In any house, storage is an important part of the look and feel of the home. Not enough storage can make your home cluttered, but not everyone wants bookshelves and cupboards in every room. Luckily, there is no end to the amount of creative and eco-friendly storage solutions out there.

Materials Matter

One big part of eco-friendly options is what materials you use. When choosing to purchase new furniture or building materials, that source material truly matters. You want to choose eco-friendly, sustainable materials.

* Bamboo – Bamboo is becoming more and more popular due to its beautiful, clean look. It is perfect for just about every use, from flooring to shelving material. Because bamboo grows very quickly, it is considered to be an environmentally friendly material.

* Cork – Growing in mainstream popularity, cork is another sustainable material that is great for many home improvement projects. You could buy or build shelves, cabinets, and just about any storage solution you can think of from cork.

* Hemp – Believe it or not, industrial hemp is a wonderful eco-friendly material for building storage solutions that work well. You can buy and build dressers, shelves, closets and so forth out of hemp that looks just like wood.

Mainstream Marketing

Many mainstream department stores and companies are joining the environmentally friendly movement. You will find a section devoted to environmentally friendly products and sustainable solutions in just about any store or online company.

Remarkable Restorations

There is nothing more eco-friendly than recycling. It could be that the new eco-friendly storage solutions you are looking for are already right in front of you; they just need a creative touch to make them new again.

* Paint it pretty – You can make a bookcase or shelves shine like brand new with something as simple as a fresh coat of paint. For a pop of color that brings depth to your home, paint the insides of cabinets or bookshelves with a bold color.

* Decoupage – If your existing furniture is battered to the point that you aren’t convinced a coat of paint will fix the problem, consider decoupage covering the surface of your dressers, cabinets, and other storage. Any number of patterns, colors, and prints not only helps make old storage solutions look new, but it really brings a chic look to your décor.

* Sand and stain – Especially for wood shelves, cabinets, and bookcases, sometimes a simple sand and stain job can make everything like new again. It is really a simple job, and keeping those old pieces is much more eco-friendly than buying new.

Responsible Repurposing

If you don’t have many storage solutions that you can fix up, you might be surprised at what you can use for creative storage in your home. Making use of old or unused items and repurposing them as new storage solutions is not only eco-friendly, but it’s also fun and perfect for your décor.

* Custom creations – You can use just about anything to build simple shelving with. An old pair of skis or a skateboard, for example, would make a perfect floating shelf in a game room, man cave, or children’s room.

* What was old is new – Sometimes the perfect storage solution is staring you right in the eye and you don’t even know it. For example, that old unused dresser might be the perfect answer to your storage issues when it is repurposed as a sidebar in your entryway.

* Salvaged solutions – When it comes to eco-friendly storage solutions, never discount what you can salvage from junkyards, the curb, or thrift stores everywhere. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, after all.

There are so many options for eco-friendly storage solutions available, this list could go on forever. Just remember that there’s nothing more environmentally friendly than recycling. Plus remember that your materials matter when buying new, and that repurposing old stuff is even more fun because you can let your creative juices really flow.