Eco Friendly Home Furniture Design Ideas

Heating costs can be a major problem for a variety of people in the winter. With the rising prices of gasoline and other methods of heating, it is important to understand how to maximize the heating efficiency of your home. There are many different methods available that you should consider and implement whenever possible.

* Install Energy Efficient Windows

Energy efficient windows are designed to absorb as much energy and heat as possible while letting out as little as possible. They are a little more expensive than normal windows but can trap heat in your home much more efficiently. Install these throughout your home to lower your heating bill every month.

* Use Green Insulation

Green insulation is designed to be as energy efficient and ecologically safe as possible. Remove the less efficient and wasteful insulation in your home and install this green installation. It will safely trap heat and energy between your walls without being wasteful. The installation costs will be offset by the money you save in your heating bill every month.

* South Facing Exposure

South facing exposure is the best way to absorb a lot of heat and energy into your home. This is because the south is the area that receives the most sun and heat in your home. Try to situate as many windows and rooms to the south as possible. If you can afford it, place solar panels here too. Use these solar panels to create heat in your home in an efficient and safe manner.

* Tree Insulation

Planting trees around your home is another efficient and beautiful way to keep heat in your home. Trees help blocks wind from blowing against your house. Blowing wind can cause your home to cool down and lose heat much more quickly. Trees also create a natural insulation that traps escaping heat and keeps it around your home.

* Change Thermostat Position

Thermostats help regulate the heat in your home but are inefficient in that they will activate based on their temperature, not the temperature of the rest of the home. This is why it is important to locate your thermostat in a position that isn’t too cold or warm. Storing it near a heater will cause it to warm up a lot quicker and turn off much more quickly.

Many of these methods require expensive installation costs. However, these methods are permanent and will keep your home warm for years.

It’s that time of year, when all the beautiful summer trees shed their leaves. If you have trees in your yard, you are probably used to raking all these leaves up, and either throwing them away in giant garbage bags, or burning them in a big bonfire.

The truth is, you should be doing neither of those things! Leaves fall onto the ground all over the natural world, for a reason! Those leaves break down over the course of the fall, winter and spring, and provide countless nutrients to the ground and the flora surrounding them.

How can you make the best choice for your green landscaping this fall? Use a lawnmower on the leaves and then leave them on the lawn, shredded. Your lawn will be fine next year, in fact it will be healthier because of all the organic matter you are allowing to enrich the soil.

If you have a lot of extra leaves, put them into use in a compost pile. Decomposing leaves make wonderful mulch as well, so you can use them around your flower beds and bushes to encourage a healthy topsoil.

As winter rolls in, it’s a time to reflect on one of the best things about winter, a warm, crackling fire. If you are lucky enough to have a fireplace in your home, you want to start using it as soon as you seen the leaves start to turn.

It’s a good idea to start the season with a clean fireplace. Make sure that all the debris and ash has been removed, even using a dust buster to get it completely free of ash.

Then, remove the fireplace screens, or andirons, and take them outside to clean them with a wire brush – this is a dirty job, so make sure you aren’t wearing your favorite white t-shirt! Once that’s clean, use your wire brush to clean and soot and tar from the damper as well as lower part of the chimney, before moving on to the main firebox.

You can clean out the main firebox using a simple mixture of vinegar, water and cleaning powder, and getting at the grime with a hard-bristle brush. Inside the firebox itself you do NOT want to use that wire brush. Once its been scrubbed to your satisfaction, rinse it out with warm water, and you’re ready for your first fire of the season!

One of the most common and unfortunate consequences of having candles is that you will often be faced with spilled wax. The only way to completely avoid that happening is by not ever using candles or by using fake candles that use bulbs instead of flame. If you are anything like me, however, you want the real thing. Nothing beats the ambient light, and wonderful smells associated with real, wax candles.

Let’s assume that you arrived here because you accidentally spilled some candle wax on a piece of wooden furniture, and you are hoping there’s a solution that will work. There are two possible solutions in fact! The cold method, and the hot method.

For the cold method, fill a well-sealed plastic bag with ice cubes and apply it to the wax until it is completely hardened, then use a plastic card or dull knife to scrape gently at the hardened wax until its gone. But be careful that you don’t damage the wood!

If the wood is more textured, with grooves or natural knots, you may need to try the hot method. For that, you’ll need to heat the wax with a hair dryer until it re-liquifies. Have a soft cloth ready and start gently wiping away at the melted wax until most of the wax has been cleaned off. You can then use a one part vinegar, one part water solution on the wood to clear up any remaining wax bits.

To avoid these issues altogether, you might consider getting some decorative candle trays to place under your candles when placing them on wooden furniture.

If you live in an apartment with small rooms, or if you live in an older house (in which rooms were generally a lot smaller than in newer built homes) then you might be able to use some of these space-enhancing tips to create the feel of spaciousness in you space!

A big problem in small spaces is a lack of storage. Fortunately, there are lots of solutions for your storing needs. An increasingly popular option is under-the-bed sliding drawers and shelves. This can be a great place to keep your extra clothes, bedding or, in a child’s room – toys.

Illusion can be a huge help. Get yourself a good-sized mirror and place it on the wall, opposite a window if possible, this will increase the light, and the feeling of openness in the room.

Instead of a nightstand, install a wall mounted shelf beside your bed. It will open up the floor space, which naturally will give you more room. Wall mounted shelves are a great space-saving solution for any room, and are available in a ton of different styles and price ranges, so you’ll easily find something for your home.

When it comes to choosing a color palette for your walls, use warm, subtle, neutral colors when painting a small room, and always paint ceilings white. This will create the illusion of a higher ceiling, which does a great deal in making your space feel, and look, a lot bigger.

As this summer’s bizarre weather has taught us, everyone needs to know what to do to be prepared for major storms. Follow these simple safety tips to make sure that you and your family are safe if a major storm front should come your way.

Firstly, make sure you have enough emergency supplies stocked in your home to last at least three days. This includes a medical kit, food that doesn’t need to be cooked, extra blankets, batteries and a radio-operated communication device.

Double-check that storm gutters and your window sills are cleaned out and can move a lot of water quickly. They will be a major line of defense during the heavy rainfall that accompanies these kind of storms.

Does your home use natural gas or propane? Contact your provider and get informed about how to turn off the gas in a storm situation.

Be vigilant with your yard work! Always trim tree branches away from your home and cut all dead or weak branches on any trees that are surrounding your home. You will save yourself from a lot of damage if this is maintained.

Industrial and many store-bought weed killers contain harmful chemicals. You may not be aware of it, but you have the materials you need to kill the weeds in your garden, in your kitchen right now!

Vinegar has been used to kill weeds for many generations. We recommend that you don’t dilute the vinegar with water and that you apply it directly to the weed at a time when its dry out. For more mature weeds, you can use a vinegar with a higher concentrate of acetic acid, and that should do the trick.

Many people swear by simply pouring boiling water directly onto the weed. This essentially kills the weed by destroying the root.

A commonly used combination eco-friendly weed killer recipe is this: 1 quart white vinegar, 1/4 cup salt, 2 teaspoons liquid dish detergent. Mix those ingredients into a spray bottle and apply directly to the weeds. Be careful to not get too much on any surrounding grass or plants that you don’t want to kill.

As almost half of the U.S. suffers through one of the worst drought periods in history, people are starting to rethink the value of their lawns are gardens. But do you have to completely abandon the idea of having a green garden? Of course not, but you will have to try and fill that garden with plants that are able to consume far less water. Here’s a list of some of the most drought resistant plants available in North America.

Artemisia
Common Names: Artemisia, mugwort, sagebrush and wormwood.

California Poppy
Common Names: California poppy.
Botanical Name: Eschscholzia californica.

Lavender
Common Names: Lavender.
Botanical Name: Lavandula.

Penstemon
Common Names: Penstemon.

Rugosa Rose
Common Names: Rugosa rose, beach rose, Japanese rose, and salt-spray rose.

Yarrow
Common Names: Yarrow.
Botanical Name: Achillea.

Salvia
Common Names: Red salvia, scarlet sage, and firecracker plant.
Botanical Name: Salvia splendens.

If you want to make better, green choices when it comes to barbecue season, you can start by not buying charcoal briquettes! Those briquettes usually include materials like sodium nitrate and coal dust, the making of which has contributed greatly to deforestation. Try to find lump charcoal from sustainable forests, which you can find by looking for the Forest Stewardship Council logo on the package.

It was thought that because natural gas burns cleaner than standard charcoal, that it would leave a smaller
overall carbon footprint. This is not the case, as natural gas is a non-renewable energy.

Gas grills use a lot more fuel, especially the newer models with huge grilling space and burners attached. The best choice is to use eco-friendly charcoal which will replace carbon monoxide absorbed by trees, making it, in fact, carbon neutral.

We wrote in an earlier post about making better choices when it comes to eco-friendly lawn and garden care. One of the tips we mentioned was about choosing plants that need less watering. Often, the tropical plants that people choose are not suited for non-tropical locations, so they need a lot of extra water to flourish. This is why we suggest filling your garden with plants called “water-wise” plants.

Here is a list of shrubs and perennials that need much less water and are therefore much more appropriate for cooler climates.

Water-Wise Plants

Fendler’s Sundrops
Goldeneye
Prairie Zinnia
Yarrow
Thrift
Chocolate Flower
Jupiter’s Beard
Gregg’s Mist Flower
Coreopsis
Red Yucca
Angelita Daisy
Mexican Evening Primrose
Tufted Evening Primrose
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