Consumers are becoming more eco-conscious, whether toting their own reusable canvas bags to the grocery store or picking out furniture, wine wall art, tropical wall hangings or other wall decor for their homes. When shopping for new furniture, consider beautiful pieces made with wood from the rubber tree. Rubber tree wood is eco-friendly because it is harvested from plantation trees every 25 to 30 years when the trees are replanted to renew latex production. Rubber trees are in the same family of plants as maple trees and the rubber wood is sturdy and attractive, with a light color and interesting texture. Rubber wood lumber is also easy to produce and machine and has a low shrinkage rate, making it a great choice for furniture and other wood products such as particle board, wood accessories and decor accents.

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A Great Option for Stairways

Rubber wood is one of the best woods for building staircases. Rubber wood is as strong and dense as other favorite woods, such as oak, but it is free of the blemishes and knots that are typically found in other woods. This feature translates into less waste and therefore, less cost. The lighter color of rubber wood is warm and attractive when finished with clear sealant, but it can also be stained to a darker shade if a deep hue is desired.

A Great Option for Wood Furniture

Rubber tree wood is also an excellent choice for furniture because of its density, strength and beauty: Since it easily accepts stain, it can be finished to suit any décor or color preference or left light and natural. The original light shade of rubber wood is well suited to many decorative styles, from contemporary to eclectic and casual styles. However, staining the wood in deeper shades like cherry or walnut makes rubber wood furniture adaptable to traditional looks or any style of decor.

Part of an Eco-Friendly Cycle

While you may choose rubber tree wood products simply because of their beauty, rubber tree wood is also one of the most eco-friendly wood choices a consumer can make. The majority of rubber wood comes from rubber plantations that grow, harvest and replace the trees every 25 to 30 years to provide latex for the rubber industry. In the past, before rubber wood was used for building products and furniture, the wood was burned for fuel in the production of rubber, steel, tobacco and masonry products. A small percentage of rubber wood is still used as fuel; however harvesting rubber wood for furniture and other wood products has developed a new source of income for struggling Third World economies.

Moreover, since rubber wood trees are harvested when they become too old to produce latex, turning this wood into building products and furniture is a sound ecological alternative to the pollution produced by burning the wood. Every tree that is cut down on a rubber plantation is replaced with another tree to continue the cycle of latex production. In the final analysis, turning harvested trees into wood products has little or no impact on the environment.

There are times when you have to find a way to make peace with clashing colors. You may be renting a home and the rug may not be quite right with your couch, or you may want to use accessories for sentimental reasons, but the colors of the accessories and other room colors aren’t exactly a match made in heaven. Or you may have two children sharing a room and they’re favorite colors are not harmonious. Thankfully, you’ll be relieved to know that there are ways to make peace and add harmony among colors that clash.

Unite with a Common Denominator

One of the best ways to harmonize clashing colors is to use an accessory in the room that contains both colors. This could be a multi-colored area rug, throw pillows or a painting, tree wall decor or wine metal art that has both colors in the mix. You could also use a grouping of candles in both colors plus a neutral colored candle to blend the offending colors. You may even find wallpaper that has both colors in its design and this will help to neutralize the dissimilarity.

Choose One Predominant Color

When you must use two clashing color, one successful approach is to choose one color as the predominant color for the room and use the other as an accent. Say, for instance, that you have two teenage girls sharing a bedroom and one of them loves hot pink while the other is all about orange. Paint the walls white to provide some visual space between the two hot colors and use the pink as the predominant room color: Feature it in the bedding and window treatments, then toss white pillows with orange polka dots on the beds and fold a plaid throw that features pink, orange and white on the back of chair. You could also paint an orange pinstripe around the room to tie the colors together. Using the colors in this way results in a pleasing effect: The predominant shade has the most visual presence, while the other color works as a coordinating accent.

Sample Before You Paint

If you’re going to paint a room to tie clashing colors together, or to avoid potential future clashes, be sure to view the colors in the room where you will be using them. Colors can look completely different in the fluorescent lighting of a store or in natural light. Paint sample strips can give you good perspective when viewed in the light of the room, but more surefire way to choose the right color is to paint a color swatch on the wall and view it at different times of day. If you are choosing between two or three colors, paint a swatch of each on the wall before making a final decision. Many paint stores and paint departments sell sample size jars of paint or they will mix up a quart for you, which is much better than committing to a couple gallons of paint that just don’t work.