Home interior decor tips: Sustainable products to make your dream house eco-friendly

Any practice or a change starts with the home and we all have dreamt of making our home beautiful by decorating and embellishing it. To garnish our digs and nurture the environment, there are plenty of ways to decorate them in an eco-friendly way. Check out these tips by home interior decor experts

Supporting sustainability is the new trend, not just in fashion but also in home interior decor industry and is influencing the post-pandemic choices as Covid-19 lockdowns lift across the globe after two years of the coronavirus pandemic. The interior design industry has seen a shift in the way homes are designed in the post-pandemic era as an individual’s interaction with space has evolved in the last two years and with sustainability, reusability and self-care at the top of brand-conscious new-age consumers, an evident shift is seen in how customers interact with brands and their products.

Home interior decor tips: Sustainable products to make your dream house eco-friendly (Photo by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash)

The growing importance of sustainable materials and aesthetically curated looks with sensational style are a common point when it comes to fashion of clothes and home interiors and with more than two years of being locked inside our house due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, people are focusing on creating calming environments and regaining connection to the natural world inside their homes by renovating it with natural lighting and ventilation, incorporating plants and creating a visual connection with nature. Making sustainable choices and creating green spaces for a healthy home environment are key improvements one must plan to bring in their lifestyle through home renovations.

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Husain Johar, Co-Founder of Makemyhouse.com, shared, “Sustainability nowadays is an admired word for fortifying our environment. It is not only used for conception but for the implementation to make our surrounding a beautiful and healthy place to live in. Any practice or a change starts with the home, and we all have dreamt of making our home beautiful by decorating and embellishing it. To garnish our digs and nurture the environment, there are plenty of ways to decorate them in an eco-friendly way.”

He asserted that decorating our home and protecting the environment we all live in should go hand in hand. Just like a home is a place for us to live in, an environment is a place for all the beings to live in and rooting for the same, Husain Johar listed some tips on sustainable products to make your dream house eco-friendly:

1. Choosing solar panels at home - When it comes to making the environment healthy, utilizing solar energies is one good way of doing that. Installing solar panels in the home can be really beneficial as it is low maintenance, reduces electricity bills, and abets reducing air pollution.

2. Insulating the home properly and installing underfloor heating - A home that is insulated properly has the capacity to clasp the heat which is now a benefit for saving the expenses. Underfloor heating is an elderly way to heat up the apartment and causes no damage to the environment.

3. Go with water-based paints - Decorating and renovating a home is surely a challenging task. Painting the walls and redecorating them is a major part. Rather than choosing oil-based paint, painting the walls with water-based paints is considered one of the best ways to conserve the environment and it is now the trend too. Water-based paints also come in a variety of colours and are more attractive aesthetically.

4. Orientation of your house for natural light and heat - For sustainable dwellings, orientation is crucial. If you reside in a frigid climate in the Northern Hemisphere, additional windows facing south can help you take advantage of the light. In the winter, you can optimize direct sunshine by constructing a long wall with windows pointing south. This will help to heat your home while also allowing natural light to enter. You don't want too many windows facing west because it can cause glare and heat in the summer. If your windows face west, consider planting a tall tree to shield some of the harsh sunshine.

5. Recycled materials for sustainable house construction - It is critical to recycle. This must be balanced against availability. The materials that are readily available will differ depending on where you are. Materials are recycled, salvaged, and reused in a variety of ways.

i) Countertops made from recycled glass

ii) Steel made from recycled metals.

iii) Reclaimed Wood. This can be beautiful! When a contractor demolishes a building or does a renovation, they can often reuse the old wood products they salvage for other projects. There are lumber yards that specialize in purchasing and selling reclaimed wood.

iv) Reclaimed bricks and another masonry. Bricks, stones and pavers can also be reclaimed and reused.

v) Reuse soils from the excavation for new landscaping.

vi) Roof shingles can have recycled content.

vii) Plastic Products with recycled content.

viii) Drywall materials that were recycled.

6. Energy star appliances and equipment - The most straightforward of these energy-efficient home ideas is to use energy-efficient appliances and equipment. Use energy star-rated appliances as a bare minimum. Did you know that an energy star TV is available? Look for electricity star labels on your kitchen equipment because they might consume a lot of energy. All of your heating, air conditioning, and water heaters should be Energy Star certified.

7. Water conserving plumbing fixtures - Toilets and other plumbing fixtures are no longer the same. Dual flush toilets allow you to select a lesser or greater flush rate depending on your needs. All of your plumbing equipment, including faucets and shower heads, can be set to use less or no water. This type of lighting is becoming increasingly popular. Plumbing fixtures with reduced flow rates are easy to come by. It's not necessary to waste anything.

According to Pritika Singh, Founder of Mohh, we should contribute to the protection of the environment by scouring and using materials sustainably and efficiently and use products that are plastic free by repurposing and upcycling wood and metal waste. She advised conceptualising furniture that has a desirable look to it but also serves the purpose of being eco-friendly, producing each piece with the utmost care while trying to improve our sustainable practices. She said, “We understand that people desire to beautify their houses with high-quality furnishings but not at the cost of the environment. Thus. it becomes absolutely necessary that a piece of furniture created out of scrap should be well-crafted so that consumers take pride in owning and placing it in their homes.”