Choosing interior decoration in your home can have a positive impact on the value of your property. If you’re looking to sell your home, it’s always advisable to invest in sprucing it up a bit to increase the value. Interior decoration choices should be made from a buyers point of view if you’re selling up. Consider the kind of market you are in and make choices which reflect it. Are you in an affluent area, a trendy area or a less up-market area? The interior decoration choices should reflect the answer to this question to increase the value of your home and the speed with which it may sell.
As well as being able to improve the value of your home, interior decoration has another excellent benefit. The choices you make can improve your energy efficiency! By improving your energy efficiency, you can save yourself money on your bills and reduce your carbon footprint. But, how exactly can the way you decorate your home reduce your bills? Read on to find out more.
The Interior Decoration Products That Can Save You Money and Reduce Your Carbon Footprint – By choosing certain interior decoration products for your property, you can make an impact on how heat is retained within your home. By targeting certain areas of the home, you can improve how heat is contained and circulated. As well as reducing the heat that escapes, you can also use interior design to reduce your reliance on electric light and temperature control. By reducing your reliance on electricity and fossil fuel energy, you will save money on your bills and do your bit for the environment.
Heavy Curtains Around The Home – Choosing certain types of curtains and other window dressings for your property can help slow the escape of heat from your house. Windows are crucial when considering how to save energy. Firstly, having double-glazing makes a huge impact on the amount of heat that leaves the home. Secondly, having large windows which allow light through effectively can reduce your reliance on electric lights. Large windows also allow more air into your home to circulate.
However, pairing a large window with dense curtains will improve energy efficiency even more. Utilising heavy curtains adds another layer against the escape of heat. Choosing heavy curtains which are flexible enough to let in plenty of sunlight in when you want it, but heavy enough to block it out when you don’t, will save you money. In the winter months, having dense curtains closed will retain more heat and ensure you feel comfortable.
Consider Carpets Or Rugs To Trap Heat – Choosing the right flooring for your home is vital. If you have a hardwood floor, it’s worth considering large rugs which will help you to keep heat in through the floor. Choosing suitable carpets for your home will keep even more heat in, but carpets don’t always meet everyone’s tastes.
Both carpets and rugs are excellent ways to trap heat which would otherwise escape through the floor. If you have a hardwood floor, you might want to put the rug away during the summer to cool the house down. However, when winter arrives, ensure you get the rug out to keep your property warm and save a bit of money on your heating bills.
Improve Air Circulation With a Ceiling Fan – Ceiling fans are an excellent way to circulate air around your home. Most people think that these are only suitable during the summer. However, they can be used in both the warmer and colder months. By setting the spin to counter-clockwise, ceiling fans create a downward draft to cool the home in the summer. Switching to a clockwise spin will circulate the warmer air from the ceiling into the rest of the room.
Ceiling fans are cheaper than you might think, relatively easy to install and are energy efficient, too. By having one of these in your living room or bedroom, you will reduce the amount of money you spend powering an air conditioning unit or your heating bills in the winter.
Consider Installing Energy-Efficient Appliances and Fixtures – As well as choosing the best types of furniture to improve energy efficiency, you can also make smart choices about your appliances and fixtures. For example, switching from incandescent bulbs to fluorescent or LED lights can save you a huge amount in the long run. LEDs last around 50 times longer than incandescent bulbs. They also shine far brighter and are easier to control with a dimmer switch. Investing in appliances and fixtures which use less energy may cost a little more at first, but you’ll reap the financial rewards in the months and years to come.
Invest in Insulation – Insulating your home properly is one of the very best ways to improve your energy efficiency. By installing adequate insulation in your roof, walls and floor, you can ensure that as little heat leaves your home as possible. By choosing your insulation carefully, you can sometimes save hundreds of pounds on your annual heating bill.
Indoor and Outdoor Plants – This may come as a surprise, but the type and number of plants you have inside and outside your home can improve your energy efficiency. Planting a tree strategically outside your home can provide shade over your house which will naturally cool down your property.
Similarly, having several house plants inside can have a beneficial impact. Plants release moisture into the air which can reduce the temperature on a hot day and warm it up on a cooler day. Filling your home with plants won’t just make it a more pleasant place to be, it can also save you money!
Use Natural Light To Your Advantage – Much of what our energy consumption goes towards is lighting our homes with electric lights. However, we all have the opportunity to exploit natural light to our advantage. As mentioned previously, large windows will allow more light into the property. Letting as much natural light in as possible will ensure you turn on your lights less often and, therefore, use less energy.If your home is positioned awkwardly and you don’t catch much of the sun’s light, you can install sun tunnels. These products direct light from the roof of your home into a room. If there is a corridor or central room which doesn’t get any natural light from windows, you can filter the light through these tunnels and down into the area.
As well as getting plenty of sunlight into your home through windows and sun tunnels, you can also ease its movement through the home through strategic interior design choices. For example, choosing light colours to paint your walls and ceiling will help light bounce around the home and make it seem lighter than it is. Similarly, consider placing plenty of mirrors and other reflective objects to make the most of natural light.
Looking For Professional Interior Decoration Advice, Products and Installations In Derby And The Surrounding Areas? Contact Lewis Interiors – Here at Lewis Interiors, we provide excellent interior decoration products for our clients in Derby. We have a huge range of interior decoration options from carpets and curtains to blinds and commercial flooring.
We have more than five decades of experience in the industry and always endeavour to provide our clients with the best customer service possible. If you are looking to improve your energy efficiency via simple interior design choices, we can help. We’ll be happy to provide you with all of the advice you need to make the right choices for your home.
To find out more about our services, please feel free to contact us today. You can find us at Lewis Interiors, 11-15 Chapelside, Chapel Street, Spondon, DE21 7JQ. Alternatively, call us on 01332 662 450 or email us at sales@lewis-interiors.co.uk.