Decorating Green

I am so excited to talk about some very easy and smart ways of designing green (and cheap). Some of you are probably doing it without even thinking about it. Kudos to you, I went through this list on Style at Home, and I was quite proud to check off a lot of the listed to dos that I already do.
For me it is a style preference, and the bonus is some of them happen to be environmentally friendly too. Bonus! Here are some of the tips I'm talking about.

1. Buying from thrift stores, craigslist, ebay, garage and estate sales etc. You can find one of a kind pieces at great prices. Most things you find this way add so much personality and unique style to a space. They are usually one off pieces and/or can be personalized using paint or any other techniques to make it your own. You know I am all for adding your own personality to a space. After all decorating is personal, and it should reflect YOU at all times.

This chair hubby got for me at a thrift store for under $10 and I've had it for over 2 years now and this is the second personality it's taken on. It is still sturdy and quite gorgeous! All with just a coat of paint and a pillow cover I used to reupholster the seat.

2. Reuse pasta sauce jars, jam jars and old tins. I love using the mason jars, they make adorable flower vases. Another tip I read at Style at Home is to paint the lids fun colors and use the jars as storage for grains in your pantry, or I say use it in your home office to store supplies. I have a thing for vintage soda bottles or any interesting drink bottles for that matter. The shape of the bottle can make me buy the juice. Below see old bottles that I spray painted to use as vases. You can decorate these as elaborately as you want, or just leave them solid. Wasabi tape is a great quick way of adding color to them too. Just get some fun colors and prints and tape around the bottles to create some interest.

BEFORE

AFTER

Part of my Valentines Day flowers ;-). Lovely way to wake up. 

Old pasta sauce jars with one of the painted juice bottles.

3. Another great way is bringing in free natural items into your home as decor accessories. Pick up pine cones on walks, or branches.  Sometimes you can find beautiful wild flowers like we do in the summer on the trail by our house. My daughter picked up some pine cones last summer that she still has in her room, and she is so proud that she's the one who got them.

4. After all your painting projects, we all know how it goes, you have those paints just sitting in a dandy storage somewhere,  never to see the light of day. A great thing to do is take it to Home Depot, or Habitat for Humanity to recycle them. Also check in your local area for any paint exchange programs that might be available.

Okay that's plenty, but I hope you found something that makes sense to you, that you can easily add to your decorating routine.
If you have any tips or ideas I'd love to hear them. I hope you are having a lovely week! :)

(Images by: Fatou Bah)