Green Home Design
When you create a green home design, you are contributing to preserving
our planet's natural resources. In addition, you are helping to
eliminate greenhouse gases, which are the main cause of global warming.
Besides improving the health of the planet, you can enjoy savings on
your energy bills. This can be done by purchasing appliances that are
energy efficient, selecting eco-friendly building materials and
practicing energy saving measures.
Using recycled materials are the best way to achieve a green home
design. Your builder, local home improvement store, or interior design
websites have a wealth of information about instituting eco-friendly
materials in every room of your house. For example, in the kitchen and
bath, recycled counter tops made with paper stone are gaining in
popularity over those made from granite.
The quickest road to a green home design is the use of energy efficient
appliances, such as refrigerators, stoves, washers, dryers, televisions,
air conditioners and small electrical items. Whenever purchasing small
and large appliances, buy those with the Energy Star label. The seal of
approval issued by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of
Environmental Protection Agency means the appliance prevents global
warming by reducing energy consumption.
A green home design extends to a home's contents. One major area is the
furniture, such as sofas, chairs, bureaus, tables and desks. Rather than
buy new furnishings when they are outdated or when you redesign a room,
consider whether the piece can be repainted, refinished, re-stained, or
dressed in a slipcover. For worn out furniture pieces, determine whether
it can be reupholstered or recycled.
There are various kinds of flooring that go hand in hand with a green
home design. Cork and bamboo are two effective green offerings that
provide additional benefits than traditional hard wood flooring. They
come in a variety of color and style options, perform well in high
traffic areas and look great.
A green home design should include dimmer switches. They can be easily
installed in new homes under construction, as well as in existing homes.
This simple switch can minimize energy consumption, which is a good
thing for our planet. It can also put extra money in your pocket since
you're saving on energy use. That translates into a lower electric bill.
Complementing a green home design are other environmentally friendly
measures that save our resources. They are the four R's: recycling,
reusing items in other ways instead of discarding them, restoring
instead of buying new and reducing waste. Evaluate your home practices
to see how you can enhance your go green pledge.
A green home design helps to preserve our natural resources and keeps
our planet healthy. Going green doesn't cost anything extra, especially
when you consider the cost savings in the long run. Lighting changes,
for example, instantly pays for itself. When you replace standard
incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient luminescent ones, you
conserve energy and realize a significant savings on your electric bill.
About the author
Sue Krippner is a Free Lance Artist, Home Staging and Redesign
Professional. She is attracted to "all things beautiful, especially as
it relates to interior decorating and design. Visit
http://frugalhomedesign.com to see samples of her art and find
plenty of professional design, tips hints and secrets to help facilitate
your personal interior design goals with money saving frugal flair! Sue
also has a lot more information about your
green home design here