In recent years, many of us have started to pay more attention to how our home surroundings make us feel — especially as we spend more of our work and leisure time at home. This has inspired a wide range of interesting interior design features aimed at supporting our mental and physical health, ranging from home yoga and meditation spaces to journaling nooks and indoor herb gardens.
You may notice that underpinning many of these features is an increased appreciation for nature and the positive effects it can have on our health and well-being. This shift in priority is one of the reasons why Pinterest Predicts identified biophilic design as such a huge trend for 2022, and unsurprisingly, this nature-oriented approach to our interiors seems here to stay. To help you bring more of the great outdoors into your home (and reap the mental and physical benefits), the experts at Casa Bella Furniture have shared their top home décor tips below.
Earth tones
When refreshing your interiors, it’s best to start by thinking of a colour scheme. You don’t have to be a designer to create a simple mood board or use a colour wheel, and this will be a great way to keep your renovations focused and on the right track. To take inspiration from the great outdoors in your home design, you’ll want to stay within a fairly simple palette of earth tones. Simply put, earth tones are shades that you would find in nature, such as sand, sea, grass, and soil: in terms of key colours, this tends to include beige, taupe, chocolate brown, ochre, terracotta, sky blue, olive green, and white.
As well as allowing your home to evoke natural landscapes, these earth tones can also have a positive impact on our well-being. This is because neutral, familiar shades are thought to have a calming effect on the psyche, which — when paired with plenty of natural light — can help your property feel like a more positive, uplifting atmosphere to spend time in.
Earth textures
As well as incorporating earth tones into your home via paintwork, wallpaper, art, and soft furnishings, one of the most effective ways to take inspiration from natural elements is by experimenting more with organic materials. Blending different textures and patterns — such as natural wood grain, marble, linen, and rattan — will help to bring an effortless yet authentic feel to your interiors, as well as create depth and interest. This is a great way to ensure each room of the house holds onto its sense of personality, even if you plan to stay within a more neutral, minimalist colour palette.
Natural materials
You can’t get much closer to Mother Nature than trees, and this makes solid wood an obvious choice for anyone wanting to incorporate the great outdoors into their interior design. Whether you’re lucky enough to have hardwood floors and exposed beams or simply want to invest in quality pieces of furniture, it’s safe to say that solid wood is a timeless, durable, and renewable choice.
Including more natural wood in your interiors is a great way to furnish your home more sustainably, especially if you opt for high-quality pieces made with no artificial veneers or plywood. Making this investment also means you’re able to keep furniture for years to come, and if your tastes change, you even have the option to paint, strip, sand, and varnish them for a change of scenery. Other naturally-derived materials like rattan make for excellent, sturdy furniture, and woven designs — whether in the form of a chair, cabinet, lampshade, or basket — have texture and pattern already built in.
Reclaimed furniture
If you’re really passionate about creating a circular economy for the sake of the planet, buying reclaimed or vintage wood furniture is even better. Not only are you giving discarded pieces a second lease of life, but you also have the chance to fill your interiors with eclectic, handmade furnishings that have their own story to tell. Decorating each room with pieces that bring you joy will help your home feel like a special, carefully considered space that’s truly unique to you — this is particularly important in spaces like a home office, where you want to be inspired and uplifted by your surroundings.
Houseplants
If you want to bring even more of the great outdoors into your home, add the finishing touches to your interiors with a generous number of houseplants. Plants — whether they’re flowering, succulent, or evergreen — add natural texture to any room, along with a pop of colour that you can easily move and experiment with. Using hooks or shelving to display hanging plants (such as trailing ivy) is also a great way of opening up vertical space in your interiors, as they can expand the feel of a small living space, dining room, or office by drawing the eye upwards.
The benefits of adding more greenery aren’t just confined to your colour scheme, either. The sale of houseplants hit an all-time high during the pandemic, partly due to recent studies finding that they could contribute towards decreased stress levels, improved mood, and greater attention span (University College London). It’s also believed that creating your own indoor jungle can help to purify the air in your home, which is particularly promising if you’re one of the many people still working from home.
Looking after plants can be a rewarding process in itself, as seeing them flourish and grow can be an unexpected boost to your mood. So, be sure to pair natural textures and colour schemes with the real deal and incorporate plenty of indoor greenery into your interiors.
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