Eco-friendly Home Décor: Celebrate Earth Day Everyday

All of us love decorating our homes every now and then, no matter how trivial the change is. However, as environmental damage continues to be a pressing issue even in 2014, we should all strive at a personal level to make our lifestyles more eco-friendly.

The best part about this is that there are many ways in which you can enhance the look of your home while simultaneously playing your part in helping the environment. Here are some creative ideas:

Natural Accessories

To start off, consider getting natural items like seashells, coral, driftwood, and pinecones for display on your shelves or even in a bowl on your coffee table.

 

Don’t Discard It

A lot of things fall into this category. For example, instead of discarding glass jars of your favorite soup, jam, or sauce, you can make them decorative by painting their lids with pretty colors and then re-using them to store other food items.

On a slightly larger scale, you can also use old sheets as:

• Linings on glass front doors
• Café curtains
• Pillow covers

Of course as far as the last option is concerned, you can always purchase pillow covers made with sustainable materials. But coming back to old sheets, if they can’t be used for any of the above, you can still find them purposeful as cleaning cloths and pet bedding.

Re-Upholster Furniture

You may be tired of your old furniture. But unless the piece is really worn out, you should go for reupholstering rather than replacing that chair or sofa. For all you know, you can get the frame replaced or cushion repaired at a lesser cost than getting a new one.

Couple this with the point on pillow covers. You can always get new decorative covers instead of getting new pillows. In that way, you can have a different look after every few months without spending much.  Moreover, just by getting new accented pillow covers, you can even change the look of your existing furniture.

 

Making it Functional

Speaking of old furniture, there are several creative ways in which you can keeping using it and thereby avoid discarding it. For instance, if you have an old coffee table, you can easily convert it into a drawing board by painting the top with black chalkboard paint!

Likewise, if you simply have to get a table for the dining room, don’t think that the only option is to buy a new one. You should instead get a table base kit and get some reclaimed lumber from a local salvage yard to make your own table. It’s worth the effort.

Where to Buy Used Decorative Items?

The internet is the best place to find decorative items that have been built using recycled and other eco-friendly materials. Visit Craigslist or eBay, and you will find great resources for fashion and home décor. You will find ample items in the used category but they can surely change the outlook of your home for the better.

You can also check up with the local municipal garbage and recycling depots, preferably if they have free paint exchange programs. These work as follows: you bring them leftover paint and get new one for free. The only limiting factor here is that such programs don’t offer the same color range that a paint shop does. But on the plus side, you are getting significant cost advantage for smaller paint projects, even if all you get is white!

Finally, you can call your local U.S. Green Building Council office or local building department to find the best eco-friendly stores around you. By using home décor that is recycled and reused not only do you curb environmental damage, but these materials are highly durable and don’t require major maintenance as well.

It’s a win-win situation.

How KOVI is Playing its Part

While we are on the topic of eco-friendliness, you, the reader, should know that at KOVI, we strive to make the maximize use of natural and sustainable materials in all our products and minimize our impact on the environment as much as possible. Everything is crafted using minimal waste and zero toxins, and we strive to reduce environmental emissions due to transportation and energy use in our facilities. Hence, when you purchase our accented pillows or covers, you are automatically going green!