Creating a sustainable home

While decorating my kitchen recently, I started thinking about my interest in interior design. As a Scandinavian, I’m used to white walls, light woods and pale textiles, and I wanted to move away from that. I asked myself who I’m decorating for and steered myself to the thrift store.

Decorating a home doesn’t necessarily mean jumping on a trend to make it look like a typical Scandinavian home. Nor does it need to mean buying new things. As I was hanging up my hand-sewn striped linen curtains, I felt incredibly proud knowing I had made them myself, and as I put up my freshly thrifted frames with my self-made prints in them, I felt even prouder. I finished off my makeover by oiling the wooden countertops. Not that sexy, but I want them to last. My home is more than a roof and walls, or storage for my belongings – it’s my safe space where I spend the most time.

Making it a representation of who I am is an ongoing process. As always, I want to make informed decisions and choose sustainable options. The result is a cozy home with wonky walls, lots of light, books and creative projects. I feel at ease when I’m home. That hasn’t always been the case – perhaps that’s why I cherish the feeling so much. I have even made peace with the spiders on my ceiling (there are plenty of them!).

Creating a sustainable home is creating a space that makes you feel safe, at peace and happy – without using resources that will damage our planet. And if white walls are not a part of that, let them be yellow.

Instagram: @alejandracerda.co

Alejandra Cerda Ojensa is a Swedish sustainability blogger based in Copenhagen. She loves sustainable fashion, plant-based food, natural wines and music, and writes a column for Scan Magazine about sustainable lifestyle.