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Pro Spotlight: 3 Ways To Incorporate Responsible Interior Design
Tread more lightly on the environment with sustainable design decisions and mindful interior choices
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Who: Lisa Lewis of Lisa Lewis Interior Design
Where: Dorset
In her words: “We all have a responsibility to make our homes more energy efficient and environmentally friendly, but this doesn’t have to come at a cost. There are many simple ways of incorporating sustainable ideas within your new room schemes.”
When it comes to renovating your home, every design decision you make has a knock-on impact on the environment, such as the manufacturing process of the materials we choose, where we decide to buy our products from, and what we choose to keep or send to landfill. Therefore, incorporating sustainability into our design decisions is fundamental in reducing our carbon footprint and protecting the planet’s valuable resources.
Interior designer Lisa Lewis believes that as well as integrating substantial environmental solutions into renovation projects, such as opting for alternative heat sources, maximising solar gain and insulating windows, it’s also possible to make smaller, eco-friendly choices throughout our interiors to increase the wellbeing of our homes and environmental impact. “By readjusting our thinking when it comes to interior design, we can create more responsible homes that encourage a happy lifestyle that’s better for everyone,” she says.
Where: Dorset
In her words: “We all have a responsibility to make our homes more energy efficient and environmentally friendly, but this doesn’t have to come at a cost. There are many simple ways of incorporating sustainable ideas within your new room schemes.”
When it comes to renovating your home, every design decision you make has a knock-on impact on the environment, such as the manufacturing process of the materials we choose, where we decide to buy our products from, and what we choose to keep or send to landfill. Therefore, incorporating sustainability into our design decisions is fundamental in reducing our carbon footprint and protecting the planet’s valuable resources.
Interior designer Lisa Lewis believes that as well as integrating substantial environmental solutions into renovation projects, such as opting for alternative heat sources, maximising solar gain and insulating windows, it’s also possible to make smaller, eco-friendly choices throughout our interiors to increase the wellbeing of our homes and environmental impact. “By readjusting our thinking when it comes to interior design, we can create more responsible homes that encourage a happy lifestyle that’s better for everyone,” she says.
Mindful design. Lisa’s interest in the environment began at university where she read geography, and her passion for the planet hasn’t wavered since. Before starting her own design studio in 2004, Lisa gained a wealth of experience working for commercial practices that focused on sustainable design. She was keen to expand this knowledge and use it within the residential interior design market, working with homeowners on a more personal level to improve their own environment and impact on it.
Not only does Lisa enjoy finding energy-saving design solutions, she’s also passionate about delivering interiors with meaning and individuality, so that clients will love them for longer and feel happier in their homes. “By incorporating items that are special to the client, such as furniture, art or sentimental things, into design schemes, the spaces become an extension of their personality and transcend specific trends, making them timeless, longer lasting and less likely to end up in landfill,” she says.
Not only does Lisa enjoy finding energy-saving design solutions, she’s also passionate about delivering interiors with meaning and individuality, so that clients will love them for longer and feel happier in their homes. “By incorporating items that are special to the client, such as furniture, art or sentimental things, into design schemes, the spaces become an extension of their personality and transcend specific trends, making them timeless, longer lasting and less likely to end up in landfill,” she says.
Making thoughtful changes. As a society, we’re becoming more aware of our mental health and wellbeing, and the importance of creating homes that bring us joy, so that we can live better, eat more healthily and sleep more soundly. Lisa’s mission to incorporate more responsible interior design is also about creating spaces that encourage this sense of wellbeing, by ensuring features like cleaner, fresher air, naturally filtering houseplants, lots more natural light and heart-warming schemes.
Having always struggled with the impact interior design has on the environment, Lisa now strives to find ways in which her clients can save time, money, and minimise waste, by injecting their homes with delightful interior schemes that will last a lifetime.
So, before you rip out that perfectly good kitchen or bathroom just because it isn’t your style, ask yourself if you can update it responsibly.
Read on for Lisa’s top tips and discover how you can make other responsible changes and decisions.
Having always struggled with the impact interior design has on the environment, Lisa now strives to find ways in which her clients can save time, money, and minimise waste, by injecting their homes with delightful interior schemes that will last a lifetime.
So, before you rip out that perfectly good kitchen or bathroom just because it isn’t your style, ask yourself if you can update it responsibly.
Read on for Lisa’s top tips and discover how you can make other responsible changes and decisions.
1. Encourage Plenty of Natural Light
With the rise of technology, we’re spending more time indoors, unwinding in front of a device or screen. Therefore, the need to increase our homes’ connection with nature and the outside world is crucial to our wellbeing and mental health. Having studied biophilic design – a concept focused on strengthening the human connection and the natural world via our living and work spaces – Lisa incorporates its principles into her schemes with simple measures, such as maximising natural light and using organic textures to feel connected to nature.
A good example of biophilic design at work is in this kitchen space in Richmond, London. Lisa reconfigured the layout to include a seamless flow onto the garden, added a huge roof light to ensure less need for energy-sucking, artificial light in the central space, and sourced plenty of natural materials, such as the brick walls and wood flooring, to encourage a further connection with the exterior.
See more of this project
With the rise of technology, we’re spending more time indoors, unwinding in front of a device or screen. Therefore, the need to increase our homes’ connection with nature and the outside world is crucial to our wellbeing and mental health. Having studied biophilic design – a concept focused on strengthening the human connection and the natural world via our living and work spaces – Lisa incorporates its principles into her schemes with simple measures, such as maximising natural light and using organic textures to feel connected to nature.
A good example of biophilic design at work is in this kitchen space in Richmond, London. Lisa reconfigured the layout to include a seamless flow onto the garden, added a huge roof light to ensure less need for energy-sucking, artificial light in the central space, and sourced plenty of natural materials, such as the brick walls and wood flooring, to encourage a further connection with the exterior.
See more of this project
2. Opt for Sustainably Sourced Fabrics and Materials
A small and simple way of making responsible interior choices is by picking sustainably sourced and accredited natural materials for your home. For example, if you’re sourcing stone tiles, timber flooring, or wooden furniture, consider where it comes from, how it’s manufactured and that the company demonstrates a good environmental policy.
Similarly, if you’re sourcing fabrics for soft furnishings, try opting for fair-trade or organic cottons that are grown without the use of chemicals or GMOs, and are biodegradable. Lisa did just that when recovering the dining chairs in this Isleworth terrace home. She also used local craftspeople to ensure less carbon footprint.
See more of this project
A small and simple way of making responsible interior choices is by picking sustainably sourced and accredited natural materials for your home. For example, if you’re sourcing stone tiles, timber flooring, or wooden furniture, consider where it comes from, how it’s manufactured and that the company demonstrates a good environmental policy.
Similarly, if you’re sourcing fabrics for soft furnishings, try opting for fair-trade or organic cottons that are grown without the use of chemicals or GMOs, and are biodegradable. Lisa did just that when recovering the dining chairs in this Isleworth terrace home. She also used local craftspeople to ensure less carbon footprint.
See more of this project
3. Make the Most of Existing Pieces
Renovating an existing piece of furniture and bringing it back to life by either reupholstering it, giving it a lick of paint or adding a brand new surface, not only gives your home buckets of unique character, it reduces the energy consumption and pollution caused during the manufacturing process of brand-new products.
Lisa is an advocate of moving away from a throwaway culture, and loves nothing more than reupholstering a new sofa or armchair, or reframing existing artwork. In this Dorset home, for example, Lisa reinstated the beauty of the existing dining table, which was an heirloom, by having it re-stained and polished.
See more of this project
More: For more examples of Lisa Lewis’s work, see her Houzz profile here.
Renovating an existing piece of furniture and bringing it back to life by either reupholstering it, giving it a lick of paint or adding a brand new surface, not only gives your home buckets of unique character, it reduces the energy consumption and pollution caused during the manufacturing process of brand-new products.
Lisa is an advocate of moving away from a throwaway culture, and loves nothing more than reupholstering a new sofa or armchair, or reframing existing artwork. In this Dorset home, for example, Lisa reinstated the beauty of the existing dining table, which was an heirloom, by having it re-stained and polished.
See more of this project
More: For more examples of Lisa Lewis’s work, see her Houzz profile here.
- This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.
Lisa Lewis is an Interior Design consultant with nearly 20 years experience, creating unique, vibrant homes. Her... Read More
Review by Miranda Gowlland:
Lisa is wonderful to work with. It was my first experience working with a designer and she was brilliant at encouraging me to think more broadly about what would work for my house and not just default...More