Vegan Design Is the Eco-Friendly Decorating Solution You’ve Been Looking For

Designing an environmentally healthy home that’s as good to live in as it is to look at is designer Kishani Perera’s bread and vegan butter. The California designer, who herself practiced veganism for decades, considers reading the “ingredients” lists for paint, textiles, furniture, and finishes as important as reading the labels on foods. 

So when she set out to design a new Los Angeles home for an eco-conscious family, she studied every word on every label of every piece she brought in so that her clients could be sure their house is 100% vegan. Her principles opened our eyes to this smart, eco-conscious way to design any room.

Start by Reading the Ingredient Labels

So when she set out to design this new Los Angeles home for an eco-conscious family, she studied every word on every label of every piece she brought in so that her clients could be sure their house is 100% vegan. “Something may look good from the outside, and then you’ll discover wool strapping on a sofa or a milk product in a paint color,” Perera says. “It was my job to be thorough and not miss a single surprising detail.”

Warm, earthy hues define the living room. Perera designed two ocher yellow vegan sofas, both made in Los Angeles, and anchored them with a vegan indoor-outdoor rug by Lulu and Georgia. To add to the organic vibe, she layered plenty of texture with woven floor vases from West Elm and a large cane shade on the floor lamp.

Perera had the Design Within Reach chairs upholstered in an orange polyester fabric (Sherlock Courge by Pierre Frey). “I love this colorful, understated, and sophisticated space,” she says.

Terra-cotta pendants in the breakfast nook were handmade in Mexico and cast light through their cutouts. Perera warmed up the kitchen with lots of natural woven materials, including organic rattan light fixtures by Kathy Kuo and woven window shades. Counter stools from The Future Perfect wear a vegan chenille by Kieffer Textiles that echoes blue notes in the breakfast room.

Vegan Design Can Be Colorful

It was also her mission to infuse the formerly bland spec house with the vibrancy her clients desired. “They are absolutely obsessed with color,” Perera says. “They were imagining a house that was whimsical and full of bright, fun colors. Ten or so years ago, it was difficult to find anything vegan that wasn’t boring and beige. But fortunately, times have changed and our options are so much better.” 

Perera utilized vegan paints to embolden furniture and walls with bright hues. “The house came alive with pink, yellow, orange, green, and blue,” she says. “I didn’t want it to feel chaotic, so I tried to thread certain colors through each space for continuity.” 

The designer worked with showrooms to make custom furniture pieces that didn’t use any animal products. She researched textiles whose colors were derived from vegetable dyes rather than synthetic ones. “My clients wanted clean lines and they wanted a lot of color,” says Perera, who designed the family room’s salmon-color sectional to have cotton batting rather than wool. 

“The office is lively and super fun but still cozy,” Perera says. “To me, it feels like the inside of a candy store.” She reinvented a sofa from the couple’s former home with orange Cowtan & Tout fabric, added multicolor drapes, and laid down a pink rug by Annie Selke. 

Just off the front door is the couple’s library. Perera designed the bookshelves with back panels that look like vintage wood. She added brass library sconces above the built-ins. “We enlivened the space with color, from dark carnation pink to topaz,” Perera says.

“The list goes on and on,” Perera says. “And beyond the vegan aspect of the home’s design, we were also trying to honor the environment by reducing our carbon footprint and shopping locally. In every way and in every decision, we were thinking about the environment and animals.” 

Share the Message

Perera’s greatest passion is educating people about environmentally friendly interior design. “I consider it my role to pass along all the things I’ve learned and to implement them in my work,” she says. “There are so many more homes being built right now that are energy-efficient or eco-friendly, but not as many people are cognizant of what is inside the home and whether they promote people’s health or harm it. I’m all about a healthy home. And as it turns out, what is good for the environment is usually good for people too.”

Perera visually warmed up the bedroom, which has 10-foot ceilings, by adding lots of natural elements. She clad one wall in reclaimed wood, added natural woven shades on the windows, and layered a jute rug dyed with vegetable pigments beneath the bed. To avoid the chemicals and PVCs found in typical mattresses, Perera recommends organic options like Loom & Leaf by Saatva or Naturepedic.

Kishani Perera’s Vegan Design Basics

Designer Kishani Perera follows these principles when choosing materials.

• Cruelty-free. Avoid products that may cause harm to an animal—no down, feathers, wool, fur, leather, suede, or silk. 
• Natural fibers. Some products that are vegan are also synthetic and toxic, off-gassing for weeks or months inside your home. Perera recommends only plant-based fibers for rugs. Check out loomyhome.com for their vegan options.
• Paints. Use nontoxic, vegan paints and wallpaper adhesives. Avoid those with beeswax or casein,
  a milk product sometimes used in paint.
• Wood. Source sustainable wood from responsibly managed and well-protected forests. 
• Local Goods. Seek out as many things locally as possible to reduce your carbon footprint.