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Saturday, March 16th, 2019
Uttermost Living Room Avner Wooden Cube Table 25603
There is a reason behind the popularity of low-impact homes these days. Apart from energy costs saved, there are health and ecological reasons as well that drive homeowners to choose to live green.
If you’ve just signed up to live an eco-friendly lifestyle, then it would be good to have a few guiding principles to help you on your new journey –
Purchase Responsibly
Green living means you purchase only from businesses that are serious about natural resource conservation. As a homeowner, you should also use energy optimally. Do this as well with your water consumption and other material use.
Buy only the products that have been certified to meet the strictest environmental standards. Always prioritize your environmental and social responsibilities as you make each and every purchase.
Buy Locally
If you have neighbors with local businesses, then support them. But make sure that they also know how to conserve energy and preserve Mother Earth.
You might think that buying locally has nothing to do with the well-being of the planet but think again.
First, food that you buy from the farmers market is fresher. You don’t just get to support the local farmers, you even improve your health and the local economy.
Compared to store-bought food, too, local foods have less transportation time. You can even drive to the nearest farmers market to pick your own peaches, strawberries, blueberries, etc.
Another upside to local purchase is the amount of packaging involved. You can bring your own reusable bags when you buy from the farmers market. As you can see, saying no to plastic is a major decision that you have to make when you want to live a green lifestyle.
Assess a Product’s Environmental Impact
If you want to be truly sustainable, product suitability and longevity must also be balanced with sources and materials that are sustainable. Be involved in the life cycle analyses (cradle-to-grave concept) of the environmental impacts of products that you buy.
Say no to products that harm animals such as alligator or snakeskin products, ivory from elephant tusks, etc.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Just buy products that make use of recycled materials like salvaged timber, reclaimed tiles, recycled pet bottles, etc.
You can help protect the environment by remembering these 3Rs. Reducing means you’re willing to decrease the amount of waste that you and your household produce.
In reusing, you can think of ways that you can use something more than once. For instance, you can shred paper for your pet hamster or you can use glass jars for multiple uses.
Recycling, on the other hand, means you imagine ways to use the product again without having to buy new products. You can compost food wastes and recycle those UPS boxes after you empty them.
Be Energy-Efficient
There are simple ways to begin your energy-efficient lifestyle.
First, you can begin lowering your thermostat especially when you’re away from home. You can also seal your windows and limit your use of space heater.
Be sure to unplug appliances that are not in use and to replace the incandescent bulbs with LED lighting. You can also ask an electrician about the installation of a lighting control system. This should reduce your electrical consumption by 40%.
The 3Rs in Interior Design
And now that you know what the 3Rs are in green living, you can also apply these to your interior design.
If you have to remodel or renovate a part of your home, see if you can find materials that come from recycled sources. There is now recycled construction debris that you can use for your own construction projects.
Ask your interior designer about how to get your hands on such materials.
Tags: green living, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, sustainability, sustainable design, sustainable home, sustainable home design
Posted in 2019 Trends, Green Living, Interior Design 101, Interior Design Elements, Interior Design Themes | Comments Off on Sustainability in Interior Design and Everything Else
Tuesday, June 26th, 2018
The Tommy Bahama Home Living Room Hibiscus Round Accent Table 593-953 is made from bamboo, a sustainable material. Notice also the open, airy windows which let in natural light during the day, thus, eliminating the need to turn on lights during that time.
Your home is where sustainability should begin. From the furnishings to the finishes, choosing green products as well as practices can improve your home’s design. Deciding to live in a home with zero environmental impact is a good thing to do. Keep up with such good decisions and, now, let’s learn how to set up a sustainable interior design –
Minimalism Is Key
There are a few rules to learn if you’re a beginner minimalist. These can be summarized in seven easy steps –
First, learn to let go. This means looking for the dumpster and throwing all the things that you have not been using for six months or more.
Second, stop denying that you have a hoarding problem. No, you don’t have a space problem, you only have a stuff problem.
Third, if you have decided to live sustainably, then you should be willing to begin. Don’t wait for inspiration from someone else. Be able to motivate yourself to start.
Fourth, write down all the things that you want to finally get rid of including debt, stress at work, at many more. Once you write down these things, you’ll realize just how simple life really is.
Fifth, discard any duplicates. If you have boxes of magazines and DVDs, scour through them and keep only the ones that you are going to use in the next 30 days. For the rest of the boxes, have them thrown.
Sixth, declutter. Do this from the countertops to the kitchen islands, to your nightstand and even in that drawer in your bedroom. A clean, clear environment is as minimalist as you could ever get.
Seventh, have less of everything – less clothing, fewer shoes, fewer travel essentials, less eating out.
Orient Express Furniture Dining Room Loom Arm Chair
Use Only Eco-Friendly Materials
Gone were the days when eco-friendly materials were costly. Now, more and more manufacturers are able to meet the demands for green yet affordable products. If it’s possible, hire a sustainable interior designer so he or she could help you pick the right materials to use such as bamboo, rattan, etc.
Shop with Care
Be able to shop with confidence. Say no to plastic products and start saying yes to paper coffee cups or the usable ones, recycled toilet paper, biodegradable waste bags, organic clothing, solar power, green clothing, and furniture built with sustainable materials.
Learn to Save Energy
There are many different ways to save energy in your home ranging from the simplest to the most intense. You have to adjust your behaviors each day. Turn off appliances that are not in use (take baby steps first). You can also choose to do manual tasks such as drying your laundry the old-fashioned way or washing the dishes by hand.
Another energy-saving tip is to replace the light bulbs with LEDs or light-emitting diode bulbs. These may seem expensive at first but you will save about 25-80% electrical energy in the process. These bulbs also have a longer life=span compared to traditional light bulbs.
Apart from purchasing LED bulbs, you should also consider investing in energy-efficient appliances. These operate at 9-25% less energy compared to the traditional models. Look for the Energy Star label in all your appliances. This label guarantees that this appliance will consume less electricity.
Have a smart thermostat installed. This programmable thermostat can be automatically turned off to reduce cooling or heating during certain times of the day. The average thermostat can save you about $180 annually.
Have energy efficient windows installed. Did you know that your home loses about 10-25% of heat when you only have traditional windows? In order to prevent heat loss, replace the single panes with double-panes.
Tags: McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, sustainability, sustainable home design, sustainable interior design, sustainable materials
Posted in Green Living, Interior Design 101, Interior Design Elements, Interior Design Themes | Comments Off on What Is A Sustainable Interior Design?
Thursday, November 17th, 2016
Fine Furniture Design Bedroom Bamboo Dresser 1050-144
More and more people are becoming environmentally-conscious these days. The green design for homes has become a standard of sorts and it is no surprise that it is now gaining popularity. Having a green home means owning a place that is environment friendly and has ergonomic designs. This is a design that appeals to those who want to conserve what’s left of the planet. This is also the chosen ambience for people who want to live a healthy lifestyle.
Sustainability Is Piping Hot
Just like other fields of design, interior design will forever be tied to the ever-changing styles. What’s in or out with regard to interior design is almost always what’s in or out in the world of fashion. Should you design goal be about renovation, redecoration or architectural detailing, every interior designer must know what the hottest or classic trends are.
Know that in the design industry, these days, the fastest-growing section is interior design sustainability. You can now practice rain water collection if you want to your home’s water needs or you can buy furniture made with sustainable materials like bamboo.
Highlight Green
The ASID or American Society of Interior Designers strongly believes that green design must be included in every interior designer’s approach these days. The reduction of environmental impact does not just lengthen Mother Earth’s day but could also make your home a healthier place to live in.
Use Energy-Wise Stuff
One basic way to go green on your interior design is to efficiently use every bit of space that is available in your home. Use harmful construction materials to a bare minimum. Live in micro-houses or apodments. These are solutions that are less than 300 square feet and already come with amenities such as a refrigerator and a microwave.
Every interior designer must also work in maximizing doors and windows so that more light could come in. With ample natural lighting comes energy savings. Use wood flooring, furniture and other home products that come from renewable sources. Have water-saving toilets set up.
If you want to be surer about the source of your materials, then talk to the suppliers.
Say Yes to Waste Reduction
Decorative stuff and furniture can be easily repurposed these days. If you are truly environmentally-conscious, you can refurbish or a better option is to decide on a style that you would want for the rest of your life then invest in furniture pieces that would last as heirloom pieces.
Use fabrics, tiles and carpets that were made from recycled materials.
Plan Lighting Efficiency
Another part of your plan is to be clever about the incorporation of light in your home. Use skylights and windows more effectively. Maximize daylight by using these parts of your home and minimizing artificial lighting.
Apply a Fresh Coat of Paint
You may or may not believe this but the color that you use to paint the interior or exterior parts of your home can spell a huge difference in light and heat absorption. The hottest summer months require cooler and lighter colors such as greens and blues. These hues can reduce room temperature by as much as 6-10 degrees.
Maitland-Smith Accessories Bamboo Cast Brass Bar Cart 3020-042
Use New Window Treatments
Do not forget to consider the drapes, curtains and blinds. These can also help in the reduction of energy costs. You might think that window treatments are mere decorative items but they are, in fact, choices that can make a huge difference.
Drapes, for instance, are effective in keeping out drafts in winter seasons while shutters and blinds keep the warmth outdoors.
Landscape Your Way to Green Living
Lastly, you can plant trees right where the sun rises. This will reduce the amount of heat that goes through your windows during the day. Eventually, you will observe how your energy costs are greatly reduced.
You see, green living is tantamount to living a life of substantial savings.
Tags: energy efficient living, energy-efficiency, energy-efficient home, green, green design, green home, green interior design, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, sustainability, sustainable design, sustainable home, sustainable home design, sustainable interior design, sustainable lifestyle, tips
Posted in 2016 Trends, 2017 Trends, Green Living, Interior Design 101 | No Comments »
Thursday, February 18th, 2016
Living Room Uttermost Avner Wooden Cube Table 25603 offers a unique and stylish look to your home as you transition to green living.
Also known as eco living, green living is tantamount to saying that you are living in a sustainable home. This is, after all, the standard that the world looks up to. It is because of this that manufacturers find ways to tell the world about their green credentials. Even appliances now come with energy-saving functions. Some materials that are used in food and other packaging are now recyclable or are actually recycled materials. This new generation of sustainable furniture as well as lighting designs aim to satiate people who have become aware of their roles in keeping Mother Earth intact.
Green Living in Your Home
Healthy interiors can make the tenants feel more comfortable and satisfied. In workplaces, it can even foster employee retention.
Occupant interaction with the surroundings can also impact individual emotional and mental wellness. For offices, it can even improve building operations. Since this is so, it should now be your goal to create sustainable interiors right in your own home.
You should now pledge to make productive use of your space and to use only eco-friendly lights and furniture. Also, the ambiance in your home should have green written all over it.
The Artistica Bedroom Axiom King Bed 560-566 is sustainable. It is built with plantation-grown parawood solids as well as acacia veneers.
Green Living: Lighting
There are many benefits that come with eco living and when you decide to apply it even in interior design. You can now effectively combine energy saving technology with utility. Many appliances now have energy storage with some even installed with photovoltaic cells.
With eco-friendly lighting come not just energy savings but also the perfect look for ambient spaces. Energy saving bulbs use up less energy when compared to traditional light bulbs. What a wonderful sight it is to behold a dynamically created lighting fixture in your home! It spells poetry in the form of light while serving as a reliable light source for your lovely ambience.
Green Living Is In
Just like other design industries, the world of interior design is forever tied to volatile styles. In essence, it is like assessing clothes whether they are hot or they’re not.
Whether the client’s goal is to renovate, decorate or to create architectural detailing, interior designers must always be up on their toes with regard to what’s hot in their field. The trend at the moment – and probably the fastest growing segment of the interior design industry nowadays – is sustainability.
Bamboo and other sustainable materials are hot. And with the ASID (American Society of Interior Designers attesting that sustainability should be one of the areas of focus for interior designers today, everyone is simply geared towards the use of sustainable materials and wasting not. Even the curricula in different design schools already include sustainability as one of their crucial courses.
The Artistica Dining Room Idiom Arm Chair 451-010 is manufactured using plantation grown elm. It is beautifully combined with industrial steel to give you that architectural and textural wonder.
Green Living for the Homeowner
Whether you wish to become an interior designer someday or are just taking on an interior design project on your own, then you have to remember these guidelines –
Green living doesn’t have to be time consuming. It is a matter of making that conscious decision to change your lifestyle and the way you run things in your home. Yet this does not mean that your living space should look boring, though. You can still beautify your home by using your artistic eye in choosing sustainable furnishings.
Tags: eco living, eco-friendly home, eco-friendly interior design, eco-friendly interiors, eco-friendly tips, energy efficient living, energy-efficiency, energy-efficient home, green interiors, green living, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, sustainability, sustainable design, sustainable living
Posted in Interior Design 101, Interior Design Elements, Interior Design Themes, Interior Design Trends | No Comments »
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