By Pam Hill (Pam Hill Interiors)
Does your home interior need a fresh look? Here are some tips for sprucing up your surroundings with an environmentally friendly flair.
Reuse and Refresh – You can do a lot with what you already have. Rearranging existing furniture — and possibly reupholstering here and there — can breathe new excitement into a room. Add a new piece of art or two and some accessories to complete the makeover.
More Green Choices – We now enjoy more selection than ever before from a growing number of local and regional firms within 500 miles. Buying local is “green,” as doing so reduces transportation costs and greenhouse gases while contributing to the local economy.
You need not travel far to find great flooring, fabrics, lighting and cabinets. Here are some exciting new ideas.
• Flooring: Did you know that bamboo is the fastest growing plant on Earth? Actually, bamboo is a grass which can replenish itself in five years. Look for creative ways bamboo is being used as a flooring material. Naturally, a wood floor is as green as it gets. Many firms supplying wood are planting two trees for every one they cut down.
• Fabrics: Materials which can be recycled at the end of their useful life are making their appearance. Biodegradable materials also have emerged, meaning they biologically break down safely and relatively quickly into their raw material components. Leading firms are promoting the awareness of these innovations. For example, Kravet Fabrics has its own division devoted to green living, “Kravet Green.”
• Lighting: Look for the “Energy Star” designation when selecting lighting. It indicates energy efficiency. Compact fluorescent lights use less energy than conventional lights.
• Cabinets: Indianapolis’ Corsi Cabinets and other regional firms now offer environmentally friendly paints and varnishes.
I recently decorated a home in West Clay which used a mixture of many of these elements and qualified as a “green home.” Incorporating green ideas into your remodeling plans is fun and, thankfully, is becoming much easier.
Go green while remodeling your interior space this Spring!
