These windows comprise two layers of glass with an insulating section of gases like argon or krypton in between. These windows allow you to maintain the gleam of your furniture as UV rays that cause fading are barred from entering your home. These windows keep out heat waves and allow only light rays into your home, which is transformed into little heat within the home. Energy efficient windows help you stay warm in winter, and allow coolness in summer, reducing the usage of air conditioners and heaters considerably.
5. Wooden Furniture
Furniture made of teak or sal are majestic in appearance and make for great interior décor. Mix and match shades of the layering on the woods for tables, wardrobes, closets, bedside tables and dressing tables to experiment with interior décor. Marble an stone make for great table tops. Go green and give yourself the added benefit of having a house that reflects strength and character. Reducing the use of non-recyclable and environment unfriendly products goes a long way controlling global warming.
6. Stone / Wooden Flooring
Stone floors help in insulating effects by absorbing and reflect light and heat such that the use of temperature-regulating appliances is drastically reduced. The appeal of your home is enhanced, as is the reading of the green-o-meter of your house.
7. Organic Materials
Instead of choosing to stock your see-through kitchen cabinet with plastic materials of various colors and designs to add color to your kitchen, use as many organic alternatives as possible. Reducing the use of throw away plastic plates or glasses and opting for china or ceramic is a good option. Such changes may come across as expensive, but think of them as investments. Besides, ceramic ware providea a certain elegance that throw away plastic ware can never hope to imitate.
8. Natural decoration
There is no dearth of ideas for converting waste material into works of art. Scrap metal is being recycled to make a host of products, and having show pieces of such material is not a bad idea. Weeds can be used to create the centre-piece of your floral decoration, lending the room a beauty incomparable with the meager contribution of plastic bouquets or brass moulds.
There are innumerable ways in which you can incorporate eco-friendly concepts into the interior décor of your home. The added benefit of opting the greener way of living is that inspiration and refreshment is readily available around you. The health benefits of living in a home that is not concentrate with volatile organic compounds (VOC) that can make a structure sick, and thus its inhabitants. Besides, wood-paneled walls, stone floors and wooden furniture add great beauty to your home.
