Home is where the heart is, and it is also the place where you spend most of your time. So it should be where your heart wants to be as well. A comfortable and functionally efficient home is a place of ease, where you can rest, relax, and recharge before tackling the outside world again.
Green living can also aid this relaxation and add to your peace of mind. Achieving sustainability is not as hard as some may imagine. You do not need to build a new house or overhaul your whole home. Some slight changes in materials used around the house and remodeling some parts of it can have you up to scratch in no time.
Rooms to Renovate
If you are looking to make big changes to reap more benefits, focus on your bathrooms and your kitchen. Renovating these spaces will earn you back the money you have spent on them in the form of savings and tax breaks, all while improving the general sustainability of your home.
Choose to Remodel
Choosing to remodel instead of building a new house is a sustainable choice because the latter can create a lot of waste materials that are harmful to the environment. Eco-friendly living by making your home more sustainable can add a great deal to your quality of living. Green products are also more cost-efficient and can lead to big savings.
Make Your Kitchen a Green Oasis
Kitchen remodeling can be a lot of fun, and it can also make your home a more enjoyable place to be in for your whole family. Using green methods of construction and sustainably sourced items to update your kitchen will make it safer for daily living and help you feel happier about cooking more often.
You will be surprised by how many toxic chemicals can be in the materials used to build your cabinets and flooring and the sealants used to hold these in place. Ripping these out and replacing them with products guaranteed not to emit toxic by-products or smells can change the whole feel of the space.
Placement Matters
During the designing phase, be aware of where you place your kitchen appliances. Energy-efficient kitchen appliances can help save money. But to maximize these costs, make sure that you put these appliances in the right places.
Bigger appliances such as refrigerators and ovens must be kept away from direct sunlight. Refrigerators work by drawing heat away from the items inside it, but it achieves this by letting this heat dissipate into the surrounding environment. Keeping your refrigerator in a cool environment allows it to avoid drawing too much electricity and to function efficiently.
You Could Be Flushing Away Your Money
Did you know that up to 30% of your household water is used in your toilets? Now think of how many toilets are in your home and how many times they get flushed in a day. This is why renovating your bathrooms can actually be a cost-saving measure.
Installing an efficient plumbing system, modern toilets, and new shower faucets can help you adjust how much water is being used in your bathrooms on a daily basis.
Make Better Use of Water
Low-flow faucets and showerheads help you reduce the sheer amount of water that runs out and allow you to make the maximum use of water. Modern toilets use electricity more sustainably and offer additional cost-saving and green benefits.
Low-volume, dual-flush toilets hold less water in the bowl. It allows you to choose the level of flush depending on what is required at the moment.
Green Choices in Styling
The design you choose for your bathroom can also be a cost-saving measure. Choose sleek, monochromatic colors for your walls and appliances and tiles of similar simple design for floor and shower areas. This way, if you have to change anything later, it will not be jarring or mar the aesthetic of your bathroom. You do not have to sacrifice style to get a bathroom that soothes your senses while also saving you money.
Adapting your home to be greener and achieve your dream of sustainable living reduces the environmental impact of your home significantly. By reducing energy and material waste, you are also saving on fuel and maintenance costs.
The benefits of a sustainable home are even more far-reaching than just yourself and your family. Even the resale value of your home can increase because it is designed for sustainable living.
