Greening up Your Bedroom

Are you looking for ways to make your bedroom more eco-friendly? Greening up Your Bedroom, You can achieve that goal whether you’re renovating your existing room, moving into a new home, or building your dream house. In all situations it’s important to pick sustainable materials for a green home. This can benefit the health of your household members, while also protecting the local environment. 

When remodeling your master bedroom or guest room, making it a green project can be more challenging. This is especially true if you’re on a shoestring budget. The good news is you can maintain a sustainable lifestyle when designing or redesigning a bedroom. The end result can still be a sleeping space that’s beautiful, comfortable, and sustainable. We’d like to share some sustainable design ideas for a green bedroom.

Idea #1: Mattress

When picking a mattress, you can also make choices that make the bed pad as green as it is comfy and supportive. Most mattresses contain toxic chemicals like formaldehyde. You know that funky smell from new mattresses? That’s from flame retardants that manufacturers add to their products.

Mattresses with non-organic materials can cause problems like sleeping issues. In fact, they might even trigger symptoms like chest tightness and breathing problems. The good news is more mattress manufacturers are now producing organic materials that are eco-friendly and contain little or no toxic chemicals.

Some sustainable mattress materials include:

• Cotton (organic)
• Wool (organic)
• Natural latex

There are also some alternatives to eco-friendly mattresses. You can let the mattress off-gas outdoors and add a dehumidifier in your bedroom.

Idea #2: Furniture 

Consider recycled furniture over new furniture to make your new bedroom more eco-friendly. For example, you can often find quality furniture pieces at thrift stores that still have a lot of mileage left.

This option can provide a few “green’ features. Less natural material will be used for building new furniture. You also won’t have to deal with toxic paints or stains since there’s been time for off-gassing.

Make sure to shop around before buying used furniture. This will help to find durable chairs, tables, and dressers. If you want to go really old-school then select antique furniture for generally higher standards of durability and craftsmanship.

Idea #3: Flooring

This allows you to literally make your bedroom green from the ground-up. Flooring is a major investment when remodeling your home. However, the good news is the price of sustainable materials is often close to the price ranges of conventional materials. This allows you to go green without spending lots of green.  Here are some options:

Bamboo

Besides being panda food, this material has several other uses including building materials. It’s easily one of the most sustainable remodeling materials since it grows ultra-fast.

Cork

This natural material doesn’t require cutting down any trees. The reason is cork is actually a type of bark that’s shaved off the tree’s exterior. This material provides benefits like being fire-resistant and anti-microbial.

Carpeting 

Eco-friendly options include those made from wool or recycled plastic.

Idea #4: Lighting

A ceiling fan is one of the best options since it doubles as lighting and cooling. This can help to reduce your electric bill and save money.

You can also add energy-efficient LED light bulbs. This will extend the bulbs’ lifespan and reduce how soon you’ll have to replace them.

There’s a caveat! These lights produce blue light, which can affect your sleep-wake cycle at night and prevent getting a good night’s sleep. Make sure you switch off your bedroom lights and TV at least two hours before bedtime. This provides enough time for your body to get into sleep mode.

Idea #5: Air Purifier

Yes, plants can help to improve indoor air quality and boost moods. However, if you want to filter out allergens than air purifiers are a wiser choice.

Many commercial air purifiers are expensive and add greatly to the waste stream. Look for eco-friendly products and here’s why. These work by improving plants’ air-filtering power, or include units made with natural materials like bamboo charcoal.

Another sustainable option is Himalayan pink salt, which has been trending in recent years. You can find lamps that also help to spruce up your bedroom’s décor.

You can also take steps to help minimize room pollutants. They include natural beeswax candles over petroleum-based candles.

Idea #6: Curtains 

Sunlight is important for maintaining a consistent sleep-wake cycle. It can also provide benefits related to happiness, energy, and mood. Sun Rays are also skin-friendly as an excellent source of Vitamin D.

When designing a green bedroom pick lightweight curtains and drapes over heavy ones to let more sunlight in.

This can help you to sleep better by regulating your body’s levels of the hormone melatonin. Sheer curtains also reduce how much exposure you’ll have to artificial light during the day.

An alternate option is Venetian blinds, which are popular window treatments in Mediterranean countries. They’re very efficient at regulating how much sunlight enters the room

Idea #7: Paint

If you want to make your bedroom greener you should consider recycled paint that’s green—or any other color. Today more paint companies are recycling unused paint. This helps to prevent the paint from becoming household hazardous waste (HHW) and creating a bigger carbon footprint.

You can also pick paints with greener ingredients. They include sunflower and soybean oils or recycled plastic. Other green ingredients in today’s sustainable paints include:

• Clay
• Vegetable matter
• Chalk

Idea #8: Beddings

Linens are another effective way to go green when designing a green bedroom. It involves selecting natural bedding materials over synthetic materials.

Make sure to select natural materials and avoid those with chemical dyes. Hemp and cotton are some good options. They can provide benefits like high breathability and anti-mite protection.

When picking comforters, some wise options include wool and cotton. Wool is ideal for winter for holding in heat, while cotton provides more breathability in the summer.

Idea #9: Plants

The world has about 391,000 types of plants, according to the BBC. Adding houseplants is one of the most effective ways to make your home green. Plants are natural air purifiers since they can add oxygen while removing carbon dioxide.

You can also add the houseplants in various ways. Hang them from a hook in the ceiling, set them on a windowsill, or place them on a furniture piece.

If you want the plants to improve sleep quality then select potted plants like orchids and snake plants. That’s because they clean air at nighttime while you snooze.

Turning your bedroom into a green room is easier than it might seem. It involves removing toxic chemicals, while adding natural materials and better air quality. You can also apply or tweak these ideas to other rooms to create a sustainable home.

About The Author

Article written for WhosGreenOnline.com by: Lillian Connors, Lillian constantly embarks on fresh #homeimprovement #greenliving #officedesign projects and spreads the word about them.