Ethical decoration for more ecological interiors
booming trend, ethical decoration refers to materials and products of natural origin or with reduced impact on the environment. The principle of ethical decoration has been popularized by designers such as Philippe Starck and Karim Rashid. Discover how it can address any type of interior and budget.
Ethical decoration and ecology
Intimately linked, these two notions come together under the same desire to respond to the climate emergency in various ways. In effect, ethical decoration symbolizes a way of life in line with the desire to preserve the environment. It is for this reason that ethical decoration combines aesthetics and production processes that respect the natural landscape that we are lucky enough to inhabit. Our art photos exist to precisely recall the beauty of Nature and fully adhere to the principles of ethical decoration.
A follower of the concept since the 90s, the designer Philippe Starck for whom his role as a designer constitutes the meaning of his existence: “Today, the creator's action must be to encourage a form of positive decay, even though it's in our DNA to be creative,” he says. His solution? Remove the superfluous and combine the useful with the useful by imagining multitasking objects made of natural materials. The key, according to the designer, is to be informed: the more we know, the better we can choose how we consume and what we choose to decorate our interiors.
Ethical decoration to repair a landscape submerged in plastic
This decade gives bad press to the plastic, an excellent petroleum product that rarely ages well. These useful objects one day are certainly not so forever, it is enough to take an interest in the waste that litters our beaches and our countryside to realize it. Ethical decoration seeks to reverse the trend of plastic once considered fantastic. Philippe Starck notably cites plastics made from natural materials (algae, fungi and bacteria), rather than oil.
other than plastic, you can also choose to source locally, in fabrics and materials made in Europe or by looking for closed circuit production. We think of natural fibers such as linen or organic cotton bed linen, which have been part of the decorating landscape for a long time. Let's be clear, cotton remains very water-intensive and does not constitute a solution in itself and linen from Europe remains not very affordable.
How to adopt the principles of ethical decoration?
There is no secret, it isbuy less, but better. Some designers support this principle of ethical decoration, the designer Sarah Lavoine even said in a recent interview: “I prefer to be less profitable, but more ethical”. All is said.
Are you rethinking your interior landscape? It is possible to give a facelift with methods that have a reduced impact on the environment : cover the walls with whitewash, use solvent-free paints or plant-based pigments or varnish your worktop and wooden shelves with linseed oil (it smells like the forest).
Buying second-hand or giving new life to an existing object is part of the principles of ethical decoration. Recycled, vintage, there are several ways to give a second or third life to an object that is unused or found on the street. The confinement has created followers of the DIY from rescued materials dumpsters. L’upcycling, which aims to give a different use to a second-hand object or material, is also part of this movement. You can also combine creativity, ethical decoration and savings by going to the carpentry section of the DIY store: some stores sell the offcuts of larger wooden planks at a reduced price, a way of stocking up on shelves while saving these leftovers from the trash.
They use ethical decorating methods
Ethical decoration does not brace itself against the new. She just wants us to think about a design with reduced impact on nature. On the side of the designers, it is an invitation to creativity to use less energy-intensive and polluting production methods. Today, eco-designed objects are legion and their creation often calls for artisanal know-how, companies with the French label Living heritage company (EPV) have embraced this approach. Here are some examples of designers who have interpreted ethical decoration in their own way:
The project Full Grown designed by design duo Alice and Gavin Munro grows furniture out of the ground. The furniture is harvested from weeping willows in a logic of sustainable production. Their creations are a true ode to patience, a central virtue in ethical decoration.
Even the stone can be recut, this is what proves to us Dominique Trapp which revalorizes marble scraps to shape sublime household objects.
On the side of textiles durables, we quote the brand Atelier Almadie which designs deckchairs in France from recycled and recyclable synthetic fibres. For fans of marine atmospheres, Sailbags 727 creates ethical decorative objects from old boat sails.
At last, fans of vintage decoration who do not have time to scour the flea markets can go to the Label Emmaüs, which offers second-hand items while offering solidarity jobs.
In line with these concerns, the art photos offered by X-plorar are produced in an ethical manner in a quality photo laboratory with reduced environmental impact.
These examples are just a few variations of the same principle of ethical decorating, one of the principles of which involves catering to all budgets. If you only have to remember one thing, it's that, through our choices, each of us contributes to the impact of our lifestyles on the environment, even in the decoration of its interior!