Furnishing your house chem free?

So I just moved into my first non-furnished apartment and I should probably find things that will help people sit down comfortably.

So as I desided put a little thought into what I am bringing into the house. The wood floors are stained, so I desided to go with a bunch of area rugs. I don't think they are scotch guarded. How about couches? Rugs? Flooring. We aborb things in our bodies via skin and I like walking around barefoot. Mattresses etc. this is a new thought for me. I am especially intersted in couches

I think what you choose will depend on your budget my husband and I prefer to buy or acquire older used things for several reasons but one is that they have usually stood the test of time and, (again usually) are less likely to contain toxins.
Too many new items now, I think, are likely to contain toxins that I wouldn't want in my home.
I like area rugs that are washable or at least I can take them out doors and shake them good. We just got rid of the last sofa we intend to have and moved in our porch glider...nice oak wood and no more sofa to collect dust.

There's a lot of great plain wood furniture out there ... even long backed chair/benches. Sometimes it's fun to find something at the thrift store, remove whatever paint is on there, and give it some kind of ecogroovy finish (or leave it as is).

What's the "look" you like? How much effort do you want to put into it?

There are some ridiculously comfortable wood lounge seats that could definitely compete with an EZ-Boy, especially if padded with some felted wool, like old thrift store sweaters washed in the washing machine a few times then cut and sewn together. And also those pod hanging chairs, you could suspend them from the ceiling. Or you could go Middle Eastern and have low tables with cushions you bring out for meals with guests, and everyone sits on the floor. For flooring there are sissal woven mats that are attractive, wool and cotton rugs. Look in store bath sections, some of the cotton rugs they have might do in another room - they keep making them bigger and bigger. Those should be machine washable, too.

I just saw this, LOL!


From http://kaylasbasement.blogspot.com/2012/06/diy-outdoor-bench.html

New furniture, particularly upholstered furniture, is rife with "flame retardants" that don't actually make them safer (when they burn they emit toxic fumes that kill, but if you drop a cigarette on one, they are less likely to catch fire) (yes, the cigarette companies lobbied to have these chemicals made mandatory).

It's one reason our new house has a dining table in the front room, but no couch. OK, that, and the fact that there's NO ROOM. 4 people in less than 800 sq ft is. . . cozy.