Eco Friendly Home Furniture Design Ideas

Traditionally, wallpaper is removed using harsh chemicals that are as toxic to your lungs as they are to the planet. Now, as more people are making the choice to use healthier products and materials, they want to know how to do home repairs and improvements – all without causing harm to the Earth.

The great thing about this method, is that you probably have all the materials you need to remove wallpaper in your cupboards already! You’ll need: a basic spray bottle, either white or apple cider vinegar, some water, and if you have it, and iron with the steam function.

First, you’ll want to make your removal solution. It’s so easy! Just combine 3 parts vinegar and one part water inside the spray bottle and give it a good shake! Complete. Then, you want to spray the section off wallpaper until it is soaked, letting it absorb for a few minutes until its good and saturated.

Now the fun part! You can start peeling the wallpaper from the top in a horizontal strips – working slowly so you don’t leave tears along the way. If the wallpaper is stubborn, you might need to repeat the spraying as you go along, targeting problem areas. For super resistant wallpaper – try holding the iron close to (but not touching!) the wallpaper and giving at a few shots of steam.

This method may take slightly longer, but you’ll have done the right, green thing, and your respiratory system will thank you!

If you’ve managed to get onto the property ladder and buy your first house, first of all, well done! Secondly, to alleviate as much stress as possible, it is best to sort out as much as possible prior to moving. Here is a checklist of the obvious, and not so obvious to ensure that moving day is as stress free as possible.

Hiring a Moving Van

If you’re moving further than to the house next door, you’ve probably opted for a moving van. To avoid higher fees or traffic, try and book a day in the middle of the week to move.

Changing Address and Subscription Details

What could be better than the familiar sound of your favorite newspaper dropping through the door on the first Sunday morning in your new house? And of course, you may want your bills to be delivered to the right address, too. There are several online services that can organize changes of address.

Doctors, Dentists and Other Health Care Professionals

As well as registering with the nearest doctors and dentist, ensure you keep the blood donation and organ donation information up to date, and your opticians, if you have contact lenses delivered to your house.

Home Insurance

It is important to sort out home insurance as soon as possible, to cover your house from flood damage, burglary and a number of other circumstances that could lead to expensive damage being done. You can also opt to pay a voluntary excess, an affordable sum of money towards any future claims, which will lower your overall rate.

Cable, Phone and Internet

Let your cable tv company, the phone company (if you still have a landline) and the internet provide have several weeks of notice that you are changing addresses. Nothing is worse than moving into a new place and not having your tv or internet hooked up for days because you are waiting for an available service time.

Meet the Neighbors

Be pro-active and introduce yourself to your neighbors, or if you’re moving to a little town where everyone knows everyone, why not say ‘hi’ to the whole street? Be kind to those on your way up, because you may need to borrow a cup of sugar on your way down.

Familiarize Yourself with the Area

To avoid needing a a carton of eggs and having no idea where to go, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the local amenities before your move. Thanks to living in the 21st century, this is all possible through the invention of Google Street View. Have a virtual wander around your area!

At one time, removing wallpaper involved a lot of chemical removal agents that were not only harmful to your home, they were harmful to your lungs. Nowadays, wallpaper removal can be a safe and eco-friendly task. There are plenty of methods which use of water or steam, in which the steamer is used to soak the wallpaper, which effectively dissolves the glue that held the paper in place. You can also use a hand scraper, which may seem like a lot of extra work, but it’s worth it when you consider the health benefits of not using a chemical remover.

An easy, DIY recipe for homemade wallpaper remover is mixing equal parts of white vinegar and hot water, which you then apply with sponge over the old wallpaper to soften the glue.

More recently even, there have been major improvements made with the development of non-toxic, wall paper removers. Senpro makes a biodegradable wall paper remover called EZ Peel that softens the wallpaper glue rather than dissolving it, allowing easy removal of the paper.

Air conditioners are a luxury for most, and as they are a major strain on the grid, they must be used (if used at all) efficiently and effectively. One of the best things you can do is only run the AC if you are home, and awake. This can most easily be accomplished by getting a programmable air conditioner, that you can set to shut off automatically in the night and during the day when you are not home.

Take a quick look around your home. Are you skipping steps that could decrease the load on your taxed air conditioning system? Make sure that blinds are closed in the afternoon. Install awnings on the outside of the house. These are easy tasks that will greatly improve the temperature in your home, before the A/C is even turned on.

You can also assist the work of your air conditioner by using well-placed ceiling and floor fans to circulate air in your home more efficiently, and to create a cool breeze effect in your space.

Lastly, if your air conditioner is more than ten years old, consider replacing it with a newer, more eco-friendly model. Some newer A/C units can use up to 50% less electricity than older air conditioners.

If you’re a homeowner, but also are concerned about this giant ball of rock we orbit the sun on, you may well have looked into green home insurance before now – after all, it’s a great way of not only looking after your home but also looking after the planet on which we live. On the other hand, you might not even know it exists (Green home insurance is still somewhat of a niche product, despite the best efforts of both insurance companies and the ecologically aware. So, what can you do to try and make your home insurance a little greener? A couple of different things, as it happens; and this post will attempt to explain them below:

Conventional Green Home Cover
Many ‘mainstream’ home insurers offer green incentives nowadays: Whether that is making your home more energy efficient (By better insulating your loft and walls, perhaps, or installing solar panels to lessen the load on those coal-powered power stations). These same companies may offer discounts or bonuses to homeowners who install green appliances and items after an insured event.

There are green home insurance companies who say that they can also offer better home insurance to the home-owning eco-warrior as they are less likely to claim. For example, an eco-friendly person is less likely to smoke, which reduces the chances of a house fire greatly.

Carbon Neutral Insurance
Carbon (Or climate) neutral cover is a little more of a niche product, offered as it by only a handful of insurers currently. What this type of cover allows you to do is offset your home’s emissions (Around six tonnes per year). This allows your insurer to use the extra income to offer financial stimulus to green projects such as restoring forests, developing renewable energy and the like.

You should always remember however, that green insurance can be more expensive than its less eco-aware cousin – in fact it is likely to cost more. Carbon neutral schemes, for example, rely on you paying extra to offset your home’s emissions, and may use more expensive materials and services when performing repairs to your property in order to maintain their carbon neutral status. However, this extra cost can be nullified by extra green incentives added to the policy as previously mentioned, which will not only make your home more eco-friendly, but also save you money on heating and electricity bills.

Also to be considered is the amount of cover offered: A cheaper policy will almost always offer lower levels of cover than a more expensive one – look out for things like personal items cover and high value item cover – protecting items you might take out of the home and expensive items (such as computers) respectively. It is also worth making your home more secure, if possible: fitting Yale locks, an alarm system and double glazing are all good starts to saving money and also keeping undesirables out of your eco-friendly pile.

It’s cold out there, and it’s expensive to keep the house heat on full blast all winter. Here are some tips to help you stay warm in your home during the winter months, and during winter storms. You can even use these ideas to keep warm when the power goes out.

WINDOWS
Make sure to close all of your windows properly. This includes making sure storm windows are installed and closed in place if you have them. Windows should be securely latched. You may want to purchase removable window-caulk or plastic to better seal them. At the very least, stuff a rolled up towel in front of any cold air leaks. Use plastic clear shower curtains over the windows that receive sun light. This will keep the cold air out, and the warmth from the sun will heat your house without that cold winter air coming in.

DOORS
Check around the door frame and also under the door for cold air drafts. You may want to pick up some inexpensive weather stripping or a door sweep. At the very least, stuff a rolled up towel at the bottom of the door.

ROOMS
Primarily use and stay in the smaller rooms in your home. Close off any un-used rooms. The closed door makes that room another barrier between you and winter outside. It also stops air from circulating as much, which reduces heat loss. Check that all heat registers are adjusted open, especially where plumbing pipes might freeze. Unblock cold air returns in heated rooms so heat can circulate efficiently.

CLOTHING
Wear a warm winter hat in the home. A large percentage of body heat loss occurs in your head, so make sure to keep your head covered. A big comfy sweater can also keep you warm. Dress in layers, especially with wool or cotton clothing.

CANDLES
Candles can produce a lot of heat, just be extremely careful of where you put them and NEVER leave them unattended.

Winter is approaching, and there’s no better time than the present to get your house ready for the cold weather. Efficient winterizing can save you hundreds of dollars on your heating bills, as well as lowering your energy footprint. Here are some handy, eco-friendly ideas on how to keep your home warm and green this winter season.

Huge amounts of heat can be lost through old or improperly installed windows and doors. By installing new storm doors and windows, you can save 45% on your energy bill.

Install a permanent furnace filter to reduce energy waste and to keep the air in your home clean.

Weatherstripping windows is a great way to keep the heat in – some people even use bubble wrap, as the air bubbles provide even more insulation against the cold outside.

Attach door sweeps to all outside doors. You’d be amazed at the amount of heat that can escape from even the smallest space beneath the door.

If you live near the country, purchase some hay bales and stack them around the foundation of your house.

Inspect and repair the duct work in your home. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a home can lose up to 60% of its heated air before that air reaches the vents if ductwork is not well-connected and insulated.

Home Strip is a new paint stripper that is totally safe to its user and the environment. Home Strip is perfect for use by the trade, industrial users and do-it-yourself enthusiasts.

Suitable substrates: all hard woods, all soft woods, all metals (including soft metals such as aluminum, brass and copper), Stone (including very soft porous stone), brick, marble, concrete, all plastics and fiberglass (may etch certain types of plastics).
Products it will safely remove: Lead-based paints, Oil-based paints, Solvent-based paints, Water-based paints & emulsions Polyurethanes Stains, Varnishes and waxes fire-resistant paints, Certain plastic coatings, Vehicle rust-preventative surface coatings.
Product features: Water-based, Non-hazardous, Non-caustic, pH-neutral, Solvent-free, Non-flammable, Non-combustible, Minimal evaporation.
Clings 100% to vertical surfaces – no drips or runs, hence no waste. Economical to use – independent tests have shown that on average Home Strip goes up to three times as far as dangerous solvent-based strippers.

Minimal VOC content; 0.000004%, as certified by an independent laboratory, following a flame ionisation detection test. Does not give off fumes – no need for ventilation and no need to work outside. Suitable for use by and near people with respiratory problems, such as asthma. Non-irritant – does not cause skin burns – safe to use around children and pets.

Home Strip website

This Elliptical machine is packed with features that are normally found only on elliptical machines that are much more expensive. From the fully automated workload adjustment system to the multi-function fitness computer, the Hudson Fitness Elliptical provides everything required to achieve an optimal level of cardiovascular fitness.

You should want your home as healthy as possible, especially something you spend 1/3 of your life on. Protect yourself from allergens and extend the life of your mattress by covering it up with this healthful Mattress Protector. Uncovered mattresses can become a breeding ground for dust mites which can cause allergies, asthma, eczema and rhinitis. The protector is also entirely waterproof, with a soft terry-like cover and none of the plastic-like feel generally associated with mattress protectors. It is very easy to care for and will stretch to fit most mattresses.