Decorating With Dust Allergies

By Carol in PA (Guest Post)

I also have allergies. But what life has taught me is that simple is best. For something to become part of my home, it must be lovely. For example, a throw rug is a piece of the decor. It can be thrown into the washer and washed. Dont think about decorating. Paint your walls a nice color. That is part of the decoration. Have nice light fixtures and lamps. Be practical. Its not only cheaper, its cleaner. Most of what we buy we dont need.

By

Jantoo

Me too. The best solution I've found is the home vacuum system that plugs into the wall and all the dust and dirt goes downstairs into a big bucket, for someone else to empty. It's well worth investing in it, does a great job, really gets rid of the dust. I believe there are different brands, and they're not hard to install. Regular vacuums make clouds of dust when you use them.

By diana (Guest Post)

Murals painted on walls

wallpaper murals

By

kimhis

Make the walls interesting with painted graphics. Use an overhead projector to put an image up there and paint it onto the wall. If you hate it, you can always paint some more! Also any decor you do with fabric, such as window headers festooned with sheeting, you can pop into the wash.

By

Debbie52

Hum, wonder if framed photos are ok? I am really wanting a more plain house now because I am tired of clutter. Also, I think plain is easier to keep up with. So, anyway framed photos of my children are my favorite decorations now.

Good luck and let us know how you do.

By K (Guest Post)

Like the person before me, I had a bad dust allergy problem and as I got older it more or less disappeared.

When diagnosed I was handed the sheet telling me the dos and don'ts of what to have in your house and it seemed rather bleak, like living in a jail cell.

I found it to be quite harsh advice. I had the best luck with concentrating on making the bedroom the oasis with very few decorations, etc.

The things I found that did the best were to concentrate on no rugs/carpet, no overstuffed type sofas and chairs, no stuffed animals or decorative pillows, no heavy drapes that can't be easily washed. Put as much of the books and knickknacks as possible in organizing containers or bookcases with doors. Allergy cases on your bed and mattress. Replace bed pillows often, they have a shorter life span than most people think anyway. Seems like most vacuums today have hepa filters on them. Wear a dust mask if you are the one having to do the dusting and vacuuming.

I actually prefer a spartan look in decorating anyway but a splash of color is nice. Paint a wall if you are able to or pictures are good. A colorful piece of fabric on a rod can sub for artwork and if you make it so you can slip it off to wash or to shake outside isn't bad. I found the worst offenders to be the stuffed furniture and carpeting.

Good luck to you!

By

perfume and powder

Here's some ideas:

A few large pictures. They make a large impact and they're much easier to dust than a lot of little ones.

An aquarium. No pet dander there.

If you're not allergic, some tree-like plants.

And cheer up! I used to have the same problem. But allergies can disappear overnight and mine did.