"Everyone's talking about the weather but nobody's doing anything about it," Mark Twain famously said. Everybody seems to be talking about environmentally friendly things for the home too. But is there anything you can do about it that's not costly?

"Greening one's home does not have to be cost-prohibitive," said Alison Shoemaker, owner of Alison Designs and one of the few interior designers with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) accreditation. "The first step is to discover the little things that we do every day and change our behavior to make it environmentally friendly."

To get started, Shoemaker recommends a few easy tips:

Pitcher this: Keep a water pitcher near a faucet to conserve water when running the tap.

"Placing a decorative glass or ceramic pitcher can add a personal design touch to the space, the same way a beautiful vase does in another room," she said. "The bonus is saving the water in the pitcher for future use, such as watering house plants."

Waste not:Place an ornate wastebasket in every room for recycling biodegradable items and another for non-biodegradable matter.

"The baskets can either be uniform or different in style," she said. The key is to focus on getting creative with everyday household items, while helping to save the environment.

Sole of discretion: Establish an area near the front entry where people can take their shoes off.

"About 85 percent of dust, allergens and chemicals in the home are from shoe traffic," she said. "For a clean entry look, place the shoes in a low woven square basket with a lid."

Maintaining a shoe-free space will prolong the flooring and also control the pollutants in the home.

Rolling in bamboo sheets: Using bamboo bedroom sheets in lieu of synthetic ones.

"Bamboo is one of the softest fabrics in the world, with a drape-like silk look," Shoemaker said. It comes from a rapidly renewable resource that does not require pesticides to grow.

Green thumb: Adding house plants to the home naturally cleanses the air of indoor toxins, while providing a green aesthetic look.

House plants, such as Lady Palm, Peace Lily, and English Ivy, are known for their ease of growth and maintenance, removal of vapors and resistance to insect manifestation.

These days, many homes have a flat-screen television hanging on a wall. What can you do about that blank wall behind the TV?

"How about highlighting that new flat-screen television by 'framing' it with paint?" said Debbie Zimmer, paint and color expert with the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute. "Before hanging it on the wall, paint a rectangle large enough so a six-inch, colorful 'frame' is exposed once the TV is in place.

"Nothing creates more immediate impact than a fresh coat of paint. In these challenging times, paint is overwhelmingly one of the best low-cost options when infusing style in a living space," she said. "By simply changing your wall, ceiling or trim color, rooms can go from boring to bright in just a matter of hours."

Here are a few more ideas from Zimmer:

••Large polka dots or other geometric patterns add instant impact to a child's bedroom or play area.

••Not ready for a whole room redo? Change the trim or door color and the entire space will feel new.

••Create interest in a dining room by painting the ceiling with a glossy finish. Light from the chandelier will have extra sparkle.