The living room is where family members spend most of their time while at home. This is where the television is set, the video consoles are found, magazines are placed and other recreational stuffs are accessed. To have more comfort, greening your living room is certainly a great idea. Whatever you do in that particular cozy area, a green home can provide you a more positive mood and a better environment. So, here are ideal suggestions that you can do on how to make a green living room.
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Interior Designing
Start off by the most basic which is designing (or probably redesigning) the interior of the living room from wall to wall and ceiling to flooring. The products to use for a green living room must be eco-friendly and low-emission materials. There are environmentally-friendly paints that you can use to coat the walls, posts and ceiling. For the flooring, you can still choose either tiles or hardwood. But as far as eco-friendliness is concerned, it’s much better to have wood flooring. If you want to cover the floor with carpet, use one that is made of eco-friendly materials, or renewable (recycled) resources like wool.
Ventilation
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Indoor pollution is possible when your home do not have good ventilation. So, to have a green home, make sure your living room has windows where air can enter in while fumes inside the house are released. Even if you have HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-condition) system, windows that can be opened have to be still present in the room. You need fresh air some of the time anyway and release some fumes before they can pollute you. Speaking of windows, they need to be environmentally friendly also. This means the windows can provide energy so you can reduce your consumption of lights or heater.
Decorations
You need a few pieces of furniture and decorations to complete the living room. Keep in mind you are creating a green environment in this particular cozy area. With that said, choose furniture that is made of eco-friendly materials. This means that you put up couches that are manufactured from cotton, wool or other fabric that is good for the skin, feel and smell too. If possible avoid leather and wooden furniture. For the table, you have to select a fiberglass table as this is definitely durable and ergonomically friendly. You may add other types of furniture like cabinet or shelves for books, television, CDs and DVDs, and video game consoles.
Other than furniture, decoration items like flower vase, picture frames and ashtray can be considered. Just choose items that do not only accentuate the interior design of the whole room, but also add warm or green feel. If possible, display recycled décors such as a flower vase or pot for small plants that is made of paper material (newspapers or magazines). Having recycled displays can surely make your own living room a green environment.
Lightings and Electronics
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The living room does need some lights during the night and at times wherein low light conditions occur. Since you are aiming for a green room, choose lightings that do not consume a large amount of energy. It means the lights you put up must be a good conductor of energy so you can reduce your regular utility bills. Plus, they need to be practical and safe in a way that they cannot easily get broken. To help you much easier, choose products (both lights and electronic devices) with Energy Star label and anything that has passed the standard compliance required in your area.
You do not need to shell out a big amount of money just to create a green environment in your home. The truth is that, recycled items and eco-friendly products are much cheaper when compared to standard commercial items. In other words, there is nothing to lose if you try to make a green home. What else can you lose anyway if you have a friendlier and better environment right at your own abode? A few changes of home décors and designing as well as lifestyle and daily habits can help much. So, it is a matter of being consistent and passionate about what you want in your home.
