Top Five Green Interior Decorating Materials

Eric Brennan
Interior decorating can be a blast. But being sustainable can be tough when so many great interior decorating materials exist that impact our planet in a bad way. Go green next time you interior decorate and think about the impact your materials have on your environment and the planet.

Natural Fabrics

Fabrics can play an important role in interior decorating. Synthetic fabrics require oil and other fossil fuels to manufacture, making them a not-so-environmentally friendly product. Natural fabric is 100% renewable, can be sustainably grown and harvested using little to no fertilizers or pesticides.

Besides cotton and linen, many other sustainable fabric materials exist. Hemp, soybean, bamboo, silk, wool and remnant fibers all are sustainable and eco-friendly interior decorating materials. Check out the Pick Naturals website for a large selection of quality natural fabrics.

Bamboo Wainscoting

Besides using bamboo flooring as a green building material, it can also be used as panels and wainscoting for ceilings and walls. With unbelievable patterns and designs, natural bamboo wainscoting creates eye catching details and easily replicates exotic woods like teak and mahogany.

Bamboo is making a good name for itself in the entire green building industry. It's sustainable and fast growing. It can be grown anywhere in the world with little water and no fertilizers or pesticides. And it can be made into just about anything. Check out what amazing products bamboo can be made into at Cali Bamboo.

No VOC Natural Paint

Paint is the mainstay ingredient for just about any interior decorating project. Unfortunately, it's also one of the most toxic of all building materials. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) can continually release toxic fumes for years, even decades into your home. This frightful event is called off-gassing.

Using No-VOC paint or a natural paint prevents these toxic chemicals from being produced and placed in our homes. A wide variety of natural paints are available today. Take a look at Ecos Paints for a wide selection of paints with more colors than the rainbow.

Natural Area Rugs

Throw rugs and area rugs often play a part in interior decorating schemes. But did you know most synthetic carpets release VOC's? They are often made in toxic ways and pollute during their manufacturing process and off-gas afterwards in your home.

Materials like sisal, jute, hemp, bamboo and wool are all very sustainable and actually good for our environment to create-the complete opposite of synthetic carpet fibers. Companies like Natural Area Rugs offers interior decorators a chance to use sustainable materials and look amazing doing it.

Recycled Glass Countertops

When remodeling a kitchen or bathroom, new countertops and cabinets are often a high priority on an interior decorating makeover project. Using granite, tile or Formica for a countertop is not green or sustainable building practices at all. Using recycled materials like glass and mixing them with an aggregate in a cement mixture is a great green way to interior decorate. Dexterra is a decorative recycled aggregate product that is very eco-friendly.

Published by Eric Brennan - Featured Contributor in Lifestyle

Since 2005 Eric has written 2000+ articles and counting on everything home improvement, green and travel. He has written for such companies as DIY network, Huffington Post, DeWalt, AT&T, Tide, Small Home Des...  View profile

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