Thinking of redecorating your home? Take advantage of the mild summer weather for home projects. The biggest consideration should be to consider the environment and local ecology when making changes to your home. Every purchase you make will inevitably affect the ecosystem, and there are some green tips that will help along the way to benefit both your household as well as the environment.

Eco Friendly Paint

Regular paint contains up to 10,000 chemicals, where 300 are considered toxic and 150 have been linked to cancer, kidney and liver damage. VOCs (volatile organic compounds) are one of the most harmful chemicals as they are carbon-containing compounds that readily vaporize into the air. With toxins in the air, it causes air pollution and health issues such as breathing problems, headache, burning, watery eyes and nausea. With paint being the second largest source of VOC emissions into the atmosphere after automobiles, it’s essential to look for low or zero VOCs in paint especially when you are re-painting your entire house.

Paint brands that have low levels or no VOCs in their formulas include Yolo Colorhouse, Olympic paint, AMF Safecoat and Mythic Paint.

Install better-insulated windows

This is one of those bigger projects where you should get started before the weather gets too cold. Especially when dealing with windows, you may be left with an open area for a few days where the warm weather will benefit the entire project. Once you start this kind of project when it’s raining or windy, then you may be turning up your heat costing you more money and wasting energy.

There are several ways to insulate windows ranging from simple low-cost techniques to high-tech pricier methods. Thermal shades and regular drapes helps keep temperature controls but will sacrifice the amount of natural light coming into the room. Storm windows is definitely the way to go with double or triple glazed high-performance windows.

Convertible sofas to save on extra materials for a guest bed

Every living room contains a sofa or two, but they don’t necessarily convert into a full sized bed. Convertible sofas are a great investment to make as they are similarly priced than the non-convertible versions, plus they offer an extra feature and storage area. This piece of furniture will be especially helpful when you have guests staying over. Even if you have an extra guest room, having another option will always be a helping hand just in case more guests decide to stay over. When guests are not over, you can have the storage area under the seat all to yourself placing from magazines to remote controls. When purchasing new furniture, always look for multiple function pieces to save from generating new materials to build another piece of furniture such as a day bed.

- Guest blogger Joanna