5 Tips for Furnishing Your House Sustainably
With climate change at the forefront of conversation at the moment, many people are wondering how to live a bit more sustainably in order to attempt to off-set some of the damage that has been done to our planet. There are many ways to start living a more sustainable lifestyle, and as always, it’s about progress, not perfection.
Here, Hannah Ayla outlines 5 ways that she has found to start to live a more sustainable lifestyle in her home.
1. Repurpose old furniture: One of the easiest ways to be sustainable is to give your current pieces a little touch-up or repurpose them for another use. For example, turning an old coffee table into a giant planter, or adding doors to a bookcase to make it a standing kitchen pantry. There are tons of amazing content creators dedicated to upcycling that may inspire some ideas — Hannah recently discovered Chloe Kempster and loves seeing the unique twists she adds to old furniture.
2. Use FB Marketplace, Craigslist, Nextdoor: Location based resale websites are a treasure trove of unique finds, and BONUS, it’s a great way to meet people in your local area. Some of Hannah’s best finds came from online marketplaces that connected her with people in the San Francisco area that were selling pieces they no longer needed, like a $6,000 Joybird couch that she found for $1,300 brand new simply because it wouldn’t fit up the previous owner’s staircase!
Hot tip: Set an alert for keywords or brands you love so you can be notified as soon as it gets posted. Trust me, the good stuff is out there!
3. Purchase new items responsibly: Let’s be realistic, there are some items that you will not end up purchasing second hand, or are going to have a hard time finding. So, when you do decide to purchase new items, try to purchase items that are built to last. If you buy something that is made of ‘sustainable’ materials, but it falls apart a few months later — that isn’t actually sustainable. Also consider how you live inside your home and what your life actually looks like. If you have toddler children, perhaps that white sofa should wait until they’re teenagers; if you have pets, maybe raw/unvarnished wood is not the most suitable choice for your home.
4. Visit local thrift stores: Local thrift stores often have tons of great quality items for extremely low prices. Oftentimes items are in perfectly good condition for a fraction of their original price.
5. Find your local Buy Nothing Project on facebook: One of the coolest things Hannah found during her quest to furnish her new apartment sustainably was Buy Nothing. The Buy Nothing Project is a project that encourages people to give and take within their local community to reduce waste and save money. Everything posted in the group is free, and you can also get rid of unwanted things as well. I have gotten some great stuff from my local Buy Nothing and highly recommend checking out your local neighborhood group.
As you can see, some small changes in how you decorate can make a huge difference. Sourcing pieces might take a bit longer, but your home will end up feeling truly inspired and more like YOU than it would if you purchased everything from a big box store.
