6 Easy Upgrades for a Healthier Home

Shouldn’t your home be as healthy as possible? Just like what you choose to feed your family, the choices you make for your home play a big role in your family’s health. From air quality to water quality and more, there’s a lot we can do to make our homes a healthier place to live. If you want a home that promotes health and well-being, these projects are a great place to start.

Watch Out for VOCs

Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are a major contributor to indoor air pollution — and they’re hiding all throughout your home. VOCs are present in paints and stains, building materials, and furniture, as well as everyday products like air fresheners. You don’t need to tear down your house and start over, but you should pay attention to VOCs when renovating your home. By choosing natural building materials, low-VOC paints and stains, and furniture built without formaldehyde, you can reduce VOC exposure and improve air quality at home.

Opt for Hardwood Flooring

Carpets are another source of VOCs at home. They also trap dust mites, mold spores, pet dander, and other contaminants, making carpeting a poor choice for allergy sufferers or anyone worried about air quality. If your house is mostly carpeted, replacing carpets with all-natural flooring could be a major step toward breathing easier at home.

Maintain the Right Humidity

Humidity is also important for air quality. Too little, and it causes sore throats and dry skin. Too much, and you’ll promote dangerous mold and mildew. The ideal range for indoor humidity is between 30 and 50 percent. If your home is above that, you’ll need to use a dehumidifier. However, since dehumidifiers remove moisture from the air, they need to be cleaned regularly to avoid becoming a source of mold themselves. When shopping for a dehumidifier, look for one that’s easy to empty and clean to avoid problems from a dirty dehumidifier.

Filter Your Drinking Water

Tap water is safe to drink, but if you’re not filtering it first, it may not be as clean as it looks. Considering the contaminants that can wind up in tap water, adding a filtration system to your kitchen is an easy choice. Countertop and faucet-mounted filters are the easiest to install, but for greater filtration power and a more streamlined look, opt for an under-the-sink filter.

Create Space for Fitness

It’s not just what we breathe and drink at home that matters. Our homes also influence our behavior, including whether we live an active lifestyle. Break out of sedentary habits by creating space for fitness in your home. Indoors, this could be a room dedicated to yoga and fitness equipment. Outdoors, it can be a safe space for kids to play, an outdoor workout zone, or a garden for building functional fitness.

Green Up Your Landscaping

Before getting active outdoors, make sure your backyard is just as safe and healthy as inside your home. Avoid using pesticides and any “weed and feed” products in your yard; instead, opt for natural means of creating a lush landscape. You can also take steps to make your yard eco-friendly, such as landscaping with a diverse assortment of native plants, planting pollinator species, and creating a habitat for birds.

Your home sets the stage for how you live your life. Don’t you want it to set you up for success? Put your family’s health at the forefront of your renovating and remodeling decisions, and with each upgrade, you’ll transform your family’s home into a healthier, happier place to live.

Thanks to Natalie Jones of Homeownerbliss.info

Carol Gilles of the RealEstate Group, has been helping her clients choose the right home since 1979. Contact Carol whether you are moving across the street or across the state.  She can be reached at 310-864-9738 or Carol@CarolGilles.com