What is wellness interior design?
The goal of wellness interior design is to reduce toxins in the home to create a healthier indoor environment. Wellness interior design is often confused with sustainable design. While there can be overlap, the primary goal of sustainable design is to reduce environmental impact. Melissa Trivette Interiors prioritizes incorporating wellness design when designing homes because chemicals in furnishings and accessories can have a direct impact on health. Read on to learn the fundamental wellness design principals I apply to design a healthier home.
Choose natural products
I always start by selecting furnishings made from natural, non-synthetic materials. Natural materials will always have less chemical additives than synthetic products. When selecting textiles, choose a sofa upholstered in linen or a linen/cotton blend and rugs made from 100% wool. Avoiding synthetic textiles like polyester and polypropylene can reduce exposure to micro plastics and toxins like phthalates, formaldehyde, and BPA in the home.
For wood furniture, look for solid wood or high quality wood veneers over solid wood. Glues in manufactured wood contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like formaldehyde that can deteriorate the air quality in your home.
Avoid protective coatings
Even if you choose furnishings and accessories made from natural materials, you can still introduce toxins in your home if those products have been treated with protective coatings. Often marketed as easy care for families with young children, furniture treated with flame retardants and stain repellants contain PFAS or “forever chemicals” that have been linked to cancer and endocrine issues.
If you’re looking for a non-toxic stain repellant that works, the only one I recommend is protectMe. protectME is made from food grade silicon dioxide, is completely non-toxic, and works great.
Look for green product certifications
Many manufacturers now offer furnishings with green product certifications. These certifications range from certifying a percentage of a product is made from organic materials to ensuring their products fall below a certain VOC threshold. Here are some green product certifications to look for to help reduce the toxic load in your home:
- GOTS certification ensures the organic status of textiles from raw materials and manufacturing through the finished product. GOTS certification is the gold standard when it comes to green product certifications for textiles.
- OEKO-TEX standards screen both textiles and leather for harmful chemicals. They allow a threshold for the chemicals it screens for as long as they don’t reach levels deemed harmful. Unlike GOTS certification, a petroleum-based textile like polyester can be OEKO-TEX certified as long as it meets the chemical threshold criteria.
- GREENGUARD certification was created to reduce indoor air pollution cause by VOCs commonly found in furniture and building materials. It ensures lower VOCs and better indoor air quality for paints, wall finishes, fabrics, wallpaper, furniture, and flooring.
You can learn more about these certifications in our Green Product Certifications blog post.
How to incorporate wellness design into your home
When I incorporate wellness design into my clients’ homes, I start with natural materials, avoid protective coatings, and look for green product certifications. If you’re not ready to invest in replacing furniture, you can easily start creating a healthier home by:
- Adding plants and air purifiers to improve indoor air quality.
- Replacing accessories like pillows, throws, and rugs with ones made from natural materials.
- Tossing toxic cleaning products and using healthier options like Branch Basics.
Melissa Trivette Interiors offers residential interior design in Southlake, TX and throughout the Westlake and Dallas-Fort Worth area. We specialize in designing natural, functional interiors that support wellness and restore peace.
Interested in working together? Contact us to learn how we can support your design vision.
