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Eco Tips Furnishings Home Decor Home Design

Fun Eco-Furnishing Ideas That Your House Would Love To Showcase

eggshell-candles-eco-friendly-idea

branch-shelf-eco-friendly-furnishing Decorating a home can be so much fun and so expensive. In this case we went a different route since it is an eco-friendly home. We went low in cost and expensive in taste. A lot of your home furnishing can be made by hand. You know who can make them? You! Your hands can make amazing furniture that you will cherish for a long time.

Here are some fun eco-furnishing ideas that your house would love to showcase and you would surely brag about because you made them yourself.

  • Mulch Pop Art – You will need a picture frame. You can repurpose one or purchase one at a thrift store. Purchase some mulch and separate them in to 8 different buckets. Add a different paint color in each one. Just toss the mulch a bit so that it does not get clumpy. Now take the glass off the picture frame. You have your frame backboard now to make art pop. Use eco-friendly wood glue on the frame backboard. Use the mulch and make a colorful word, or face. Get creative.
  • Pebble Hot Pad – Collect some river pebbles or stones and glue them to a circular piece of wood. Now you can use it to put your tea kettle and hot plates on.

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  • Yarn of Fate – In this case… ‘fate’ will be ‘photos’. Go to a salvage yard and purchase old nails, at least 30 of them. You will need some strong twine too and clips. Find a bare wall in your home. Use a pencil and mark out where each nail will go. Make them far apart from each other and have some zigzag. Now hammer them in. Now tie the twine to one of the nails and loop it around the other nails to make lines. When you get to the last nail make sure the twine is strong and tight. Tie it up. Now look for old photos of family, friends, yourself, postcards, etc. Clip them along the twine. You have a one-of-a-kind collage piece.
  • Tree Stump Side Tables – A very simple d.i.y. Get a tree stump with a flat surface. Dry it out, and then chisel away the bark. Now sand it down. You are done. Take an extra step if you want by painting them or adding some varnish. It is up to you.
  • Eggshell Candles – Save those eggshells after you crack them. Give them a good rinse and let them dry. Fill them with wax and a wick and you have the best eco-friendly light ever. You can even make them colorful by melting crayons and filling the eggshells with your color of choice. Set them right on top of the tree stump table.

eggshell-candles-eco-friendly-idea

  • Tree Shelves – Find a thick tree branch. Saw of any excess, and screw it in the wall. You can display small plush toys and trinkets.

There you have it! You can now make these simple yet fun furnishings for your home. The best part is that they are all eco-friendly. Look at nature differently. The next time you are out looking for something to bring into the house remember to ask yourself if you can make it and if there are materials already available for use. Get to having fun the eco-conscious way.

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Eco Tips Home Design Home Improvement

The Eco-Friendly Beginner’s Guide To Living Green

eco-friendly-green-home-tips

recycleSo you want to be ET and live that green-thumb life. Do you even know where to begin? Starting an eco-friendly way of living can be easy if you follow the right steps and it can be hard if you do it the wrong way. This simple guide should get you going on the right path to living environmentally conscious.

Getting Started

Rule 1: Get yourself in the green mode. Ask yourself if you are ready for the change.

Rule 2: Do research by going to the library.

Rule 3: Ask yourself again if you are ready.

First Steps

  • Ask friends that are living the green life for some helpful advice.
  • Tackle the change one step at a time.
  • Ask a contactor to help guide you with the necessary changes your home needs to go green.
  • Know that it will take a while until you are living the green life to the fullest.
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  • Take anything that is not eco-friendly out of the house. It will be tough getting rid of things but is a necessary step. Fine, you can keep two things.
  • Start from the inside out. No need to green the outside when the inside cannot benefit from it.
  • Remember: reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Second Steps

  • Replace furniture with earth-friendly furniture. Pottery Barn, antique shops, and thrift stores are great places to purchase refurbished items and eco-friendly items.
  • Remember to recycle old items and turn them into new items.
  • Use eco-friendly paint to decorate the walls.
  • Remember LED is for thee.
  • Keep decorating minimal.

Final Steps

  • Plant locally because the vegetation has a better chance of surviving because it is used to the weather conditions.
  • Purchase used stuff instead of new things. Read e-books instead of books.
  • Stay away from plastic. I mean it! It will kill you…not really, but you get the point.
  • No more fast food, soda, or junk food. Purchase food from a farmer’s market.

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  • Grow your own crops. Nothing is better than making fresh food with vegetables from your own garden. Just remember to take care of the garden the eco-friendly way.
  • Say bye to your gas guzzler. You should purchase a hybrid, ride a bike, or take mass-transit.
  • Keep up the routine.

Extra help:

  • Look for eco-friendly products while you shop.
  • Keep reminding yourself that you are helping Earth live longer.
  • Remind visitors that they are guests in a green home.
  • Do not be ashamed to be a tree hugger. Trees love being hugged.
  • At least once a month, you have to watch Fern Gully. (optional)

You’re done!

There you have it. Now you have no excuse on not going green. Better your environment and decrease your carbon footprint. By the time you make your home a fully green zone; you will be very pleased with the outcome. Who knows? You might even change other people’s minds.

I hope this simple guide helps you out in the long wrong. Unlike ET who went home, you get to stay put in your eco-friendly green home. Deal with it. Remember to turn off the lights. Good night.

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Eco Tips Furnishings Home Decor Recycling

Turning Recyclable Items Into Fashionable Backyard Décor

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bird-feeders-diy-recycled-craftsSave those bottles! Save those boxes! Save anything recyclable because it can totally be reused again but in a cute way. Decorate your backyard with new items from things that you would normally recycle. It can be so much fun. Plus who does not love decorating? You can involve the whole family and make it a cohesive fun project. First, you want to put everything in separate piles so that way you know what you are working with. Next, you want to go to the craft room and get all the supplies. Remember to get all the scraps from your craft room because they will be greatly used. Finally, get to making new décor pieces for you backyard.

Here are some great ideas for you to try.

Bird Feeders – These will be great to use outside. Give your back yard a nice touch with homemade bird-feeders. All you have to do is cut a circle (big enough for a bird) about 4 inches from the bottom of the bottle. Now paint the bottle with non-toxic paint in any color. Decorate it with any art that you want. Maybe a welcome sign? Now glue a wooden rod by the hole. Let it dry. Fill it with bird seeds, hang it up and let the birds enjoy the feeder. Beware their cousins, the squirrels, might try to eat the seeds too.

Straw Chimes – These do not make noise but are beautiful to look at. All you need is some imagination. Save straws of many colors and sizes. Use clear thread and creative with the design and length of your chime. You can hang them off tree branches. Use white straws for a more elegant charm. Use colorful straws for a more festive vibe. Use a mixture of sizes for an eclectic look. You can even run a thread through the middle of the chime and add a bell if you want some noise.

10 Mistakes: You Are Building That Green Home WrongMini-Luminaires – Light up the deck with these unique lights. Cut the bottles in half and paint the bottom half white, red, orange, yellow, or light green. Fill them up with sand (from your backyard) and put tea lights in them.

Cardboard Deco Box – Use cardboard boxes as deco pieces on your backyard deck. Paint them and add some flare buy making a collage one with extra scraps of magazine clippings. Paint one box black and the other one white. Stack them on top of each other to get a modern art vibe.

Decoupage Lanterns – Have any leftover balloons? Use them to make decoupage lanterns. Blow up the balloon and tie it. Tape it to a flat surface. Mix glue and water to get a watery sticky glue mixture. Cut strands of colorful paper, magazine clippings, newspaper, etc. Dip them into the mixture and place them on the balloon in random spots until the balloon is covered. Once dried, pop the balloon and pull it out. You have beautiful lanterns to hangs. Add lights to them if you want.

Yes these might seem like little décor items, but trust me, they will elevate your backyard to a whole new level.

Categories
Eco Tips Green Building Home Decor Home Design Home Improvement

10 Mistakes: You Are Building That Green Home Wrong

green-building-mistakes-ruining-existing-ecosystemsSo you want to build a green home? Do not look at me. I am not going to help build it. I will give you some mistakes to avoid when building a green home of your own, but that is it. If you want to reduce your carbon footprint and be environmentally conscious then make sure you know everything you need to know about eco-friendly building.

It is not as easy as it seems.

Avoiding these mistakes will help your green home building process go faster and easier.

Mistake 1: When you plan out your green home, do not make it big like a palace. Keep in mind your lifestyle. The bigger the house, the more it will cost in electricity, heating, and not to mention the unused space.

Mistake 2: Straying off the beaten path is bad. Why? If you build in a new area away from town, and deep in the countryside, then you will ruin an established ecosystem. Know your lot and location before you break ground.

Mistake 3: Not thinking ahead of time can be damaging. Will you be living in your home 20 years from now? To be honest, I would not even know if I were. Knowing how long you plan on staying in your new green home can help with budget and space issues.

Mistake 4: Not doing research on green building can be bad in the long run. Yes those wooden floors are made from recycled wood but are they great with the moisture environment you live in? Knowing what building materials to use for your new home’s location is priceless. Plus, if you get contractors, they cannot screw you on the price because you know what you are talking about.

Mistake 5: Filling your home up with non-eco-friendly appliances is a no-no. Just think before you sink.

Mistake 6: Missing out on the sun’s energy is so wrong. Take advantage of the sun and use solar paneling. Make sure the roof is facing south; actually, your whole house should be facing south. You save lots of energy.

Mistake 7: Listening to your friend who knows nothing about green building, will not help you. Ask for help from a knowledgeable source.

Mistake 8: Insufficient insolation will empty your pockets in a quick minute. Insulate well and keep the cold out. If you do it right, then you will be living cozy and nice. Plus your electric bill will be very low.

Mistake 9: Going flat on the roof design is bad for a green build. Slant the roof to allow drainage. Make sure it too is insulated well. You can also make the drainage pipe connect to the garden to use the water.

Mistake 10: Forgetting to plant the actual green is often overlooked. Plants are very beneficial to green building. Do not plant random trees, bushes, and flowers. Do some research and plant what will thrive in your environment.

Do not follow these mistakes but learn from them. In no time you will have your own green home.

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Eco Tips Furnishings Home Decor Home Design Home Improvement

Innovative Multi-Purpose Furniture Ideas

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http://goo.gl/bYqFjR
desk-bicycle-parking-wood
http://goo.gl/6WhkXS

Maybe you are looking to make your home eco-friendlier. Perhaps you live in a shoebox apartment in New York City and do not have much space for a lot of furniture. Who knows? You might be one of those people who simply hate being conventional like the rest of the world. Whatever your reasons are, multi-purpose furniture items can provide you with a fresh concept that takes your living space to a whole new level.

Shelving space is always an issue in most homes but not everyone can afford to buy a 6 or 8 shelve monstrosity. So why not turn something you don’t use into something useful. Take these folding chairs for example. Not only can you use the area where you park your butt to put books, plants, and decorations but you can also use them for closet space by hanging clothes on the base of the seat. All you have to do is nail those foldable chairs to the wall and you are done.

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http://goo.gl/GyIoHG

If you want a bookshelf and a workstation but don’t have space for both then here’s the best of both worlds. This blue furniture houses a chair, a desk for your desktop computer and plenty of space for your books all in one unit.

Another item that’s super useful for those of you who are spatially challenged is the “madame est servie” mirror that is more than what it seems to be. When you’re ready to iron you simply tilt it and lock the unit into place. Once you’re done, you tilt it back and you have a mirror again which you can use to look at yourself as you get dressed.

madam-mirror-ironing-board
http://goo.gl/yyKg5h

If you’re single renter of a one bedroom apartment who also happens to like bike riding, then you can buy this table which allows you to park your bike and use it as a chair while you enjoy your tea, coffee, a drink or a small meal on top of the wooden table.

There’s nothing worse than sitting alone without a place to rest your martini on, which is why this chair is so cool. The chair within the chair pulls out so that the exterior frame becomes a mini-table where you can rest your drink on.

For those of you looking to redesign your interior space, there are plenty of options to choose from such as the bookcase and levitating sofa. The base works as shelf space for all of your books and magazines and the above it is the sofa where you can sit and read for hours. Whenever you need something just reach under your legs and voila! Instant reading material!

couch-bookshelf-storage-seat
http://goo.gl/bYqFjR

Who says you can’t have fun in the dining room? This table serves as a pool table so you can have fun with family or guests and once the food is done cooking you simply turn it back into a dining table and sit down to eat.

pool-dining-table-elegant
http://goo.gl/UJcBDV

Multi-purpose furniture helps to make your home greener by making your indoors sustainable and healthy without sacrificing design, beauty or functionality.

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Home Decor

Eco-friendly Holiday Kitchen Decoration Ideas

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I am such a lover of the holidays. I especially love the decorating part the best. Yeah, spending time with the family and cooking is high on the list, but nothing beats a well decorated home that makes everyone feel welcomed. Since I too am on the eco-friendly trend, I decide to find new decorating tips with an eco-twist. There are a lot out there to choose from. These are my top favorites. Most of them are kitchen ideas since the kitchen is my sanctuary. I decorate it; you enjoy it. No ifs, ands or but if you find something that I can repurpose for the holidays, please let me know.

Here are my favorite eco-friendly crafting ideas.

Dry Flowers: Save those flowers. After a week, hang them upside down in a dark place to dry them out. It normally takes 7-10 days. They are beautiful. The flowers have an antique look to them perfect for the fall. Get flowers with lots of orange, yellow, and red tones. You can us clunky flowers for your holiday wreathes.

Put a Cork on it: Re-use those corks from your wine bottles. With a sharp cutter make a semi-deep indent on the cork. You can use them for place cards at dinner parties. You can also use them to make mini turkeys with the kids. Glue some feathers, eyes, and a beak to the cork. Use them to decorate the kitchen too.

Bottles Galore: Save those wine bottles. The color of the bottle is perfect for the fall/winter season. Use them as a vase for your sunflowers (my fave for November). You can also use eco-friendly decorative ribbons to spruce them up a bit. If the labels are hard to get off then soak them in warm water with a teaspoon of vinegar for ten minutes. The label should peel right off. Use rubbing alcohol to get rid of any excess.

Fruit Scrap Ornaments: I bake a lot of pies during the holiday season. Sometimes I even make my own apple butter. That leaves me with a lot of apple peels. You can either use them in the compost or do what I do: make ornaments for the mini-tree in the kitchen (yes I have one…tell me you do too). All you need to do is preheat your oven to 200F for ten minutes. On parchment paper, lay out the peels evenly. Bake until they are dried out. This normally takes 7-8 minutes. Get some cinnamon sticks and wrap them around a bunch of dried apple peels. They smell so good. Use them as ornaments or as napkin holders. You can also add orange slices to the mix.

Cereal Box Placemats: Reuse your cereal boxes. Cut the front and back of the box into equal rectangle shapes with rounded edges. Use some eco-friendly paint in any fall color you want for one side, and any winter color for the other side. Put two layers of Mod Podge to thicken the cardboard. By doing this, you can use them for November and December.

These are simple eco-friendly holiday kitchen decorations that everyone can do. Enjoy the holidays with your new kitchen full of handmade decorations made from recycled materials.

 

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Gadgets & Gear Home Improvement Recycling

Have The Best Eco-Friendly Home Office

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http://goo.gl/r4cTTG
reclaimed-wood-desk-eco-friendly-office-pic
http://goo.gl/ElVtew

When we think of going green, we consider changing the light bulbs and appliances to more energy efficient alternatives. But have you ever considered making your home office more Eco-friendly?

Think about all the paper you consume when printing or the ink cartridges you use up and then dump. Not to mention the fact that the electrical consumption is as draining to the world’s power reserves as Edward was to Bella’s blood supply on Twilight. But there are a couple of things you can do to turn your home office into an eco-home/office.

If your home/office uses a lot of gadgets and gizmos like desktops, printers, tablets, scanners, radios, CD players, etc., you will benefit greatly from using one of those power strips that plugs everything in. That way, when you are done for the day, you can simply press one button to power everything down. This is great, especially if you are someone like me who forgets to shut down your laptop or desktop.

While we are on the subject of desktops and laptops, let us talk about which of these consumes less energy. The answer should be obvious, a laptop. These portable computers allow you to work with battery power and provide you with mobility that a desktop never could. Plus, it uses only 1/8th the power of a desktop. So consider replacing that big old desktop computer with a laptop.

If you insist on sticking with a desktop, replace those bulky monitors that look like 1970s TV screens. Flat screen monitors consume a lot less energy and they do not strain your eyes as much. Plus they hang on the wall easier.

Conserving paper is the best way to save trees. If you’re a writer like me, you go through revision after revision. You probably make hundreds of print-outs and you end up finding a mistake and end up having to print-out a rough copy again and again and again. Unless you are sure that the letter or novel you are printing is the final draft, consider using the back of the paper you have already printed on.

While we are on the subject of reusing things, let us talk about batteries and ink cartridges. You can buy rechargeable batteries with a recharging station. As for the ink cartridges, you can get a do-it-yourself kit to inject the ink back into an empty cartridge or you can take it to a computer store and have them refill it for you at a discount of the price it would take to buy a new ink cartridge.

Do not be afraid to recycle the things that simply cannot be salvaged. You can go on-line and find places where you can drop off used paper to be recycled. You can even take your laptop batteries, printer toners and ink cartridges to business centers and have them dispose and recycle these safely so they don’t harm the environment.

You can also use cardboard boxes from things you have ordered on-line to make do-it-yourself shelves for your office.

Be green and keep your office clean.

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Home Improvement

LED Lights for Me, Thanks!

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http://goo.gl/4Bd6kn
led-light-strips-for-homes
http://goo.gl/6T5MyM

Standard light bulbs were good in there day but now it is time for them to be replaced with LED light bulbs. LED lights are eco-friendly and they provide the same amount of brightness if not more than their earlier counterparts.

Switching all your lights to LED lights will save a great deal more energy, which means that you, as the homeowner, will be saving a lot on your light bill each month. Also, they will last you so much longer. This means you will not have to risk getting a nose bleed every few months after standing on a ladder replacing your light bulbs.

You will also find that conventional bulbs attract mosquitoes and bugs, especially during the summer time because they emit UV light. LEDs on the other hand do not do that so you won’t have to stink up the house or damage the ozone layer with harmful fumes from an insecticide spray can.

LED lights can be used just about anywhere in your home, both indoors and outdoors and have I mentioned just how energy saving these babies are? A conventional bulb will waste up to 60 watts per hour. In less than no time, their efficiency diminishes significantly, down to 20 percent even.  Then you have LED bulbs, which function at 80 percent efficiency and only waste 10 watts per hour. This certainly goes a long way to reducing the huge drain on humanity’s limited energy reserves.

If you are worried about cost, then you can relax. While the LED bulbs are more expensive, a lot of light companies are actually giving you some of your money back for switching to a more energy-reducing, greener light bulb alternative. Plus, you will be saving a load of money on your monthly bill which means you can spend more on outdoor adventures with your family and enjoy Earth’s natural light.

 There is another way that the LED bulbs are helping the environment out and as indirect as it might be, it still helps. With global warming and all, the spring and summer months are getting warmer and muggier. For those of you who can not afford centralized air conditioning or even an A/C unit, you will have to find other ways to keep your home cooler. In most cases, this means closing your windows and doors but without direct sunlight during the day, you will have to turn your lights on to see. This in itself will cause the temperature inside your home to rise because conventional bulbs warm up. LED bulbs do not. So how exactly does that help Mother Nature? It keeps you from going so insane from the already muggy situation and going out to buy an air conditioning unit, which will harm the environment.

LED bulbs come with all kinds of perks that conventional ones do not. There are some that come in different colors, in case you want to create a mood in a certain room in your home (like the picture above). Others have dimmable qualities so you do not have to contend with a bulb that shines like the sun if you do not need it to like in hallways, restrooms, or living rooms. Some even come with a Wi-Fi feature that lets you turn the bulb on, off, or even control the level of dimness right from your desktop, laptop or smartphone.

If the reasons I mentioned are not enough to convince you then maybe this will. When you throw your old bulbs away, you are introducing mercury into the landfill and ultimately the soil. LED lights do not contain mercury but since you have to replace the conventional bulbs and discard them, you should take them to a recycling center as oppose to just throwing them away.

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Eco Tips Furnishings Home Decor Home Design Recycling

Better Your Future with Eco-Friendly Furniture

eco-friendy-dinning-table-reclaimed-wood-pottery-barn
http://goo.gl/wFj0wl

You can expand blueprints, fingerprints, and footprints. Now let us focus on shrinking your carbon footprint. You want to help make the world a better place. Who knew that all you had to do was start from the inside of your home! So you purchased your Eco home, are doing your daily recycling, using less energy, and have to purchase some new furniture. If you do not know if the home furnishings you want to purchase are Eco-friendly or not, then here are some simple ways to go about getting that carbon footprint extremely low.

The first thing you want to do is look at our home. Ask yourself what necessary furniture you need. The top three that everyone needs are: sofa, mattress, and dining table. I of course need a bookshelf for all of my recycled books collection. 

One great way to keep that carbon footprint low is to use hand-me down furniture from relatives. Keep it in the family. You are recycling in a way. Plus the piece of furniture becomes an heirloom for the family tree. See what I did there? “Upcycling” is one of my favorite things to do. I tend to visit vintage stores or antique shops to search for furniture pieces that need a little help fixing up. Make sure you use non-toxic materials when fixing old furniture or decor pieces. These items might even be a little bit cheaper in price than buying something new. Plus what is great about buying someone’s old furniture is that you keep it Eco-friendly and one-of-a-kind. Heading to old salvage yards is useful when looking to make furniture from scratch. Buying reclaimed wood to make tables, desks, bed frames, picture frames, shelves, and many other pieces of furniture for the home is so beneficial. It helps forests around the world to keep their beautiful trees.

eco-friendly-furniture-cheap-modern
http://goo.gl/NuHAA3

My motto is: why buy new when I can reuse. Eco-friendly furniture for many people is bland, boring furniture. I see it as life prolonging furniture. Since they use recycled materials to make the sofas, bed, tables, etc, it keeps the plastic, and other toxic rubbish out of landfills from being burned off into our precious Eco-system. When purchasing furniture that is Eco-friendly keep in mind that you are also clearing your mind. You can feel great about helping the world, even if it was just by buying a tiny bookshelf made from reclaimed oak. I did at least, when I felt I finally started to contribute. Look for the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) stamp on wood. This lets you know you are purchasing wood from a sustainable environment. You can even trace it back to see where it was harvested from. Bamboo is also a great alternative. Since bamboo grows at rapid pace, you do not have to worry about sustainability.

Look for organic materials when it comes to purchasing your bed sheets, sofa covers, pillows, etc. like cotton and wool. The Eco Shop at PotteryBarn.com has amazing Eco-friendly home furnishings. Stay away from these words when you are looking for cushions, sofa throws, blankets, etc.: stain-resistant, Teflon, artificial anything (especially leather), vinyl, and anything inflatable (yes, put the blow-up chair back).

All in all, going the green route might mean you have to spend a little more green than usual, but helping prolong Earth’s life is priceless. A happy Eco-friendly furnished home is priceless too.

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Articles Home Decor Home Design

Four Ways to Furnish Your Home Inexpensively

When it comes to having a home that you are truly comfortable living in, this will take a lot of effort on your part in terms of decorating it. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to break the bank to keep your home looking it’s best.

Here’s a quick look at four ways to inexpensively decorate and furnish your home.

Stack Shelves To the Ceiling

Even in the smallest of living spaces, you always have the option to maximize your square footage by going up. Think about it. If you take an entire wall in your home and line it with shelves that go all the way up to the ceiling, this can add anywhere from 100 square feet or more of storage space, and best of all, high-quality shelves are very affordable.

Freecycling

There are lots of people who have started taking part in freecycling. If you have a local freecycling organization, you should definitely join. In doing so, you can come across lots of free furniture pieces for your home, and in return, you can donate items you don’t want, which will then be available free of charge to other members in the group. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Maximize Air Space

Just the same as you should stack shelves up to the ceilings, you can also optimize the way you use your air space. From floating book shelves to hanging TVs, both of these ideas will go a long way in helping you decorate and furnish your home in an expensive yet stylish manner.

Old Wine Bottles

If you’re a drinker, then it’s time that you start recycling your wine and alcohol bottles. Some of these bottles make for the prettiest center pieces. A great way to get the sticky labels off the bottles is by letting them soak overnight in a small trash can full of one part ammonia and four parts water. The next morning, simply rinse off the bottles, and the sticky labels should come off very easily.