Join us as we delve into the world of eco-friendly interior design and how it affects our environment. Discover our tips for creating sustainable and eco-friendly designs.
Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Interior Design
In recent years, there has been a need to identify and rectify sustainable and eco-friendly practices, especially in the Interior design and Architectural industries. Sustainable and eco-friendly interior design is the practice of balancing old and new materials and eliminating those that negatively impact our climate.
Sustainable Versus Eco-Friendly
The building trade has been a huge consumer of natural resources and continues to be a large contributor of pollutants during and long after projects that have been completed. Therefore, designers must be aware and proactive in combating these practices. But what are the differences between sustainable design and eco-friendly design?
Sustainable design can be seen with the use of renewable sources and materials, such as solar power or locally sourced building materials. Examples of eco-friendly designs are recycled materials, cork, bamboo, wood, and anything that has been up-cycled and re-purposed.
This type of design is a broader, long-term practice considering the human, social, economic, and environmental implications of building practices. Sustainability questions the long-term effects of building practices on the people living in and around them, their cost, longevity, and how these practices will affect the environment in years to come.
Consider asking yourself questions about the design process you have chosen to implement. Will the manufacturing and delivery of the materials chosen produce carbon emissions? How will that affect my carbon footprint in years to come? Is the energy source sustainable and appropriate for the space? Have I researched indigenous materials and chosen suppliers that ethically source them? What amount can I afford to invest in sustainability?
Eco-friendly design is a short-term practice that researches how materials impact the environment as they are being produced and how they will be sold. Sustainable design asks deeper and more meaningful questions, whereas eco-friendly design can be seen as solving for now. Used together, they create long-standing and positively impactful interior design styles.
Tips for Eco-Friendly Interior Design
Creating sustainable and eco-friendly designs can seem daunting. We suggest creating an interior design moodboard to make this process easier and more focused. Incorporate these five tips into your interior design moodboard to keep your sustainable design project on track!
Energy Efficiency: Look to renewable sources of lighting and heating. Use building materials and design layouts that naturally insulate and provide light, or invest in renewable energy sources. Look to solar to light up your home or heat your geyser, use LED light bulbs instead of old-school filaments, and use sustainable materials to insulate your home.
Low Environmental Impact: Research the types of materials you would like to use in your space. Look at how they are sourced, manufactured and shipped out to you. Using natural resources such as indigenous wood, stone, and wool are great examples of low environmental impact materials.
Waste Reduction: Designers have invested in reusing and recycling materials and furniture pieces to keep with waste reduction. Keep and refurbish furniture pieces in your home, or buy pre-loved items and upcycle them into pieces that suit your style.
Longevity and Flexibility: Design for the long term. Choose quality over quantity. Create flexible designs that can easily and sustainably be updated. Settle on an elegant and classic design that can withstand time and be updated by adding new colour palettes or upcycled and refurbished pieces of furniture.
Healthy Environment: Consider the quality of ventilation, heating and lighting. Ensure that eco-friendly materials are used that will be sustainable in the long run. Design a space that is easy to breathe in, filled with natural light and heated with renewable materials.
Create Sustainable and Eco-friendly Designs with Sarah Watermeyer Design
Sarah Watermeyer Design is passionate about creating beautiful homes specifically designed for today’s lifestyle and the unique needs of our clients. With a keen eye and focus on repurposing and upcycling spaces and structures, Sarah Watermeyer Design creates with sustainable intent. In keeping with South African building regulations, SANS 10400, the team thoroughly researches ethically sourced materials, manufacturing processes and sustainable designs ensuring sustainability in the long run.
We prioritise harmonising with a home’s existing structure. Our approach focuses on working with a home's envelope, such as the roof, walls, floors, foundations and set fixtures. We excel in creative problem-solving, modifying, adding, and removing aspects of the structure without altering the main building, i.e. keeping the main structure of the envelope sound - the roof. In a recent design project, we opted to open up a living space with the addition of a bay window. Without reconstructing the envelope of the building, we designed a clever solution by enlarging its envelope and increasing the footprint of the house, in keeping with its original structure.
With every project, our goal is to keep the home's envelope, enhancing its footprint without the need for complete demolition and reconstruction. Not only does this allow us to upcycle aspects of a building, but it also lowers our building waste and allows us to create sustainable and eco-friendly designs.
Thinking of updating spaces in your home? Work with Sarah Watermeyer Design on creative modifications to your pre-existing space, furnishings and fixtures using eco-friendly and sustainable practices, suited to your unique lifestyle and needs.
Contact us to bring your visions to life in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way!
Kommentare