27 Dec Make Your Home Eco-Friendly with These Design Updates
There are many ways to make your home eco-friendly. When you introduce even the smallest change or design updates to your daily living, you positively impact Mother Earth. Find out how you can make your home eco-friendly with these design updates and improve our world and your life, too.
Many people think making changes that provide sustainable solutions can be overwhelming and expensive. But, when you make little changes through design updates and lifestyle practices, they add up. By creating a healthy oasis in your home, you promote earth-friendly living and reap the benefits in many ways.
Better for You and Better for The Environment
Just by upgrading your appliances, you’ll lower your energy costs. Add insulation to your home and seal any gaps where the outside air gets in, and your utility costs drop. Design updates like changing up your floorplan, inviting in more natural light, and opting for sustainable home improvement products pay off big-time for the earth and for you. Here are our favorite design updates to help care for Mother Earth and enhance the beauty, curb appeal, and functionality of your home.
Chill-Out with A New Roof
Today’s roofs can be made with a reflective coating that prevents your roof tiles from absorbing the scorching summer heat. A reflective roof means a cooler attic space in the summer, heat retention in the winter, and a much more efficient response from your HVAC system. If you want to make an even bigger impact on your home comfort select a roof option that’s durable, sustainable, and provides excellent insulation.
Metal roofing is much more adaptable to your home design than ever before. It can be made to mimic the look of tile, wood, and stone. It lasts for decades, and it keeps your home cool in the summer and the insulation properties protect your home against winter’s coldest wrath as well.
Consider a Countertop That’s Eco-Friendly as A Design Update
Granite is popular, beautiful, and somewhat of a chore to maintain. When you look for design updates for your countertops, check out the eco-friendly and versatile Quartz countertops, which are an excellent alternative to granite and traditional stone. It’s non-porous, made from recycled materials, and comes in a wide variety of colors and styles. Quartz countertops are virtually maintenance-free and last for years.
Recycled glass countertops are truly beautiful design updates for your bathroom. They repurpose glass and mix it with a bonding agent such as cement or a poly resin. This creates a solid surface that’s durable and comes in a variety of colors and styles.
Earth-Friendly and Sustainable Flooring
Hardwood flooring is beautiful and promotes an elegant and comfortable aesthetic to any design update. But, the wood isn’t sustainable and true hardwood can be a bit on the pricey side. Enter the wood flooring alternatives. Cork flooring is made from the scraps leftover from cork bottle stoppers. It presents the appearance of hardwood but you’re utilizing those scraps that otherwise would end up in landfills. Cork is highly durable and resistant to stains and spills. That’s why its one of the best choices for flooring design updates for homes with young families and pets.
Design a Deck That’s Eco-Friendly
Whether you want to replace, renovate, add on, or build new, the best product for decking is composite wood. This material looks like wood but is actually made from wood scraps and recycled plastic. It’s very durable, lasts for decades, and requires virtually no maintenance. Composite decking is stain-resistant and keeps its good looks season after season. Even with the snowy Quad Cities winters.
Replace Your Windows
According to the US Department of Energy, roughly 30% of your home’s heating energy is lost through your windows. In the summer, sunlight shining through your windows can drive up your cooling costs significantly. While insulated window coverings help somewhat you can lose a substantial amount of your home’s comfort through gaps, leaks, and poorly performing windows.
If your windows are more than 15 years old you need to replace them. Not only are new windows highly energy efficient, today’s windows are even more efficient than ever before. New windows pay for themselves in a relatively short amount of time and bring a huge return on your investment in terms of resale value. And you can’t deny the curb appeal of brand-new insulted double-pane windows.
New Doors Are Eco-Friendly Design Updates
Just like replacing your windows, if your doors are on the older side consider replacing them pronto. In the Quad Cities, we see seasonal temperature changes. Over the years those highs and lows have taken a toll on your door’s insulating core and suddenly the door isn’t very efficient. Just touch your door and you’ll find it may be cold or very warm to the touch, depending on the season.
Another issue that makes your home’s doors far from efficient? Older doors are no longer plumb meaning they aren’t sealing as they should. Design updates that include replacing your means a reduction in utility costs, better comfort, and even greater home security.
Doors today come in a wide range of styles and materials. There are efficient and beautiful doors available to suit any budget as well. Fiberglass is one of the more energy-efficient options as it doesn’t conduct heat and cold like aluminum does. Wood, while stunning to look at, isn’t very good at insulating. Steel doors are a good alternative to fiberglass, can be made to look like wood, and provide a good degree of insulation due to their insulting core.
Show Mother Earth Some Love With Our Help
If you’re looking to make your home more eco-friendly, these design updates can help. Please contact Seiffert Building Supplies for more ideas on how you can show Mother Earth some love and update your home at the same time.
Image: Pixabay