Reclaimed, Upcycled, and Cruelty Free: Decor That Tells a Story
One rewarding thing about design that is Cruelty Free, sustainable and upcycled is the unique story that it tells. Of course, the best part of using and reusing materials and furniture is the benefit to the environment and protection of the Earth that comes from reusing limited resources. Everything from soft furnishings, art, kitchen plates, and furniture have a history and evoke a memory or feeling. It might be the story of a piece of furniture or the formation of a natural material like stone or driftwood added to a collection that inspires and invites reflection. The stories that you surround yourself with, and those close to you, should be free from violence and create peace.
The Biophilic Potential of Upcycled, Cruelty Free Design
Cruelty Free, sustainable and upcycled design or redesign can highlight the natural aspects of materials and forms to bring a biophilic touch to your home. Biophilic design, incorporating natural materials in recycling and upcycling, has been proven to enhance healing effects and promote a calm nervous system. It is a way of bringing nature indoors, both by imitating the forms of nature, and by using natural, healthy, non-toxic materials. A biophilic design environment can be achieved when you repurpose your furnishings and household décor, add natural elements and transform your interiors through creative reuse.
Upcycled furniture can come in the form of pre-loved, second-hand furniture that gets a new cruelty free life through no VOC paint without animal ingredients, reupholstery using a natural material, or adding meaningful decoration. It can be existing furniture – even family heirlooms or antiques that are refinished using chemical free finishes or adding linen slipcovers. These new-to-you pieces will add a peaceful, non-violent atmosphere to your home. Deciding how to reimagine older and newer pieces of furniture is a matter of blending aesthetic choices with ethical, vegan choices about the kinds of materials, paints and finishes you use. At Earth Science Design, our experienced vegan interior designers can help you refine your vision and create a plan to incorporate elements that reflect your personal style while being compassionate, vegan and cruelty free.
The Beauty of Pre-Loved Materials
Some of the most beautiful materials you can use in your home are materials that are weathered or worn in a way that adds interest. Examples of such materials include scrap metal, driftwood or sea glass. Mosaics from broken tiles are also good ways of reusing building and redecorating waste. You can source these from your own project or from local building projects. Reclaimed wood or wood that has a sustainable certification may have come from previous building projects, or if it is naturally grown, it is grown in sustainable forests.
Décor That Tells A Positive and Personal Story
In addition to the story of an object or materials’ use, there is also the story of how it came to be used in your interior or exterior design project. Unfortunately, many of the materials and objects in our home tell a story of cruelty and harm to the environment and animals. Everything in a typical home that isn’t designed consciously, from carpets, to paints and finishes, undergoes an industrial process that uses dyes and glues that are formulated from animal-based ingredients, sprayed with toxic flame retardants that can cause cancer and produced in factories with poor working conditions and low wages. To ensure that the furniture and finishings in your home tell a more positive story, support local, sustainable suppliers and ask them about the components in their products. Another way to verify the ethical, cruelty-free provenance of materials and furniture in your home is to get to know certifications such as the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), Global Recycled Standard (GRS), the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) and the Leaping Bunny standard.
The other story your home tells is personal: what makes you and your style unique, how your decisions reflect your relationship with your natural and cultural environment. You don’t have to forsake your unique vision to have a sustainable, vegan and cruelty-free home. Our experienced vegan interior design team can help you align your vision with your values.
If you are embarking on a home design project but you want to make it more unique by restoring or upcycling furniture or materials, our Vegan and sustainable interior design team can help you do this in an informed way. We apply our 20 years of experience as vegan, sustainable design to sculpt workable plans and connect you with suppliers and other resources to support your vision. We have offices in San Diego, Northern California, and Bozeman, MT and we are available for remote consultations nationally and internationally. Contact us to learn more.