I have always loved do it yourself projects for my home. I honestly could not get enough sometimes. Garage sales and thrift stores were a frequent stop for items I could spray paint or change in some way. My weekends were spent refinishing furniture pieces and finding little ways to DIY some sort of decor for the house.
I had tubs and rubbermaids filled with paint cans and varnishes that I used on each of my projects. But it all came to a screeching halt when I began reading about the toxins and chemicals in these cans of paint I used.
I halted all projects dead in their tracks and safely disposed of my paints and stains. I was sad to give up something that I loved so much, but I knew it wasn’t the healthiest or safest habit for me, my family or our home.
Over time, thought, I started to find projects that I could do that were safe and healthy for my family. On top of all that, I was able to find home projects to do that were beneficial to a toxin-free lifestyle. If you ever use Pinterest to find DIY projects for your home that are eco friendly and healthy, you’ll find SO many wonderful ideas.
Today, I’m sharing some of my favorites from other moms and bloggers.
1. Make Your Entryway Beautiful & Functional
A really important part of my home for me is functionality. I can’t stand when there’s a part of my house that isn’t able to be utilized. I love finding ways to make things beautiful and functional at the same time; and the entryway is no exception.
Our entryway gets a lot of use and a lot traffic, so it has to be a place that can house a lot of items without getting cluttered. We also use our entry way as a catch-all for many items we don’t necessarily want tracked through the house. Things like shoes, coats, backpacks and purses all find their home in our buffer zone. The reasoning is that these items all carry in germs, bacteria, toxins and chemicals from being in public places.
Here are some really practical ways you can spruce up your entryway and keep the functionality.
2. DIY Beeswax Wraps
Shared from Foxxy by Nature
Gia from Foxxy by Nature outlines exactly how to make these wraps and how to care for them so they last. Have scraps of cotton fabric lying around? What a great way to use them up!
3. Indoor Garden Box
Shared by Lovely Etc.
I love growing herbs indoors all year long, but having pots all over the place just isn’t my style. I love having a garden box up by my kitchen window (the sunniest little spot!). I love Carrie’s idea of creating a cute farmhouse inspired garden box for herbs and indoor plants. Plus her step by step tutorial is so helpful!
4. DIY Toilet Cleaner Tabs
Shared by Get Green Be Well
Kimberly at Get Green Be Well is all about the health of your home and she shares this SUPER easy recipe to make fizzies you put in your toilet to clean them. This DIY project is a great way to reduce chemicals and plastic use at the same time. (I made a similar version of these and showed you in my IG stories — I just didn’t have hydrogen peroxide.)
5. DIY Fabric Napkins
Shared by A Wonderful Thought
I’m not seasoned as a seamstress, but I know a thing or two about simple sewing. If you’re like me, these cloth napkins are an amazing replacement for paper napkins in your home. I love this idea from Kimberly at A Wonderful Thought. Plus, her tutorial is really detailed and helpful.
6. No-Waste Pantry Makeover
Shared by Bless’er House
Lauren shares her pantry makeover with glass and baskets to make shopping in bulk easier. If you have glass containers for your bulk purchases, it’s much simpler when you get home to fill it up. That way you can reduce the waste of bags and plastic. She even has printable labels you can download!
7. Trash to Treasure: Boxes into Baskets
Shared by Elizabeth Jones & Designs
I love storage solutions, but to be honest I hate how much storage baskets cost and how much time you can spend hunting for the perfect size. Erin came up with the perfect solution: Make your own from recycled boxes. A-MAZING!
What kind of green DIY projects have you done, or do you want to do? I’d love to know!
I love all these wonderful eco-friendly DIY projects! Thank you so much for providing such great inspiration!
Thank you! I’m so glad it was helpful!
Lovin’ that pantry makeover! I could sure use one of those! Great post!
Me too! Thanks for stopping by!!
I prefer using eco friendly products too. We need a mirror for our bathroom since the other day the previous one cracked by me 🙈
It happens to the best of us! 🙂
I love this! Such amazing ideas, so fresh looking.
Dani x
Thank you!! I’m glad the ideas could inspire 🙂
Everything looks absolutely beautiful and I am saving this post to use as a reference. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you, Marjie 🙂
A good shoe tray is a necessity, especially in wet and cold climates. When we lived in Tacoma we had the best shoe organizer.
Yes — it definitely saves the floors!
Okay, my husband and I are so going through this to see what we might be able to pull off – we are always trying to update our home in a classy fashion!
Us too!
Awesome ideas! I adore those beeswax wraps, they are so useful.
Yes, they are!
I love these ideas! I already have a very small and basic entryway area, but it’s in the garage since we never use our front door. I really want to make something in my cabinets to hold my measuring cups like you show here.
I thought that was a great idea too!
I’ve been working on making our home and lifestyle more sustainable. That’s mostly what my blog is devoted to! These are such great ideas. Reposted!
x
Isabella
http://www.IsabellaDavid.com
IG @IsabellaDavidVintage
Thank you, Isabella!!
I love the idea of an indoor garden. It’s so practical and low maintenance. Plus since I am always using herbs in the kitchen, so that would be a great idea.
Plus I remember to water it if it’s in sight 🙂
So fun!! Love the list and def drying the indoor garden box 😉
Isn’t that such a great idea!?
This really helps in decorating and organizing my stuff at home lovely this idea!
I’m so glad!!
Omg so many cute eco friendly decor ideas!!!! We are actually working on our entry way this weekend!!!!
Fun! I am in the process of making mine a bit more functional too.
I love DIY and can’t wait to try these ideas! You have inspired me to become more eco-friendly with my cleaning products.
That’s so great to hear!
These are great DIY project ideas… and the fact that they are eco friendly makes them even better! Just wish I was good at DIY lol!
🙂 Maybe a honey-do?!?
These are some really cool tips. I especially like the indoor garden box. It looks so cute! I also like the trash to treasure tip. In fact, I have been reusing empty boxes and turning them into baskets for a while now. Extra storage is always a good thing!
It’s amazing what you can come up with when you think outside the box!
Great ideas, we are also a very green home. You gave some great simple changes for people to consider.
That’s great, Eva! So glad they were helpful!
These are great ideas. I love finding new ways to make my home more natural. I’m going to have to try these.
I’m glad it was helpful, Holly!
Those look like some pretty great projects. I know doing the bath bombs are a lot of fun to make and can easily be done at home. It’s great.
Thanks, David.
So many wonderful ideas! The beeswax wraps caught my eye! As well as the fabric napkins, I’ve starte implementing them, but with my children, stains on the napkins that don’t go away in several washes… so I’m now looking for some kind of fabric that would be not that prone to stains… so far I’ve only found microfiber, but they are not as pretty…
I wonder if a darker napkin with a pattern might help? We have some at home that are really dark with a pattern and most of the stains are fairly unnoticeable. But yes, with kids it’s tough!! 🙂
Pingback: Healthy Habits for Kids (how your home plays a role) »