Does your living room need some help? Guest contributor Joanna shares some eco-friendly tips on redecorating your living room.
Change of slipcovers and pillow covers
Easy touches like changing your sofa and pillow covers makes a big difference in your living room. The best thing is you can have multiple options throughout the year to change the look and wash the old covers in the mean time. Slip covers are one of the few accessories that doesn’t cost a fortune to give your room a complete face lift. The best options are always organic cotton covers as they are softer and contains no chemicals in the making of the material – perfect to be around small children in the home.
Repaint old cabinets & picture frames with Eco friendly paint/stains
Why throw away good furniture when all it needs is a new coat of paint? Every year, households throw away tons of furniture that ends up in the landfill, when they can be saved by re-using it with a different look or place it in a different room for a change. If you do intend to re-paint your old furniture, do use Eco friendly paint as it helps breathing easier when applying the paint, provide a chemical free surrounding and leaves behind a greener world when producing the paint. VOCs (volatile organic compounds) found in regular paint can be harmful to people, so look for a low or zero VOC when shopping for paint.
Shift furniture around the home to give a new look
Feel like you don’t have enough space in your home? Consider rearranging the existing furniture and even remove one or a few pieces to free up some space. Sometimes it just takes a new pair of eyes to place furniture properly. Think about where your lighting comes from and how your want your seating area to accommodate to that light. Try a few options and sit down to see if you actually like the setting. It’s a lot of muscles to make this work, but it will be worth it in the long run.
Change the lighting with different lampshades and drapes throughout the year
Believe it or not, when there’s more lighting in a room it feels and looks more spacious. Whether your increasing natural sunlight coming into the room or adding more lamp fixtures, a balance of both lights is necessary to have sufficient light during the day and night.
The more natural light you have available in your room during the day will also help reduce the use of electricity, going green and saving money all at the same time. And of course, it always helps to have different color selection when it comes to lampshades and drapes. The secret is to choose cool colors for the warm season, and warm colors for the cool season.
Add some seasonal plants / fresh cut flowers
Some plants are good throughout the year, but it’s also important to include seasonal plants to enjoy the specialties of each unique season. Fresh cut flowers are always good throughout the year, although most would buy more flowers during summer time when they are in season but the hot weather will make the flowers not last as long as they would in the winter time. The best option would be to have a back yard garden to clip your flowers from, that way it doesn’t take as much energy to transport flowers to your home when you can just easily access them right in your own backyard.
Clear up the clutter for a peaceful home
Don’t just leave till spring time to do your cleaning. Each season you should make an effort to clean out the clutter in your home. Donate all the items that are still in good condition if you haven’t used them in an entire year, and the rest should be recycled and only a minimum would go towards the trash. The more you re-use your old furniture or donate your old clothes, the less you’ll add towards the landfills each year.
Change up the accessories / displays
Even books can be accessories to place in your living room. Each different season can include different types of cooking books. For example, a barbecue cook book in the summer can be readily available in the living room for dinner ideas and for guests to have something interesting to read while they are over.
Other accessories can include a simple painting on your wall or ornament displays of whatever peaks your interest. However, if you do have a passion to collect a theme, let’s say cat ornaments, try not to go overboard with overwhelming your living room with excessive accessories. Remember, simplicity is the way to go with a touch of personal taste.
Photo by Danilo Nunez Jr. on Flickr
Written by guest contributor Joanna, a freelance writer that dotes on family values and environmental issues.