Sustainability & Fast Fashions in the Modern Home
In previous decades, great deals on furniture could be found in stores that sold the whole room or the whole house…I think we all have been to that eponomious Sweedish store...But that’s no longer the only game in town.
Broden Sofa (Image from Ikea USA)
Several fast fashion retailers have expanded their popularity into the home furnishing market. Some great examples of this is Zara Home and Urban Outfitters, which offer lots of chic designer décor dupes for every room in the home. They also have a limited selection of furniture including occasional tables, bookcases and chairs. However, another European fast fashion retailer H&M has a different approach. They don’t offer any furniture, but have a larger selection of décor, bedding and accessories. There are several lines within the home collection including Conscious, which features items like pillows made of sustainable organic cotton. In fact, the brand's larger goal is to use entirely 100% recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030.
H&M Outdoor (Image H&M USA)
Wayfair has always offered a lineup of products in every price range from sofas for less than $200 to over $27,000 from its upscale brand Perigold. Additionally, they launched Hashtag Home, which is specifically marketed as fast fashion. The line has furniture and accessories for every room in trendy, social media friendly colors. It’s a smart, bold, and honest move for the brand. Consumers are smart enough to know that the inexpensive pieces they’re likely to assemble themselves with tiny screwdrivers might not even make it to their next apartment, never mind their grandchildren. So why pretend otherwise? The dumpster is not far behind. Sustainable it is NOT.
Wayfair Hashtag Home (image Hashtag Home)
Designers choose trade resources quite often because they make higher quality furniture that not only had greater likelihood of being kept and maintained by their clients but also is made in a more sustainable fashion in general. At Ashleigh Underwood Home & Interior Design, we particularly like to partner with companies like Designer Inc that has been making sustainable shopping more accessible, easier and faster (all great qualities for our clients too!) by adding extra sorting filters to their website allowing us to shop thousands of showrooms and lines for exactly what we are looking for in style and environmental lux!
Ibiza Chandelier (Image Designer Inc)
Finally, when selecting new furniture, lighting, art and accessories— choosing companies that are committed to sustainability on all levels is important. Manufacturing close to where you lives saves on transportation emissions, low water usage materials to make fabrics that last a long time saves on resources and you won't have to replace the fabric so often, finishes that have a low or no VOC rating saves on air pollution, and materials made from natural sources rather than petroleum products save on manufacturing emissions as well as environmental damage once the item is no longer usable.