5 Current Home Decor Trends That Are Eco-Friendly

Home decor trends may come and go, but there's one trend that better not be going anywhere and that's eco-friendly home decor!

Home trends may come and go, but there’s one trend that better not be going anywhere and that’s eco-friendly decor! I truly believe that this is where the design and decor world is headed anyway. Essentially, it has to. Our planet’s population is growing and our resources are depleting. And I strongly believe that NOW, not tomorrow, not next year, is the time to make a change.

Of course, change can be overwhelming. Which is why the best way to do it is in small, easy to manage bits. If you haven’t done so yet, greening your home decor is such a simple (and fun!) way to make a change.

How to Buy Eco-Friendly Laminate Flooring

You may be asking: "Is laminate flooring eco-friendly?" If you know what to look for, then the answer is - yes!

How did someone who once declared they would NEVER install laminate flooring find themselves in a flooring store, barefoot and walking on half a dozen laminate samples? Because laminate flooring has evolved a lot in the last few years. And truthfully, so have I.

I’ll admit, my initial change of heart had to do with the cost factor. Of course I’d love to buy a sustainably sourced hardwood for Our House in Trees. But, simply put, we can’t afford it. So I began to research green laminate flooring, myself wondering: “Is laminate flooring eco-friendly?” The answer? It can be!

How To Make a Simple Paper Orb From Old Book Pages

Learn how to make this simple paper orb from old book pages. You could also use old newspaper, magazines, flyers - or any other paper product!

I’m currently redecorating my living room after deciding to keep out some of the nature-inspired decor items I had used at Christmas. You may recall (depending how closely you pay attention… don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz) that I also incorporated books into my holiday decor since I have oh-so-many of them. In fact, I have so many books that one of them dropped off a shelf the other day and smoked me in the face. Ouch.

After I had set my birch logs and twigs out, I realized I needed something else to help fill up the space and add a touch of paper to all that wood. Enter this DIY paper orb made from old book pages. There are a lot of DIY paper craft projects out there – and a lot of paper orbs in varying degrees of complexity. I wanted to do something super simple, which in truth is so unlike me. But it’s spring and spring is a time for new beginnings.

How to Stage Your Home for Sale the Eco-Friendly Way

Tips for staging your home for sale - with an eco-friendly slant. Readying your home for sale can be stressful. This handy list will simplify the process!

With the build of Our House in the Trees just around the corner (yikes!), we’ve begun readying our current home for sale (yikes again!). Getting your home ready to sell can feel very overwhelming, but there’s one thing I find that always helps in a situation like this – and that thing is a list.

So I’ve put together some tips on how to stage your home for sale. Even if you feel you have a pretty neat and tidy home (like I used to… before I had kids) there are still a few things you can do to make it more enticing to buyers.

And, since a post on this blog wouldn’t be complete without an eco-friendly slant, each of these tips for staging your home is accompanied with a Green Tip.

Hope these home staging tips and tricks help you out!

Top 5 Of Houses and Trees Posts of 2017

Ah, yearend. A time to stop and reflect on the past 12 months… and reread (or read for the first time) the five most viewed Of Houses and Trees posts of 2017! The last year has been the biggest yet for growing this sustainability blog and I have so very many ideas for 2018… and beyond! I just want to say how much I appreciate every single view, comment, share and subscribe I receive. Truly.

From eco-friendly products and building materials, to healthy vegan eats – 2017 was a green year indeed!

Outdoor Home Staging Tips + Our House in the Trees Update

When it comes to selling, your outdoor spaces need to be just as beautiful as your indoor spaces. Here are a few home staging tips focusing on the yard.

Whoa guys. The possibility of us building Our House in the Trees next year is actually pretty high. Like already picked out our appliances high. Not that there isn’t a chance it won’t work out because, hello, construction be crazy. But I am allowing myself to feel slightly excited. Not that I’ll end up brokenhearted if it doesn’t happen. I love our current house and staying here another year or two certainly wouldn’t be the end of the world. But we have been planning to build and move to the land for six years now. We’ve kind of reached the “if we’re going to do this, then let’s do it already” point.

Which is why Devin and I are preparing our current home for sale even though we likely won’t list for another six months or so. Because we’re the kind of people that like to be ready. Although I’m thinking selling the home you’ve lived in for ten years and building a new house is somewhat akin to having a new baby. You’re never quite ready and when it happens you are both filled with extreme joy and deep, deep terror. But maybe that’s just me being melodramatic.

Eco-Friendly Lighting and Accessories

Nowadays, you can find eco-friendly lighting fixtures that are made of recycled materials, as well cool accessories like LED Edison bulbs.

Lighting is one of my favourite aspects of home design and decor. Even before I had a home to decorate, I would always end up in the lighting aisle every time I went to a big box store. Like a bug to a flame – or to a wrought-iron chandelier, the lights just called to me.

I’ve also always been really sensitive to lighting levels and associate certain lights with certain tasks only. I’m constantly going around the house at night turning specific lights on and off depending on what I’m doing and how I’m feeling and have even found myself adjusting lights while in the homes of others because it’s too bright/not bright enough/a certain light is really getting under my skin. (As an aside, I recently found out that being ultra sensitive to light is a characteristic of a highly sensitive person – which is actually a thing and I very much am one.)

How to Keep Your House (Mostly) Clean with Kids

Have children? Find it impossible to keep your house clean? Me too! But I have figured out how to keep my home "mostly clean." Here are my cleaning tips!

One of my personal mottos is “a clean home equals a clean mind.” I probably ripped that off from some cult leader or something, but if I did – man that’s one persuasive cult leader. Because I cannot function properly when my house is a mess.

Before I had my daughters, I prided myself on a spick and span home. A place where you could confidently eat off the floors. Now that I have children, I pride myself on a clean home even more. Because, dudes, it can be really hard to keep your home clean with kids.

Not that I’m remotely saying individuals without children don’t have busy lives that leave little room for cleaning. But the difference is when you don’t have kids and you clean your home – it tends to stay clean. Sometimes for an ENTIRE DAY.

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