This year we're featuring a different sustainability tip each month. This month we're starting with a guide to fair trade and sustainable home decorating. It's a new year, and that makes it the perfect time to start changing things up around the house. But if you're anything like me, updating your look sometimes gives you a pang of sustainability guilt. I always worry about putting away my good décor only to replace it with goods made in unethical ways or from virgin plastics. At the same time, I don't believe that we shouldn't ever get to have new things just because the old things still work. So, I decided to make this quick guide for decorating your home without the guilt. You can get new stuff, and do good for the planet and its people.
In this guide you'll get guides to ethical home décor for three of 2021's most popular styles: bohemian chic, modern classic, and rustic farmhouse. First up:
1. Bohemian Chic
The key to crafting an authentic bohemian chic feel in your home is to embrace a free-spirited vibe. The boho look is characterized by an artistic eclectic feel, whimsy, and maximalism. A true boho home is full of bright and mismatched colors and patterns. It's also the easiest to create sustainably, as bohemian traditions embrace second hand, salvaged, and handmade goods.
Here are our top three tips for making the boho home: Embrace color and pattern. Fill your space. Go global and be sure to be culturally authentic. Fair trade can help you to do all three of these things. The fair trade items here at Lucia's are made using natural colors and materials from all over the world using traditional methods. Here are a few examples:
- You won't find a boho home that doesn't have a great tapestry. These ones are made from recycled saris with beautiful colors and patterns.
- Chimes made from recycled oil drums and copper overlays in the south of India will bring the aged sparkle into your boho home that's so hard to achieve with commercially made goods.
- Macramé is a great addition to the bohemian home. A simple handmade macramé is a wonderful way to fill an empty space on your wall with something that brings softness to the room. Our macramé plant holders will also be great for bringing in the green of the natural world.
2. Modern Classic
The modern classic style is always in. It's in the name. This style draws from ancient culture and relies on simple materials, clean lines, and neutral colors. But there's so much more to this style than painting your walls white and installing marbled countertops. Here, I'm going to give some tricks to making your modern home a little cozier.
Fair trade items are sustainably handmade with care, giving them a high quality. Modern classic design is all about luxury, and fair trade shows off the luxury that is artisan made goods. Here are our favorite Lucia's items for cozying up your modern home.
- The best way to make a sleek room feel a little more homey is to add a throw blanket. Our brushed alpaca fur throws are handmade by small scale farming cooperatives in Peru and Bolivia. They're also the softest blankets you've ever snuggled in.
- The kitchen is the best place to add a little fun to your modern home. We suggest adding in a splash of blue to your ceramics set. For all the Kentuckians out there, our exclusive Kentucky mug is the way to go. We also suggest adding the lotus bowl with it's simple and elegant blue pattern and contemporary shapes.
3. Rustic Farmhouse
In recent years, this style has really been taking off. It is a perfect blend of nostalgic and new. You are reminded of grandma's kitchen without feeling like a grandma yourself. Farmhouse style relies on natural elements like wood and stone, and on comforting materials like linen and fibers. The color palette is warm or neutral, and the secret to success is crafting a space that makes you feel safe and completely at home.
This is one of the best styles for the sustainably-minded person. However, it's easy to fall into the trap of ordering cute rustic looking decor from Amazon for cheap. But this won't create the feel that you're looking for as the farmhouse style is defined by the rustic vibe of natural materials, and the items you'll find in the fast manufacturing world are often plastic or otherwise synthetically produced. At Lucia's, we often use even recycled materials that will authentically create the rustic look that you're going for, still without breaking the bank. See our three favorite items here.
- This heart shaped wall hanging is made from vines and coral branch pieces in the Philippians. This wood is fast growing and renewably harvested, so you can rest easy knowing that you've got the look you want and you've done good for the planet.
- Another great way to incorporate sustainable and natural fibers to your house is with baskets for storing blankets or even grab a little one as a place for potatoes and onions in the kitchen.
- The most important room in the farmhouse is the kitchen. Lend a uniquely authentic feel to your rustic home with a wooden cutting board and other wooden kitchen utensils. We recommend one of our newest items in the shop: our sustainable palm wood cheese board from Cambodia.
Be sure to share on social media how these tips helped you to create the home you've been dreaming about. Tag us @luciasworldemporium so we can share you're great work!
