When purchasing ‘green’ home decor, it is important to check that ‘eco’ terms are not being used solely for marketing purposes. This is because some manufacturers misuse these terms at the environment’s expense so as to increase sales. By ensuring a product has been made in a sustainable way, one can make an ecologically sound buying decision. Here we discuss three terms that are pertinent to the question of green decor and design: recycling, upcycling and reclaimation.

Upcycling — once off creations

Upcycling is an eco-friendly manufacturing method wherein the item is changed into another product. This is done without breaking down the original properties of the object. The carbon footprint of upcycling, thus, is extremely low. This makes it a good option if one is on the lookout for more exclusive items.

Plastic or old paper can be used to create lampshades, for example. Or a tired old piece of furniture like a chair can be re-upholstered with new fabric to update its looks.

Recycling — breaking down properties

One should also consider buying a recycled product as opposed to a brand new one, yet it’s important to note that the procedure of recycling leaves a carbon footprint of its own.

Recycling refers to the process of transforming the original properties of a product. This entails breaking down the original material to create a new product. In the case of glass, for example, it can be smelt down and reworked into tiles, bowls and vases. Plastic, paper, metal and glass are examples of materials that are frequently recycled.

Reclaimed timber — age and character

Reclaimed wood refers to timber that has been previously bought and then resold. It can also refer to wood that has been removed from an old building. This old material is then used to create new wooden products. Reclaimed items are especially viable options for those who enjoy the character that old wood can bring to a piece.

A simplified home environment that is free of clutter is a relaxing home. A minimalist environment is not only more appealing to the eye but it is easier to keep clean, too. Of course there are different extremes to living simply. How one arranges one’s space comes down to one’s personal taste and sense of aesthetics. A few pieces of furniture and a vase of flowers may work well in a room for some people while a near empty room may be preferable to others.

Choose quality over quantity

A quality and classic wardrobe allows one to dress up or down and to easily adapt to different seasons. Choosing good quality pieces for a home can gives one the same sense of endurance and style over time.

Rather spend money on a few long lasting beautiful pieces than waste it on cheaper products that are going to date within a few years. The key is to choose pieces with care, knowing that you’ll still love them over time and that you’ll use them often.

Clear the space

Clear flat surfaces leaving only a few well-chosen pieces rather than a countless number of knick knacks, piles of old magazines or paperbacks. Decorations should act as accents to enhance a room rather than ‘fill it up’. Take a look at some traditional Japanese homes for inspiration: a lamp, a single flower in a vase, a porcelain bowl or a picture is all one may need to brighten up an area.

Room by room

If you’re moving into a new home, you’ll have an easier job creating a minimalist environment than somebody who has a full house to deal with. A cluttered house will be more manageable if it is dealt with one room at a time. Start by creating a sense of order and simplicity in one small area and let that inspire you to go on.

Begin by working with your furniture. Create a sense of calm by removing items that don’t enhance your life or the space. You may decide to stick with a few solid pieces in subdued colours, for example. Once you’re down to the essentials you can add things back to your minimalist environment to create the desired effect, but don’t take it too far.

If you live with others, as many of us do, it’s important to have a space within the home that is your personal space. This doesn’t mean you have to have a room of your own, it can simply mean creating an area that gives you a feeling of a personal refuge. If you own your own home, it’s easier to create different areas for different requirements and activities. Whatever space you create, consider the influence of colours, as well as their different purposes.

Lightening and brightening your space

White is a soothing colour and is a good base colour. Not only is it calming but it can also help to clear confusion and bring clarity. See this in the light of living in a dark space. If your personal refuge is dark at the moment, consider bringing in some white to lift any feelings of depressing sombreness.

Colour shades that range from red to yellow are energising and warming.

Balancing colours

Think of how it feels to be out in nature, surrounded by green trees and shrubs. Green makes one feel relaxed and calm. As such, green works especially well in sitting and sleeping areas. Blue is also relaxing, while purple can be both relaxing and energising.

Don’t over-neutralise your space

Stone colours, beiges and all those colours in the ‘mid-brown’ range are calming. The problem with over-using neutrals is that one can be left feeling depressed. They can be used to great effect if they are balanced with more focused and energising colours like orange, burnt-orange and red. So if you choose to have a neutral space, consider adding some zesty cushions or a ‘hot’ lampshade. Even a painting with a splash of red will help to lift the space.

Avoid using extremely dark colours

Avoid overly dark colours, especially if you’re in a depressed state of mind or if you tend to be a lethargic person. Colours such as black, dark navy, dark browns or slate-greys can make one feel down. These colours are fine if they are used in small doses though.

When you pick up a piece of old furniture at a garage sale or an auction, ask yourself how you would use it. Look for signs of normal ware in those areas and then check the hardware. Handles should show signs of use and softer woods will probably show gouges to the right side of knobs. Handles may have been replaced several times. Joinings can also tell a lot about the age of a piece, whether in drawers or chairs.

Joinings in very old pieces

The way that a piece has been assembled can give you a good idea of the approximate date of manufacture. The edges of drawers in an older piece will, in all likelihood, have dovetail joints. These wedge shaped interlocking joints were cut by cabinetmakers by hand and were often crudely made in very old pieces.

The industrial age

The mid-nineteenth century dovetail joints are smaller and more precise and even as machines were used in the manufacturing process. The dovetail joints from the 1880s are similar to those we see in furniture manufacturing today.

Wooden pegs

Old cabinetmakers used to assemble their furniture with wooden pegs. This was because hardwood dowels made for much stronger joints than nails did. These pegs were also made by hand before the advent of machinery. Old pieces with irregular pegs could possibly be dated to around 1840. Cylindrical wooden dowels would date the furniture to post-1840.

Mortise joints

Mortise and tenon joints were used for chairs and tables in the early days of furniture construction. This technique of old is similar to the modern version of mortise and tenon joints, but there will be evidence of a wooden pin in older pieces, which was added for extra reinforcement.

If the item you’re eyeing shows such signs of age, you may have found something of value.

Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837 and many furniture styles blossomed in the following years. Gothic Revival was the first Victorian furniture definable as such and the central motif was the ornate Gothic arch. The Rococo Revival came out of the blossoming romantic period and was marked by fluid lines, curves and exuberant carvings. The Renaissance Revival, also referred to as ‘High Victorian’, referred back to the Italian Renaissance. This period was influenced by classical proportions and shapes.

The Gothic Revival Period (1840-1865)

Gothic Revival furniture is easy to identify due to the constant referral to the architecture of European cathedrals. The pointed Gothic arch was worked into doors, chair backs, fretwork, pediments for frames, pediments for mirrors, headboards and footboards and into the canopies than hung over dressing tables.

Rococo Revival Period (1845-1860)

The Victorians were awash with a fondness for nature and this came through in the design of the Rococo Revival. To recognise furniture from these ebullient years, look out for leaf, fruit and flower themes. These motifs can be found on commodes, dressers and chests of drawers.

Renaissance Revival Period (1855-1875)

This ‘High Victorian’ period looked back at the classical ideal of the Italian Renaissance which prospered during the 14^th to 16^th centuries. Although it was strongly influenced by the classical lines of the Renaissance, the Renaissance Revival style was to become known as the epitome of Victorian design, with its luxuriousness and grandiosity.

Renaissance Revival furniture has classical figures on furniture including chair arms, table supports and beds. Due to the high ceilings of the time, extremely tall pieces of furniture were produced, further reflecting the growing affluence of the time. The rooms in which this decorative furniture rested were further decorated with velvet and silk drapery and Oriental carpets.

Ever been given a bunch of flowers and realised that you don’t have a thing to put them in? Vases can be expensive and unfortunately are not an item that we can justify spending a lot of money on. Instead of buying a vase for those pretty flowers, try making our own – saving some money, while having fun at the same time. Fresh flowers really do light up a room so why not make something as equally beautiful to store them in?

In five minutes

Pretty wine bottles, old-fashioned milk bottles, jam jars or soft drink cans with cut out lids make for great, simple-to-make vases. Add stickers and ribbons to plain bottles and jars, giving them new life. For a fun outdoor vase paint an old pair of wellingtons or use a brass or copper watering can. Old china teacups filled with roses look elegant placed in the middle of a dining room table and hollowed out oranges and lemons make interesting centrepieces when filled with flowers.

A little more time

Screw off the end of a light bulb or cut a hole in the top, taking out the filament. Hang the light bulb on wires from a balcony or create an aluminium stand and you have a quirky vase in which to store your favourite flowers. For a colourful vase snip off the mouth of a balloon and wrap it around a glass. The end of the balloon can be tucked in afterwards and the flower stems placed in the small hole – just replace the balloon with a different colour one to match/contrast various flowers.

A new skill

If you are willing to invest a lot of time into creating something really beautiful consider taking up a new class and learn a new skill which you can put to use when making your next vase. Mosaic tiles, paper mache and origami can all be used to create mind-blowing vases that you can make for yourself or give to your friends and family as gifts.

The flamboyant and ostentatious furniture that came out of the 19^th century may appeal to those with a keen eye for embellishment – think carved scrolls and rococo curves. These somewhat kitsch motifs were not always the order of the day, however. There was still a sense of restraint to be found in the so-called American Shaker furniture, though, which was developed by a religious sect originally from England.

The spool furniture of the Victorian age is another example of such simple design.

The simple life

Shaker furniture did not fit into the Victorian styles of its time as its makers were far from frivolous. Having left England during the time of the American Revolution, a hardworking religious sect who believed in ‘the simple life’, the Shakers developed a style of furniture that was both simple and sturdy.

Popular design

The Shaker people quickly flourished in America. By the mid-nineteenth century, there were around 18 Shaker communities in the Northeast. The community was business minded as well as thrifty – they sold their attractive furniture far beyond their own communities. The design, influenced by the American colonial period which lacked any form of ornamentation, quickly became popular.

In time, certain Shaker families only produced chairs – one of the most successful being the rocking chair. Families relied on a similar style but distinguished their chairs from one another by using different finials and weaving patterns for the seats.

These expert woodworker craftsmen, who worked mainly in simple native woods like pine, maple, birch and cherry wood, also produced an array of tables, cupboards and candle stands. These pieces were used by their community and were not sold to outsiders – only the chairs were meant for profit.

The Shaker furniture produced during this time is highly collectable today.

Thomas Chippendale was an influential designer and cabinetmaker who worked and lived in England and it was thanks to Chippendale that the so-called Chippendale period of 1754-85 was born. Chippendale published The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker’s Director in 1754, which turned out to be one of the most highly respected publications at the time. Chippendale’s designs were influenced by Georgian and Queen Anne originals as well Gothic and Chinese styles – as seen in his ball and claw feet and heavy lacquering.

Solid workmanship

As much as Chippendale brought new ideas into furniture design, so did his workmanship continue to be of a high quality. Through careful fitting and joining, his pieces tended to last for a lengthy period of time.

Mahogany, which appeared on the scene in about 1750, was destined to become Chippendale’s favourite wood. He tended to decorate the dark wood with sharp and deep carvings using shells, foliage and scroll motifs. Finishes included the use of gilding and fretwork, as well as veneer.

Chippendale furniture

Chippendale was incredibly versatile in his treatment of furniture, especially when it came to his chairs which some have referred to as his masterpieces. The backs of his chairs were always designed with a distinctive pattern, including ladder back chairs and vertical-splat chairs.

The Chippendale influence was as strongly felt in America as it was elsewhere, graceful curves being one of the hallmarks of Chippendale-inspired furniture. During this period, Chippendale highboy designs were topped with carved finials and broken pediments by various cabinetmakers.

Chippendale’s influence in America

American cabinetmakers, influenced as they were by Chippendale, started making elaborate bookcases called breakfront bookcases. Breakfront bookcases had panelled doors in the upper sections and a bank of drawers (and sometimes a writing section) in the lower section. Wooden doors were often veneered with intricate patterns.

Tea tables, which had originally had a recess in the top during the Queen Anne period, now had an embellished fluted rim, reminiscent of pie crusts. This rim was found on round tables especially, including three-legged tables, whose legs often boasted the most elaborate carvings of the period.

As the joys of summer slowly start slipping out of our grasp and the days become colder, the time for a warm winter fire is drawing nearer. Unless you have an endless supply of wood, making a fire every night can become an expensive undertaking. On the other hand, there are so many new and modern fireplace designs that it makes it difficult to choose the right one. Figure out which fireplace will not only be the most economical but also the most efficient.

Pellet fireplaces

Pellet burning fireplaces create heat by burning small pellets that have a similar appearance to that of rabbit feed but are made of wood and its by-products. Wood pellet fireplaces are extremely clean, for your house and the environment, easy to use, and they give off a good amount of heat. Wood pellet fireplaces look like ordinary fireplaces but actually operate with electricity. After you have bought the fireplace and the pellets and powered this fireplace it is not really the most economical, although over time you may save as a little does go a long way.

Wood-burning fireplaces

An open or conventional fireplace loses a lot more heat than a stove style fireplace and so uses more wood and doesn’t heat the house as efficiently – then there is also the worry of the smell and effects of the smoke as well as how to put it out when you go to sleep. A plate steel or cast-iron wood-burning stove, although expensive to install, can fit into your current open fireplace and you will use less wood to maintain your fire and heat the room.

Gas fireplaces

Although gas fireplaces don’t carry the magic of a traditional wood fireplace, sometimes those fake burning logs are difficult to tell apart from the real deal. Gas is effectively better for the environment and can also be cheaper to buy than wood. Gas fireplaces often come equipped with safety features and are very simple and easy to use particularly for busy people or people with smoke allergies. Most old homes have fireplaces but if you want a gas one this will need to be installed so again, initial start-up costs can be high.

Ultimately it is all about choosing a fireplace that fits with your lifestyle and family. Whatever your budget you’re bound to find one that you will love to cuddle up next to this coming winter.

Retaining walls are useful landscaping tools. Built on slopes, they help hold soil in pace, preventing erosion. Natural stone is a great alternative to using concrete blocks when building a retaining wall as it has a rustic look that adds character to your garden. Rubble and cut stone are the most commonly used materials, but both come with their own advantages and disadvantages.

Rubble – the inexpensive option

Rubble walls have two advantages over cut stone: they are inexpensive and look more natural. Buying broken, irregular pieces of stone costs less than buying slabs that have been carefully cut while smaller gravel, also very affordable, can be used to fill in gaps. The disadvantage of rubble walls is that they can’t bear a heavy load – steep hills can knock them down. Adding timber or metal posts can improve a rubble retaining wall’s strength, though.

Cut stone – no mortar needed

Slabs of cut stone look more uniform than rubble and a cut stone retaining wall doesn’t need any mortar. Cut stone is incredibly heavy, though, and with each stone weighing between 50 and 100 pounds the wall can’t be built by hand. For a more unique look, the types and sizes of stone used can be varied. A decorative mosaic could also be added to bring interest to the wall.

A solid foundation

Both rubble and cut stone walls need a solid foundation which should be filled with gravel. This will help prevent frost from shifting the earth under the wall, which will knock it over. A gravel foundation will also help drainage – a buildup of water can also cause stone retaining walls to collapse. If you must build the wall on the ground’s surface, more mortar and support posts will be needed to keep it secure.

Adding mortar to a stone retaining wall is essential to keeping it stable. If you’re uncertain about the strength of the wall you’d like to build, it’s best to consult a professional landscaper for advice.