My Happy Place

Healthy, sustainable and humane interior design for life and work

Rachel Fowler

• Publisher: Practical Inspiration Publishing
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781788602976
• Topic: Architektur
• Subtopic: Nachhaltigkeit in der Architektur

This is the go-to-guide for anyone wanting to create healthy, humane and sustainable working and living spaces. Whether you're a design professional or just someone who cares about their living space, discover how to create designs that promote mental and physical wellbeing whilst being good for the planet.

From wall coverings to floor coverings, furniture to fabric, and with a special note on nurseries, Rachel Fowler uses her background in healthcare alongside her design expertise to reveal how the way we furnish our living spaces impacts on our health and happiness.

Richly illustrated, with top tips for selecting products, questions to ask when buying materials, information on suppliers and a glossary of sustainable and vegan certifications, this is a unique resource for creating a kinder, more beautiful way of living.

Rachel Fowler used to be a paediatric intensive care nurse before swapping scrubs for a sketch-pad and committing herself to a full-time 3-year degree in interior design. Having graduated with Honours, she now runs her own design business focused on healthy, humane design, including her own line of sustainable wallpaper.

Part One
Wall coverings

With lots of stylish choices, from wallpaper to ornate wood panelling, there is an abundance of wall coverings available when designing our homes or places of work. Wall coverings can add an injection of colour: from bright and bold hues to softer, neutral and earthy tones. However, it is important to remember that too many colours can overstimulate the senses, having a negative effect on our stress levels and wellbeing. Don’t forget, too, that not everyone views a colour the same. For instance, interiors with white walls may be viewed by some people positively, as a Scandi design style. However, those same white walls may be viewed by others as too clinical, resembling something like the interior of a doctor’s surgery.

Apart from colour, wall coverings can add texture and form to a design, taking away the plainness of bare walls and adding character and style. Think: does the wall covering you are choosing work with the design style and other materials selected to create it? Don’t forget to take into consideration the positioning of the space: is it north or south facing? Does it have windows? The amount and type of light entering a space can affect how the colour of the wall coverings may look. Importantly, when selecting wall coverings for a design project, are the choices you are making sustainable and promoting the health and wellbeing of all those who will use the space?

When starting a design project, consider what the spaces you are designing are going to be used for. This is important so that you can create the correct ambience for each space: be creative and have some fun when selecting your wall coverings, but make sure it flows with all the other spaces. Are you a person who likes to read? One option could be to make use of these spare books by sticking them onto a wall with a plant-based wall adhesive, creating a feature wall. This looks great in places such as the toilet (gives your guests something to look at when they are in there), lounge, restaurants, hotels and libraries. Have a look at what’s in your cupboards – you may find something which could look great as a wall covering.

Part One includes specific chapters on different types of wall coverings: paint, wallpaper, wood, natural stone, tiles, clay plaster, cork and Mogu Acoustic. Each short chapter will offer a brief description of what the product is, what makes it sustainable and animal friendly, and what it can add to your design scheme. There are also some top tips to consider when purchasing certain products and, wherever possible, some names of relevant suppliers.

Paint

Eco- and animal-friendly paints are important to help protect the environment and promote a healthy internal air quality, which ultimately promotes the health and wellbeing of both you and your family, work colleagues or clients. Conventional paints contain substances such as formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are chemicals which, over time, release toxins into the environment; their use in paints is regulated but the regulations vary depending on where you live in the world. As well as containing VOCs, most traditional-style paints leave a thin membrane of plastic, which can trap damp, resulting in mould.

So, what makes a paint humane and eco-friendly? Supplier Edward Bulmer Paints suggests that a sustainable and humane paint is one ‘which has no detrimental effect on the environment or society’ (Edward Bulmer Paints, 2020). With that definition in mind, here are some top tips to consider when choosing your sustainable and animal-friendly paint.

Top tips: Paint

Does the paint contain a low level of VOCs? Low VOC levels will help to promote a healthy internal air environment. All ingredients should be listed on the side of the tin, but if they’re not, this information will be available from the manufacturer. Be aware of companies advertising their paint as VOC free; as the Earthborn Paints (2020) website advises, no paint is completely VOC free. However, paints can be low VOC, and this is generally preferable.

Does it contain any animal products? Some paints contain casein (a milk protein), shellac (a resin from the female lac bug), or beeswax to act as a binder.

Is the paint tested on animals? This information is available from the manufacturer.

Think about the paint’s carbon footprint. Consider the lifecycle of the paint, from creation to disposal. What has been the impact of the extraction and transportation of the raw ...