Love Design, Love the Earth

It was so energizing to be part of the rally that took place at the Capitol last week as part of the Climate Strike. It also gives me pause to again reflect on this question: Is it possible to be an interior designer while also challenging an ethos of consumption?

I believe so! Along with my interior design degree I earned a certificate in sustainable business. I wanted to employ a business strategy that was in alignment with my desire to support a beautiful and sustainable future. It was a very conscious decision to center my business around helping clients make outstanding design choices, not selling them products. That’s just one small effort to try to stem the tide of mass consumption that is destroying our environment.

To be sure, I don’t want my clients to feel bad about making purchases in their pursuit of a more whole and happy life. We all do it! However, I do want to encourage all of us to be thoughtful when making those decisions.

What are some things I can help you to consider when making purchases? There are a few ideas that come to mind right away. For example, I will help you determine whether a purchase will actually advance your design objectives. I’m not looking to make a sale in order to keep my business, so you will get a fully impartial and truthful answer to this question. How refreshing!

Next, and very importantly I will help you avoid the temptation of buying cheap crap, or expensive crap for that matter (and there is both). These are items that will neither outlive their usefulness to you nor can they be recycled or passed on for someone else to reuse. Furthermore, even a quality item that costs considerably less than you would expect probably should be looked at more closely for the environmental impacts of the manufacturing process. This is just one area of suspicion when a deal seems too good to be true. I can help you research and identify products and vendors that are more holistically successful in addressing their environmental impacts.

Finally, I am happy to help you find options among all manner of sources for gently-used items, including those thrifty and garage sale finds. That’s fun stuff – and since I ran out of room for anything else I’m more than happy to help you out!