6 Ways to Reflect Your Healthy Lifestyle in Your Home

Clear the air and let your home reflect your values and personality with healthy furnishings in every room. After all, living a healthy lifestyle starts with you and it only makes sense to support a healthy diet and exercise routine with other lifestyle choices that minimize exposure to potentially harmful chemicals. As a result, your home will be safer for you and your family without requiring any major sacrifices. From switching your textiles and cooking essentials to looking for natural alternatives that minimize the use of chemicals, Pottery Barn Kids has six simple tips to get you started.

6 Ways to Reflect Your Healthy Lifestyle in Your Home

1

Switch to organic

From the fruits and vegetables that nourish you to the sheets you lay on every night, making the switch to organic goods reflects your healthy lifestyle by exposing you and your family to fewer potentially hazardous chemicals. Look for organic nursery bedding, sheets, towels, blankets and organic furniture coverings to give your home a healthy infusion of soft, cozy, chemical-free comfort.

2

Check your cleaning products

In addition to furniture and food, cleaning products are one of the biggest potential dangers in your home. Take a good look at the commercial cleaners that you’re using. Do any have labels with a danger warning? That’s a clear-cut sign that the cleaner has potentially harmful ingredients. Look for plant-based cleaners as a healthier alternative, or make your own natural, simple cleaners. For example, clean your windows with a homemade mixture of vinegar, liquid soap and water for a healthier alternative.

3

Clean out your personal products

Our skin is our largest organ, but many of us don’t pay much attention to what we use on it. Like cleaning products, personal products such as makeup, lotions, cleansers and shampoos are often laden with chemicals. As part of building a healthy home, clean out the cabinets and replace your cleansers, lotions and potions with natural, chemical-free alternatives. Stock the baby’s changing table and the kids’ bathroom with baby and kid versions of the same types of natttural products.

4

Switch things up in the kitchen

When it comes to building a healthy home, there’s more to the kitchen than just food. For example, replacing non-stick cookware with stainless steel or cast-iron cookware avoids the potentially toxic fumes that arise after overheating the nonstick material. Use BPA-free plastic bottles or glass bottles for feeding your baby and switch to glass food containers. Filter your tap water and switch to reusable water bottles to kick your bottled water habit.

5

Flush those fragrances

Many people have sensitivities to fragrances. Even if the scent doesn’t irritate your system, you could be polluting your indoor air. For example, if you use air fresheners in the bathroom, you might also unknowingly contaminate the air with potentially harmful, irritating chemicals because most commercial air fresheners contain such ingredients. Likewise, if your shower curtain or curtain liner is made from vinyl, replace it with one made from a different material, and let it air outside for two to three days before you hang it in the shower. Additionally, the American Medical Association recommends shying away from anti-bacterial hand soaps.

6

Know what to look for

Our environmental commitment leads us every day and drives our choices when we source materials and partner with other organizations. Look for furniture and home goods made from reclaimed, recycled or eco-friendly materials. Additionally, some of the safest items for your home have labels to help guide you. Some examples include:

  • Organic Cotton Standard: Certifies that the item contains 100 percent organic cotton
  • Forest Stewardship Council: A nonprofit that promotes sustainable forest management
  • Better Cotton Initiative: A nonprofit that oversees the growth of cotton according to six environmental principles
  • Global Organic Textiles Standard: Sets organic fiber requirements
  • Bluesign: A system that works to reduce the eco-footprint of textile manufacturing
  • Oeko-Tex® Certified: A textile certification that tests product along all stages of production