Over the past decade, the outdoors have been making their way into popular interior design trends. Houseplants are, perhaps, the biggest culprit, with an increasing number of homes being filled with an array of verdant plants and colourful pots, as homeowners celebrate the value of having natural aesthetics as part of their interior design. Now, in addition to houseplants, there’s a revival of rural and cottage aesthetics, with homes seeking to incorporate floral patterns and natural materials into their living spaces and furniture.
Many interior designers are celebrating the shift in design, with many having grown tired of the sparsity of minimalism and understated designs, eager to see the potential for spaces that embrace maximalism alternatives. Beyond aesthetics, however, there are a number of reasons why it is a good ideal to bring a greater deal of natural and organic designs into your home.
There is irrefutable evidence that demonstrates spending time in natural environments has the potential to improve mental health. Alongside years of study on the effects of spending time outdoors, the various lockdowns residents experienced in 2020 and 2021 demonstrated how crucial it is as an activity.
These effects can be enjoyed to a smaller but nonetheless valuable extent by designing living spaces with nature in mind. Natural light, for example, plays a significant role in our sleep hygiene, ensuring our body’s circadian rhythms are in check. As such, those homes that are able to welcome a greater deal of sunlight inside see residents benefit from better sleep and mood.
Another benefit is the influence nature has on an individual ability to relax and focus. Some homeowners seek to merge their interior living space with their outdoor areas, blending garden spaces with the home with this in mind. A greater number of outbuildings, such as log cabins for sale, has begun to occur as residents seek to establish creative studios, dining areas, and even professional offices in their gardens due to the benefits these spaces can achieve when established outdoors.
An interior design aesthetic that celebrates nature is known as biophilic and it is known to not only have mental health benefits but even physical ones. While houseplants might not purify our air as much as we are led to believe, they do contribute to low-stress levels and an increased sense of calmness, as do other designs that shy away from industrial urbanism and more toward the serenity of nature.
The use of natural materials, such as wood and stone, is also more sustainable than carbon-costly alternatives. This means that, in addition to their designs being pleasing, natural materials also have the potential to make a home more sustainable and, as a result, help homeowners feel good about their smaller carbon footprint.
A living space that celebrates biophilia can also be the ideal, even necessary, escape for those living in densely populated and urban environments. Since it isn’t always possible to escape into nature for a mental health break, a well-designed living space, one saturated in tranquillity and organic design, can be the next best thing, helping homeowners to forget the pace and stress of daily routine.
