Green Re-design

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Great home style isn’t about having the newest, most expensive furnishings and accessories. “Interior re-designers”—or decorators who show homeowners BEFORE. Green Re-design lets you re-purpose furniture and accessories you have in other areas of the home. Photo courtesy of Maru C. Willson. how to reuse what they already own—combine fresh color and a little creativity to get a chic look that is also good for the environment. “Re-design has always been green,” says Maru C. Willson, a certified interior re-design specialist and the owner of Room Outfitters in Oceanside, Calif. “A lot of the favorite tips we do in one-day makeovers really speak to the green philosophy.” Green building uses eco-friendly materials to build new spaces. Green design can be quite expensive, whereas green re-design is more affordable and good for the environment because repurposing materials keeps them out of the landfill. This approach to decorating creates a style that looks like it was put together over time, with furnishings and accessories that have greater personal significance because they’ve been part of your home for some time. Green re-design means reclaiming pieces—including furnishings, art and accessories—from those hidden spaces in your home and bringing them to the forefront of a space’s design. How to Do a Green Re-design There are a few key tips that re-designers use to do a home makeover. You can accomplish the biggest change simply by rearranging your furniture around an architectural feature or focal point like a fireplace or picture window. IRIS, an association of Interior Redesign Industry Specialists, recommends “shopping” in your own house and envisioning objects in different rooms. Take pictures off the walls and carry lighting and accessories from room to room. Look for unique pieces of furniture that aren't getting a lot of use and move them into the family room or bedroom where they can be appreciated. For example, a stack of antique boxes that can be reused as accent tables. Tables can be created out of almost anything. Fashion one from found objects around the house, such as on oversized planter, and add a glass top to use as a coffee table or an accent table. A beautiful log from the backyard can also make a practical table base. “You don’t have to have a lodge style to have a table like that,” Willson says. “Sometimes it’s the surprise element that brings green to your current style.” Create artwork from unexpected elements. Someone who is passionate about bicycling, for example, could hang a bike from a hook on a wall above the sofa—an instant conversation piece. Someone who enjoys baking as a hobby might take a cast-iron antique mandoline tray, frame it in wood and hang it in the kitchen as a decorative accent. “A lot of styles can integrate these elements as a surprise element or focal point,” Willson says. AFTER. Green re-design lets you re-purpose furniture and accessories you have in other areas of the home. Photo courtesy of Maru C. Willson. Reusing fabrics is a clever way to make soft decorative accents. A family quilt can be repurposed as a window treatment by finishing it with grommets and slipping it onto a curtain rod. Clothing set aside for donations might be used for pillows. Solid sweaters can be sewn into knit pillows that resemble those seen at West Elm and Pottery Barn this season. Eveningwear made of velvet, lace or silk makes dressy pillows for the master bedroom. “My sister had 20 to 30 designer suits that no longer fit and, in hindsight, those fabrics could be turned into beautiful pillows,” Willson says. Design a stylish slipcover for an ottoman by draping a tablecloth over the piece, tucking and folding in the loose edges and using a staple gun to attach the cloth to the base, says Christy Furukawa, an interior designer and owner of Christy 4 Home Styling in Agoura Hills, Calif. Give new life to table runners by using them on a fireplace mantle as a backdrop for accessories. You can also drape them over sofas and chairs to add color and pattern.

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