How to Have a Minimalist Home That’s Also Eco-Friendly?

For the past few years, the real estate industry has been dominated by minimalist and eco-friendly homes. What’s more, with the ongoing increase in people’s ecological awareness and interest in home design, both these trends are likely to shape the housing market’s future.

And if your home is both earth-friendly and minimalist, then you can be pretty sure it will receive the highest cash offer once you decide to sell it. The question is, though, how to make your home energy-efficient, sustainable, and minimalist?

Fortunately, it’s not that complicated. There are many ways to change your home decor and ensure it’s environmentally friendly. After all, being minimalistic brings us much closer to sustainability, meaning these two terms can co-exist with no trouble.

And if you’re thinking about turning your house into a minimalist and zero-waste paradise, you’ll find some information on how to achieve that in the following guide.

Declutter Your Home

Decluttering your house is probably the easiest way to create an illusion of a minimalist interior. Get through all the stuff you have and decide which things are less important for your interior’s integrity.

However, if you decide that there’s no point in having, for instance, a piece of furniture, don’t throw it away. Rather than getting rid of something, find a way to recycle it. After all, you wish to be zero-waste, right?

Once you’ve cleared your home from unnecessary objects, it’s time to give it a thorough cleaning. And after you finish, the next step in creating a minimalistic house is implementing new design ideas. However, you also need to do it in an eco-friendly fashion.

Use Sustainable Materials

Excessive consumption is a real plague of our times. We tend to replace items too often, creating unnecessary waste and polluting our environment in the process. With that in mind, rather than buying new furniture, try to renovate the pieces you already have.

It will save you money and decrease your carbon footprint, at the same time being a great way to decorate your home in style. However, implementing recycled materials in your household goes far beyond furniture.

You should also invest in other sustainable items. For instance, consider replacing your old windows with recycled glass ones. It will make your home more energy-efficient and be a simple way to increase your property’s eco-friendliness.

Uncover Your Windows

Speaking of windows, don’t forget to leave them uncovered as often as possible. It may not seem like a lot, but doing that will significantly impact your home’s sustainability and overall look.

First of all, covering your windows makes a room look gloomy and cluttered, which is the complete opposite of minimalism. That’s not all, though.

Allowing natural light to your home or apartment will make it look better and positively impact your energy consumption. Natural light and warmth that comes with it can also lower your heating and cooling costs. Not to mention the impact it has on your health.

Add Greenery

Adding green plants to your living space is one of the best ways to make your house minimalist. They create a soothing atmosphere, significantly impacting the home’s design and making it more natural-looking.

However, adding green has many more benefits. For instance, plants naturally purify the air, making your house more eco-friendly and healthy to live in.

Besides that, various studies have shown that plants can boost your mood, productivity, and creativity. They also reduce stress levels and have a good impact on your physical health.

Maximize Your Space

Decluttering your home is one thing. The other is to know how to maximize your space. One of the best ways to do that is by re-using certain products and pieces of furniture. Use your imagination and the so-called 3R rule – recycle, reduce, reuse.

What is more, you can also use lighting and painting tricks to make your interior seem bigger. Keep in mind that maximizing your space is the core of minimalism. It also promotes sustainable living while creating a more welcoming and warm atmosphere.

Invest in Green Energy

It may not significantly impact your decor, but investing in green energy solutions is definitely the best way to create an eco-friendly home. For instance, installing solar panels can significantly reduce your energy use, saving you even up to $1,500 on electricity per year.

But while implementing renewable energy solutions is a fantastic idea to let the environment take a deep breath, there’s one problem to overcome. Solar panels are still costly.

Sure, more and more governments have introduced solar panels grants in the past few years, but most people still can’t afford them. Nevertheless, if you have the opportunity to invest in green energy, you shouldn’t hesitate.

Make Your Home Smart

The main goal of a smart home is to make your life more comfortable. However, it also makes it more sustainable and environmentally-friendly. With the use of smart technology solutions, you’ll be able to turn your house into a real eco-friendly paradise.

First of all, by keeping track of which rooms you use, your home will “decide” which part of the house requires more heat or light, ensuring the energy distribution is more efficient.

Thanks to that, your home will generate less energy, saving you more money and making your life more comfortable. What’s more, many smart tech solutions will increase your home’s minimalist design.

Final Note

As you can see, nothing stands in the way to create an eco-friendly home with a minimalist design. However, if you really want to become a sustainable person that embraces minimalism, there are many different things you need to consider. Becoming a minimalist involves much more than changing your home’s decor. It may require a complete change in your lifestyle. To become a conscious, sustainable minimalist, you should consider every aspect of your life. It may be difficult, but with practice, you won’t need as much stuff and you won’t consume as much as you do now. It’s a hard journey, but it’s worth it.