Wednesday 10 February 2010

Interior design, Feng Shui and the environment

We no longer live in a society where we feel comfortable with throwing out the old to make way for the new. We are interested in minimizing our environmental impact and we all want to save money. The throw away society has moved over and in come the conscious consumers who are interested in ethically sourced goods made from sustainable materials with eco-credentials in mind.

We are all aware of recycling and re-using and making more informed choices about how we spend our money but we still want to surround ourselves with beautiful things and update our homes whilst supporting the well being of the planet.

As we enter the new decade many household names in interior design have invested money in coming up with solutions that support our new world view and can now offer real alternatives that use approved non metallic dyes, natural water supplies and green electricity, but they can be hard to find.

Our homes also now have many purposes. We all entertain more, we spend time relaxing with the family, many of us work from home and we all need a good nights sleep! How can we achieve all of the above and at the same time revitalize our rooms so they are doing the variety of things we need them to do, without spending a fortune.

There are many ways of up-dating the look of a room but take that one step further and consider if through making a few simple changes you can alter how you and others feel and act when you are in that room; comfort depends on far more than just squashy cushions and good lighting.

Through using the ancient principles of Feng Shui translated to suit the 21 century, and indulgent yet responsible interior design, it is possible to create an environmentally aware home that energizes us, that may increase our prosperity, that will offer us a calm and peaceful nights sleep and inspire us to live at our best potential.

Feng Shui in the past has been associated with making changes to our homes that we are not all comfortable with and don’t fit with our sense of style; wind chimes in the hallway, or money frogs by the front door are just not everyone’s cup of tea! However, it is possible to create the changes you want using colour, texture, shape and placement and this is where interior design plays an equally important part.

By working with what you have, changing its colour through decoration or re-upholstery, using one of the many new fabrics that have been produced in this country so do not come with air-miles attached, or made from exciting new sustainable fibres, such as nettles, corn and bamboo, it is possible to create balance by working in harmony with your beliefs and your lifestyle.