exploring green interiors - future home design, per one interior designer

by Beth Haley

I was listening to a speaker a couple of weeks ago, Kim Rodrigue, as she spoke on change and our reaction to change. I found several notes inspiring. She reminded us that in the second half of the 20th century, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov wrote, “It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is, the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.”

Kim went on to say she believes, “Transformation is when change comes, and affects us deeply, and somehow we cooperate with God’s desire for something good to come from it.” Now whether you are a spiritual person or not, I believe we as humans have an innate desire to create good from all aspects of life, whatever turns our lives make. I like to believe we are resilient, sensitive, and aware to the world around us.

As I took her message in, I was reminded of our current environmental and economic (e&e) situation. As a business owner and interior designer, I wonder what kind of changes we are going to make as a result of our current e&e position? As someone who is typically optimistic I am excited and curious what I, we, the USA, and the global community is going to learn and morph into from this experience. What transformations/changes are we going to make? The interior designer in me wonders specifically what changes are we going to make in the home design industry?

I love research and soaking up what information is around me. If I take into consideration what I am reading, hearing, and seeing, I predict our future home designs will embrace green design/sustainable design, engineering, and the capture of local resources and assets with regard to their environmental impact. Focusing on reorganizing existing resources of housing and construction materials (repurpose, recycle, reuse), creating resource-efficient systems that support local and regional ecology (sun, wind, water), and choosing products and finishes that produce healthy interior and exterior environments will all dictate future home design.

With that said, square footage, quality of products, craftsmanship, longevity, and creativity will move to the forefront. We will become experts in problem solving and designing creative spaces with emphasis on space efficiency, efficient natural resource use, and utilizing better technology to create net-zero houses producing not only energy and water, but food and wellness.

Efficient use of space requires not only review maximum square footage, but also must include longevity and planning for future use, the creation of long-term dwellings (to accommodate aging-in-place, changes in family dynamics, and additional family members). Use of natural and regional resources must be responsive to local issues and opportunities including manufacturing, sourcing (chain of custody) and lifecycle of materials.

If all this sounds complicated, it actually is not. It is getting back to basics, using what we already have available and what is available to us regionally, maximizing what we have, using our minds to create and be creative, thinking holistically, integrating with our environment socially, economically, and environmentally.

It is not doing things the way we have always done them. It is creating a new norm, an improved standard. The more we strive to learn, to educate ourselves, and to be innovative, the more balanced our lives will become economically and environmentally. Our lives will become more socially and relationally centered to each other and our eco-systems.

Now, don’t you feel more optimistic about our future? And motivated?   Okay, let’s start problem solving, planning, and designing!