Furnish your home with your health in mind

Our homes are more than where we live, they’re where we play, where we work, where we teach (especially at the moment!), where we cook, and where we rest. So it’s only natural that we are starting to pay attention to what we’re surrounded by day in day out.

It’s commonly assumed that furnishing your home with sustainable, low-toxic products will come with a hefty price tag to match, but often that’s not always the case. In this blog, we’re going to share with you some of our favourite healthy home products that you can integrate into your building project whether you’re planning an eco-style home or a standard build.

Did you know that conventional chemical based household paints often contain over 1,000 ingredients and most are not identified on the label? We certainly didn’t, until recently when we found a New Zealand founded company who’s on a mission to change the type of paint that NZ uses and is exposed to every day. The Natural Paint Co is based out of Christchurch in NZ and produces a wide range of exterior paint, interior paint and waxes, oils and varnishes all created from natural and renewable resources. Instead of using chemicals, the team uses china clay, talc, plant oils, tree resins and waxes as the raw materials to form their paints and oils. Furthermore, their paints come with a 25-year paint performance guarantee and are made right here in NZ.

We’ve all heard of the term ‘VOCs’ but do you actually know what it refers to? Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are a major source of indoor air pollution from materials and furnishings. VOCs are chemicals that become airborne and therefore breathable at room temperature and can have a range of effects on our health. When it comes to floor coverings, VOCs are commonly found in the padding made from carpets, carpet backings and underlays, vinyl flooring, timber flooring on concrete. So what can you do to minimise you and your family’s exposure to VOCs? Look for carpet made from natural materials such as wool, cotton or jute with backings and underlays made of felt, natural latex or jute rather than foamed polyurethane. When it comes to other flooring options, consider ceramic tiles, reclaimed wood, bamboo flooring, polished concrete or linoleum which all have low VOC emissions.

When it comes to furniture for your home, most people don’t consider the background of the piece they’re installing. Many low-cost items are manufactured using MDF (medium density fibreboard) which is made by binding wood fibres together with urea-formaldehyde resin which can emit VOCs. Unfortunately, these compounds can continue to seep out of the items for many months or even years after installation. When choosing furniture pieces for your home, seek out quality furniture pieces made from solid timber that has been sourced sustainably. Alternatively, buying secondhand furniture is another great option as these older pieces will have already released any potential harmful compounds. If you’re looking for somewhere to start your search, we got lost browsing through the stunning pieces available at Tréology who rescue trees from rivers and fiords in NZ and craft them into bespoke pieces.