4 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips

5 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips

*Today’s post was made possible by EcoKind, and features gifted product for the purposes of a candid review. All opinions are my own.

I have a confession to make…my home office really hasn’t been very eco-friendly over the years. Like a lot of design-smitten gals, I’m guilty of collecting trendy single-use plastic items for the shelves in my office and my desk—things like cute pencil cups and gold-rimmed file boxes. I also know that I wasted a lot of paper and ink from my printer when I should have been going more digital (or, at the very least, recycling instead of throwing away outdated printouts). When I think back on how much decor and paper I’ve gone through during the past 13 years of my business, I’m pretty ashamed, but I realized this year that it’s never too late to make changes.

5 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips

5 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips

I wasn’t super sure how to turn things around until I was introduced to a new brand, U Style Ecokind. They happened to reach out to me earlier this year about putting together a video on how to add more sustainability to the typical everyday office space, which, of course, was perfect timing since I had been hoping to do exactly that since the new year kicked off.

My experience working with the Ecokind team taught me that we can all prioritize sustainability and design in our office spaces without having to flip all of our old routines on their heads. There’s no need to scrap everything and start over with your office supplies or decor. That defeats the purpose, right? Instead, make simple swaps when the time comes to make a few upgrades, and choose long-lasting pieces that are made from already recycled materials, if you can.

Doing this myself over the summer made my office feel so much fresher and more functional, too. Find more of my sustainability tips below (including links to some of my favorite Ecokind products), and see my updated home office tour in photos throughout the post!

5 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips

5 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips

4 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips:

1. Try to be as plastic-free as possible when choosing new office accessories for your desktop. Instead, opt for materials like wood, fabric, and paper made from sustainably managed forests. I show lots of my favorite eco-friendly accessories in the video, so make sure you watch it here, but my two personal favorite pieces are the wooden stapler and tape dispenser, which I see myself having forever and just refilling as needed. The wood grain adds such a cool touch to my desktop, I think!

2. For those select plastic supplies that you just have to have, do your best to prioritize certified recycled items. The Ecokind document organizer that I have on my office bookcase now is actually made with 100% Recycled Ocean Bound Plastic, and that’s not the only piece in their collection that boasts that fact. There’s also a sleek blue mail organizer to try in case you’re low on drawer space, and a desktop organizer, too.

3. Use desk accessories made of sustainably sourced cork. The cork wall tile bulletin board that I put up by my desk is my favorite spot now to display photos, quotes, and paint chips for upcoming house projects, and the cork desktop organizer that I picked out from the collection is such a handy spot for pens and notepads. Don’t forget that cork is a renewable resource and totally biodegradable, so it’s something you can have guilt-free in your office.

4. Here’s my favorite tip of all: create a designated paper recycling zone in your office so you can stop throwing away perfectly good paper! To establish this new routine, I added a reusable box (the one I use is made from recycled nylon and plastic) to the bookshelf in my office that I throw used paper into throughout the month. When it’s full, I recycle the paper locally. Anything with sensitive information is taken to a shredding company that recycles their paper for safe, sustainable disposal.

5 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips

5 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips

5 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips

5 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips

5 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips

I know I’m ultimately encouraging you to order more new things for your office, which may sound counterintuitive, but the goal is that you purchase these things once and keep them for the long haul. One of the main takeaways that I hope you get from this post is that it’s okay to buy new things occasionally for your office space—just go about it more thoughtfully and intentionally than you may have in the past. Look for designs that are maybe a little simpler in style so you won’t get sick of them after a few years, and prioritize pieces that are already made from recycled plastics and paper. Thankfully, that’s so much easier to do these days since everyone seems to be on a sustainability kick, so treat yourself to something special for your office that you can feel good about!

I’m particularly excited to have worked with Ecokind this year since the brand supports reforestation with OneTreePlanted, and uses recycled materials to manufacture their gorgeous line of stylish office supplies. You buy, they plant—every single time! Oh, and did I mention that it’s all available for purchase in person at select CVS® stores or online at CVS.com®? It couldn’t be more convenient or easier to stock up. Now, since I know I’ve only scratched the surface of ways to make an office more sustainable, please leave your own shopping and organizing tips in the comments so we can learn from you and your good habits.

5 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips

Your DIY Guide To Home Decorating eBook

*This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission when you purchase products that I recommend at no additional cost to you. This allows me to provide free creative content for you to read, save, and share. Rest assured that I never recommend products we wouldn’t use or don’t already love ourselves.

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How To Style A Modern Fall Front Porch

How To Style A Modern Fall Front Porch

Until moving into this house two years ago, John and I had never had a front porch. Having this extension of our home has been such a dream come true, and we use it often to sneak in a quick breath of fresh air throughout our days. It’s in the shade of a large tree in our front yard, so it stays cool in the summer, breezy in the fall, and it’s also the perfect place to sit and watch a good storm roll in since it’s covered.

This time last year, I was still pretty focused on decorating the inside of our home, but this year I decided to take things outside with a fully formed fall front porch design. We’re talking believable faux plants that will never die, a secondhand dining set, live mums and pumpkins, and even a DIY foraged autumnal wreath. Keep scrolling for all the details on how I pulled this look together, plus links to everything that I could find from our setup.

How To Style A Modern Fall Front Porch

How To Style A Modern Fall Front Porch

Of course, one of the best things to start with when styling your fall front porch is a new seasonal doormat. You can go full “fall” with a colorful leafy motif, or try finding a mat that has more subtle—yet still welcoming—seasonal text on it, like the one we used. Potted mums and real pumpkins are practically a no-brainer by the front door this time of year, too. This really is the fastest (most organic!) way to give your porch autumn appeal, and, thankfully, these accents are easy on your décor budget. Just make sure to water your mums every couple of days to keep them looking full and vibrant all season long.

Next, you can swap out your wreath. If you want to have something that feels a little more one-of-a-kind, look for a simple fall wreath at the store, like the modern gold ring-based option that I found at Target (similar option found here since mine has since sold out), then forage in your yard for live branches and berries. Attach them to the existing wreath using gold or green floral wire to create a unique look that’s all your own.

How To Style A Modern Fall Front Porch

How To Style A Modern Fall Front Porch

How To Style A Modern Fall Front Porch

See below for that secondhand dining set I was telling you about in the intro! I added it to our front porch earlier this year, and just love all the function it gives the space. Now we can actually sit out there with a full meal if we want to, or just a glass of wine and a good book. I’ve found that these early autumn afternoons spent on the porch are extra dreamy.

Create your own outdoor oasis with a small bistro set styled with an outdoor fall pillow or two, plus seasonal accessories, like faux flowers and pumpkins. I didn’t realize when I bought it that the smallest pumpkin you see pictured below (the one with little holes in it) is actually filled with fall-scented potpourri. The fragrance has somehow lasted all this time since placing it outside weeks ago, and makes our whole walkway and porch smell like fall time tea and baking pastries—yum!

How To Style A Modern Fall Front Porch

How To Style A Modern Fall Front Porch

How To Style A Modern Fall Front Porch

How To Style A Modern Fall Front Porch

How To Style A Modern Fall Front Porch

Resources: Short faux evergreen, Tall faux evergreen, Wreath option 1, Wreath option 2, Wreath option 3, Faux pumpkin option 1, Faux pumpkin option 2, Faux pumpkin option 3, Silver pot option 1, Silver pot option 2, Silver pot option 3, Wall sconce option 1, Wall sconce option 2, Door mat option 1, Door mat option 2, Door mat option 3, Similar bistro set

Click the links above to get the look of our quaint, cozy fall front porch (or click here for even more options via LTK), and let me know your own tips in the comments. Do you put down live potted plants and pumpkins at your entry, or are you more into the idea of using faux décor that you can reuse each and every year? So far, the method I’ve come to love most is keeping my faux evergreen bushes out all year long, and I just accent around them with a few seasonal décor items when times like fall, Christmas, and spring roll around. That way, I’m not having to fill out an entire entry each time—it’s just a matter of making a few key swaps to get the vibe within my small budget. Let me know your ideas below!

Want to see this design come together in action? Click here to view the video I produced for CrossCountry Mortgage on Instagram!

How To Style A Modern Fall Front Porch

Your DIY Guide To Home Decorating eBook

*This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission when you purchase products that I recommend at no additional cost to you. This allows me to provide free creative content for you to read, save, and share. Rest assured that I never recommend products we wouldn’t use or don’t already love ourselves.

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