Just because you enjoy making a change to your home now and then doesn’t mean you cannot do it sustainably. The real trick is to try to stick to natural materials, buy used, and use low or no VOC paint to change up the look of furniture and walls easily.
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Decorate with Things You Already Have
Instead of buying all new things, just move around the stuff you already have in a new way. You probably already have plenty of things you can use to decorate your space without buying new ones. For example, an old blouse can become (with a few stitches) a new pillow cover, or that old calendar can become a featured art wall.
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Repurpose, Reuse, Recycle and Upcycle
Think of the items you own in new ways. An old trash can might become a new planter. That dresser that is falling apart can be taken apart, and the wood can be reused in new ways such as by attaching the drawers to the wall as cabinets to display your collections.
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Use Paint to Make Big Changes
Paint is probably the least expensive way you can make considerable changes to your environment. Thankfully, you can buy no-VOC paints relatively inexpensively today from your local home store. Painting one feature wall can change everything about your décor. For example, try using one of the lighter colors from a throw pillow or blanket as the base color for a fantastic feature wall.
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Rearrange Your Furniture
Finding a new way to rearrange your furniture can give you that redecorated feeling without spending a single dime. Rethink each room of your house to be freer flowing, or turn an open concept into a more segmented option by using strategically placed dividers if you want it to be a more cozy feeling for winter.
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Make Small Changes
Tiny changes can really bring out the décor that you’ve already put in place. Just getting rid of clutter, improving an area of the house with better organization, refreshing the trim, changing one window treatment, and so forth can make a huge difference.
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Think about Wellbeing, Not Just Aesthetics
When you are redecorating, instead of thinking only about how something looks, also think about how something works. For example, if you once used fake plants and now you realize they’re just dust collectors, get rid of them to open up space and slowly replace with real plants that improve the air quality and look good too.
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Go with Classic Over Trendy Items
Just like with clothing fashion, decorating has a fashion season too. Every two to four years, whatever you’ve done that’s on-trend is going to be old news, old-fashioned and out of date. Instead, choose classic items that never go out of style or that can be easily changed. For example, a solid wood basic dresser can be repainted and the knobs changed, and it’ll look totally new, as opposed to that gold and glass obscenity you bought in the ’80s.
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Only Select Sustainable Materials
When you focus on selecting the most substantial materials available to you, you’ll also end up with the most long lasting and classic choices. Natural materials always last longer and look better, anyway.
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Host a Fun Swap Party
A fun way to get new items for decorating purposes is to host a fun swap party. Everyone can bring any decorative items (either with a picture of it or the real item) and then let each person choose from the pile.
Keeping your home decorated and comfortable is a priority for many people who like to enjoy their homes. You can do that and still be sustainable if you’re conscious about the materials you’re using and reusing.
