From Guest Blogger Sophia Mann: Six Stylish and Eco-Friendly Decor Ideas for Your Home

For those of us who are mindful of the extent to which we are harming the environment, these are great times, since we have so many options to help us on our noble mission of living in harmony with our environment.

But if that means that you have to curb your enthusiasm for decorating your home in a stylish and contemporary way, think again. There are numerous ideas out there, though I wish there were more. Here are only six ideas that will help you decorate your home in a fun, stylish, and green manner.

A Bamboo Coffee Table

Wood has always been my décor item of choice. It’s truly wonderful and versatile, and imparts an earthy and cozy feel to any space.

Bamboo in particular is a wonder material, and apparently gaining in popularity, too. Shelves, racks, centerpieces, bowls, trays, desks, chairs — the list of bamboo furniture is getting longer and more exciting.

Most living rooms have a huge center table. When next in the market to purchase a new table, go for a bamboo one. It will be stylish and eco-friendly. More importantly, there will be few other houses which would have a similar table seeing as bamboo really isn’t most people’s first choice of furniture in North America as of yet.

Recycled Wood Wall Covering

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This is a brilliant idea that makes use of discarded pieces of wood and converts them into a picturesque and Pinterest-worthy décor.

You can make use of any kind of wood for this purpose. An old table that you have no longer any use for? Take off the legs, saw it down into long strips of wood, and you have the material which will form the basis of your wall art. Paint the strips in different colors, in black and white, or just polish them in a wooden tone. You can also leave them as they are.

Dedicate one of your living room walls to this end, and you will create a very stylish and unforgettable space in your home.

Create Recycled Wall Art

One of the key ways to sustain a green lifestyle is to think out of the box. There are eco-friendly alternatives to almost everything we use on a daily basis. But these alternatives aren’t always, in fact, rarely, forthcoming. And that requires us to get creative and invent our own décor items.

We saw an example of that in the wooden wall art. Another way to up the ante is by investing in recycled or repurposed art forms.

Don’t throw away your Coke can. Think of what you can do with it that would solve a daily need of yours. Can you transform it into a work of art? If it’s the former you could use it a holder for your makeup or paint brushes, and if it’s the latter you could convert it into a flower vase or a shrub holder.

The can itself may not be an eco-friendly item but by making sure you continue using it, instead of casting it to a landfill, you are doing your bit to keep the earth green.

For inspiration and ideas, here is an amazing list of masterpieces made from “junk.”

So which piece of junk are you going to convert into art the coming weekend?

Chop off a Tree Shelf

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So simple and so beautiful, that this is nothing short of genius.

Shelves are extremely handy things. And even if you can’t put a lot on them, you can still use them as décor items.

So if you have a big tree in your backyard, chop off a branch and cut it so it’s perfect to adorn your living room. Use it for anything you like – unusual, useful, eye-catching, and eco-friendly. That’s a lot of boxes that long ignored tree in your garden just ticked!

Create Tables out of Old Books

We all have old hardbacks and chunky paperbacks that we have long since grown tired of. Either we give them away to friends or charities, sell them on Amazon or ebay, or let them gather dust and take up precious space in our closets.

How about you created small desks out of them instead?

If you are sure you will never need them again, bundle a few big books of similar sizes together, depending on the desired size and height of the mini table you are going for, wrap them with a cloth or a craft paper, and voila, you have a new desk ready!

You can use it as a bedside table to rest your glasses and mobile phone as you sleep, or in the living room as a side table to prop up the artifact you bought in Egypt. Your imagination is your friend.

Books balance things well and themselves don’t need to be balanced at all, so you now have a reliable small table, which is also entirely free of cost!

Buy a Recycled Painting

Just like recycled art of other kind, recycled paintings are also a great way to add oomph in a green way to your home.

Most of us have paintings adorning our walls anyway. Few of them are original, and many of them are great prints and copies of the originals. Paintings are a time tested way of bringing bare walls to life and uplifting the aesthetics of your home.

So the next time you think of buying a painting, go with a recycled one, keeping in mind your eco-friendly sensibilities.

Conclusion

My fascination with using discarded items around the house to create something useful goes way back to my childhood. It was great fun back then, and it’s great fun now. Over the years I realized just how useful my interest was. It has saved me thousands of dollars over time, and continues to be a great way to keep my creative juices flowing. Of course, now I also understand how earth-friendly my interest is. I’m always on the lookout for new ideas in this regard. If you have any, leave a comment and let me and our readers know!