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Interior Design

Creating Spaces for Well being

by Norrway Design

During the last almost two years, we have been forced to spend more time than ever at home. We find it interesting to reflect a little over over how our interiors can help us feel better.

It is an important (and huge) subject, but here are a few things that come to mind.

 

Enjoy! 

Material choices – a few thoughts

When it comes to choosing material for a certain product, we recommend to keep a couple of concepts in mind.
FABRICS – Durability, colours and texture

When it comes to the Colour of the furniture we choose, we start off on a slightly more “personal” subject. People tend to know what they like! However, in todays world we simply cannot keep up with the “fast fashion” that has been ruling the world for the last decades. Therefore, we recommend to think twice when it comes this point.

Ask yourself: Will I still like this colour / material in a couple of years? How will the material age? Is it combinable with the rest of my interior objects?

When it comes to durability, there are several tests that you can look out for. One of the most common ones is the Martindale-test. What is does is that it basically submits the fabric under a rotating mechanism, creating friction, and the goal is to determine the amount of friction/amount of rotations the fabric can handle. The result of the test will give you a good idea of the durability of the fabric.

For public use, for example, we would not recommend a Martindale result of less than 30.000 (as in, the mechanism will rotate 30.000 times on the surface of the fabric, before it starts to get damaged). For your home, you can probably choose a fabric with less Martindales. However, the higher you go, the more sure you will be that kids, pets or just general hard use will not devastating for the material.

Don’t be afraid to ask your supplier / store for help!
Martindale Test in action
Furniture upholstered with durable materials

Choose NON-toxic Materials

Perhaps it might sound a little dramatic, we know. But fact is, that this concept is important, as it aims to reduce human exposure to hazardous materials. Between 2000 and 2010 the global chemical output grew by 54%, and whilst many of these are used in construction, consumer goods such as furniture can also contain a variety of toxic chemicals, that are released throughout their lifespan into the environments that they are placed.

If you can, try to make sure that the fabric you use for your furniture is ECO labelled in any way – any serious supplier will be transparent when it comes to this point, and will share the specifications of the materials used for the production of their furniture.

Below, a few of the most common labels you can look for when it comes to Fabric / Upholstery

       

The importance of SOUND

In a modern home with lots of hard surfaces and open spaces, noise can be amplified. If the space you are looking into create is an office or any other public area, then this factor should really be taken into consideration

Textiles and / or acoustic panels

One of the most cited disturbances to productivity and wellbeing in any space is unwanted noise. This concept aims to “bolster occupant health and well-being through the identification and mitigation of acoustical comfort parameters that shape occupant experiences in the built environment.” Whilst many of these features relate to the design and construction of the space, furniture can also play a key role in managing acoustics.

Textiles tend to help a Little with the absorbation of sound. Rugs, curtains, and upholstered furniture are just a few examples. However, for some large spaces it will not be enough. Ever Heard of Acoustic panels? Nowadays they are becoming more and more popular, and many brands offer them in really decorative shapes and patterns.

Social areas around the house

This is probably the heart of any interior design Project. The social areas are, to a large extent, what will define how you move, interact and ultimately feel in your home.

Take a moment to think about how you like to spend your days. Is it together with your family, having dinner together? Or do you want to prioritize a space for “you time”? Is it your work space? Maybe the most important part of your week is to be able to bring your friends over?

Whatever is is, try to find what makes you happy, prioritize it and then create spaces according to those needs.

Sustainability

How COVID-19 has changed our attitudes to environmental sustainability

by Norrway Design

There is a common perception that being “environmentally friendly” is a luxury. In difficult times, we tend to think that these concerns are pushed aside. However, numerous reports from around the world have shown us that in the wake of the pandemic, people are more concerned about environmental challenges and changing their behaviour to act in a more sustainable manner.

So why has the Covid-19 pandemic had such a profound effect? And what impact will this have on businesses and brands?

A time to reflect

The near-global shutdown of business and travel during the early stages of lockdown resulted in a dramatic drop in greenhouse gases and air pollutants, with charts, graphs and visualisations presenting a view of the world without human activity for the first time.

A consumer trends survey by Deloitte found that 85% of consumers adopted at least one lifestyle change to be more sustainable during 2020, with a third considered “highly engaged” – up 17% on the previous year.

Featured: HÅG Tion 2160 in Tumbled/Black, with textile Cognac 33004 by Elmosoft

Sustainable consumerism

One of the easiest ways for individuals to express this change in attitude is through purchasing behaviour. A 2020 global survey by management consultancy Accenture found consumers have “dramatically evolved” their habits since the onset of the pandemic, with 60% making more environmentally friendly and sustainable purchases, and 9 out of 10 saying they will continue to do so.

 

With this shift in purchasing behaviour, sustainability is no longer an additional nicety, but a key element of any company’s strategy in order to be successful. And it is not just purchasing behaviour that has been affected, but people’s workplace aspirations. The IBM Institute for Business Value found that 71% of employees and job seekers they spoke to found environmentally sustainable companies as more attractive, with nearly half suggesting they would accept a lower salary to work for such businesses.

 

Therefore, whatever business, there is always the opportunity to do better when it comes to sustainability. This can mean sourcing more local goods, or a whole range of other ways such as less energy-intensive production methods, using renewable and recycled materials, removing toxic materials, and creating closed-loop economies.

Sustainability

How to choose environmentally friendly furniture

by Norrway Design

In an increasingly eco-conscious world, where we get our stuff from and how it’s made is becoming more important every day. Greater understanding of our impact on the planet is leading people to make sustainable and more environmentally friendly choices in nearly every aspect of life, including furniture.

The good news is there are a lot of great products out there which not only help you go green, but don’t compromise on performance, style and design. So whether you are looking for something for your home or your place of work, here are a few key points to consider when looking for eco-friendly furniture.

eco labelled furniture

1. Find products made with recycled and recyclable materials

99% of the chrome we use is mined in South Africa, found on the surface of the earth as a chromite compound (FeCr2O4). Other major producers include India, Zimbabwe, Turkey, Russia and Kazakhstan. Iron-black in colour, with a

In 2018, the annual amount of material consumed by humanity passed 100bn tonnes for the first time. In the last two years, consumption has jumped by more than 8% but the reuse of resources has fallen from 9.1% to 8.6%. Total waste production in the EU amounted to 2,3 billion tons. From this total, only a limited (albeit increasing) share (38%) was recycled, while the rest was land-filled or burned, of which some 600 million tons could be recycled or reused.

Rearranging the Furniture, a report by the UK’s RSA’s (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce) projected that over 80% of the environmental impact of products we use every day is built in at the concept design stage, and that furniture is an area of concern when it comes to end of life disposal. If furniture isn’t designed to be recycled, it can be almost impossible to recycle it, and is simply thrown away. So what should you look out for?

recycled furniture
Furniture upholstered with durable materials
PRODUCTS WHICH CAN BE RECYCLED

When purchasing your furniture, find out if it has been designed for disassembly. Many manufacturers will claim that their product contain 95 to 100% recyclable material. But quite often pieces of furniture are comprised of different material irreversibly glued or bound together, so even if the different materials taken alone are recyclable, it may be unlikely they are actually recycled because it is difficult and therefore inefficient to separate.

For instance, a desk may have a non-recyclable finish, or a chair might have non-recyclable foam glued to the seat base. If you have an office with hundreds of items, it becomes impractical and uneconomical to sort your furniture at the end of its life.

PRODUCTS WHICH ARE ALREADY RECYCLED

Steel is the most recycled material on the planet, more than all other materials combined. In 2012 the global recycling rate stood at 88%. With plastics, the difference couldn’t be more startling. Research published in 2017 suggested 91% of plastic created hasn’t been recycled. 6.3 billion tons of plastic currently litters our planet, and with most plastics taking up to 400 years to degrade, it will be sticking around for a while. This is a vast amount of waste that we should be looking to harness and reuse, creating new things, whilst at the same time cleaning up our planet.

Therefore it’s not simply enough for furniture to be recyclable, but to be made out of recycled materials too. Again, these facts should be easy to find out when you are looking at prospective furniture. A little bit of research may lead to some interesting results. Materials such as aluminium, steel and polypropylene make just as good products the second (or 100th!) time around as the first.

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2. Look for furniture with a long-life

One aspect often overlooked when looking for sustainable furniture is durability. If something is built to last or is easily repaired, it lessens the likelihood of being thrown away, and can even save you money in the long run, stopping you from purchasing a replacement piece. The environmental impact of manufacturing two items compared to one is also something to consider. Look out for manufacturers who offer long life guarantees, have readily available spare parts or offer refurbishment schemes.

3. Avoid chairs containing toxic chemicals

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are chemicals that evaporate at room temperature. Most scents and odour you smell are VOC gases. Some occur naturally and some are synthetic and can be dangerous to human health or cause harm to the environment.

Different materials (e.g: wood panels) or surface treatments (e.g: liquid lacquers) regularly used within the furniture industry contain VOCs that release hazardous gases in the indoor climate. Quite often, that “new furniture” smell you get when you take off the packaging is due to VOCs evaporating in the air. If allowed to build up in a poorly ventilated area they can be harmful to you.

There is one easy way to avoid VOCs – lookout for GREENGUARD certified products. This is an assurance that products meet a strict chemical emission limit, backing sustainability claims with empirical scientific data from a third-party organisation.

GREENGUARD_Gold_Green

4. Seek out products with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)

One quick and easy way to work out the environmental credentials of a piece of furniture is to examine its Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). An EPD is an independently verified and registered document that communicates transparent and comparable information about the life-cycle environmental impact of products. It calculates the complete impact on the environment, from the extraction of raw materials to factory gate out.

Having an EPD does not necessarily mean that a product is environmentally friendly, but it gives you a clear indication of the total impact the product has, and you can compare product EPD’s to see the difference between manufacturers. 

In 2004, Flokk brand HÅG became the first furniture manufacturer to apply for an EPD, acknowledging that HÅG have some of the lowest CO2 emissions in the furniture industry, and now all Flokk brands are working to document their product ranges with EPD to provide a transparent view on our manufacturing process.

5. Enquire about eco-friendly packaging

A major consideration of environmentally friendly furniture is the packaging. Many goods come with excessive packaging that could be recycled, but certain types of packaging are not able to be recycled including Styrofoam and certain plastics. You can avoid this by choosing items that aren’t excessively packaged, or use mainly materials such as cardboard, or recyclable plastic. This is often a difficult area, due to a customers demand for undamaged goods, and the bulkiness of furniture.

 

This is just a rough guide to some of the strongest ways to measure how environmentally friendly your furniture is. Many countries carry their own standards, such as Norway’s Ecolabel Swan or the German Blue Angel, but make sure you do your research to check out that they are strict and unbiased, and not simply an example of ‘greenwashing’. 

 

Good luck!

Norrway Design of Sweden
North Europe Office: Hällesdalen, Sweden
South Europe Office: Madrid, Spain