If you’ve been adding greenery to every empty corner or wallpapering floral patterns onto your walls, you’ve been dabbling with this year’s major trend: biophilic design.
Biophilic design is an architectural concept that promotes greater balance and harmony between our living spaces and the natural world. Stylistically, biophilia has many expressions, but essentially, homes that use more light, more natural ventilation, water elements (such as aquariums for example), plants and natural textures are demonstrating the concept.
Biophilia enthusiasts suggest that the inclusion of more nature in our homes is better for the environment, and it improves our physical and mental health too. This might sound far-fetched, but incredibly, many studies back this up, including one conducted by Curtin University in Australia, that saw patients’ recovery times in hospital cut by a quarter when the patients stayed in ‘biophilic’ rooms.
On a more pragmatic level, homebuyers are willing to spend 7% more on houses with excellent landscaping, 58% more for properties that look out onto water (of any variety – well-maintained pools and ponds are just as good as a river!), and if you do happen to be on a waterfront, you can command a staggering 127% more for your property. Clearly, exposure to nature is important to our happiness and wellbeing.
So how can we bring more nature into our homes and lives? From a design perspective, the key is to think in terms of shape, texture and process. Straight lines and uniform patterns are rare in nature, so you’ll be looking for imperfections, curves and pleasingly organic finishes.
Soft furnishings
Any ambition to create a peaceful home starts with soft furnishings. Textured leathers, unbleached linens and gorgeously soft alpacas, merinos and Mongolian sheepskins are all very much in vogue, and all combine to create a space that radiates with natural warmth. Sticking to a simple palette of natural hues can also help to cultivate the aesthetic, but don’t feel restricted by neutrals. Many companies now stock fabrics coloured with natural dyes, or you could even have a go at dyeing your own cushion covers and bedding. The unpredictability of natural dyes actually works well to create the irregularities celebrated by biophilic design.
To the touch
Natural paints give walls and furniture a tactile warmth and a colour density that synthetic formulas struggle to match. Natural paints (notably Farrow and Ball or Edward Bulmer for walls, and Annie Sloan for furniture coverage) do come at a premium, but walls and cabinets are so important to the overall signature of the room. If your budget is a bit tighter, Dulux have a range of ‘nature-inspired’ paints, that come in a range of botanical hues.
Flooring indoors
Surprisingly, it’s not always the best policy to choose natural products for your flooring. Even bamboo flooring, once posited as the most eco-friendly of floor coverings, has been criticised for its environmental impacts. So, counter-intuitively, convincing man-made materials might be better for creating a biophilic environment. Companies like Porcelain Superstore have made an artform out of engineering dupes for marble, slate and limestone. These imitation materials are great because they don’t entail heavy mining (as the natural product would), can take greater wear and tear, and they look beautiful too.
Flooring outdoors
And for outdoors, durable Millboard decking mimics authentic wood but also boasts excellent environmental credentials. Decking wood often comes from sensitive global environments and has to be transported halfway across the world to get to us. Millboard decking, on the other hand, is manufactured in the UK, and contains no wood fibre whatsoever (nor plastic, you might be interested to know). The company currently offers thirteen beautifully complex shades, and three finishes. The material is moulded from natural timbers and is hand finished to achieve an authentically grained and multi-toned, organic look.
Storage and display
One sure-fire way to achieve the look (and importantly, the feel) of a natural home, is to ditch any unsightly plastic storage, and to replace it with less toxic alternatives. The great thing about this area of decoration is that budget-friendly solutions are readily available. Ikea has a wide range of attractive rattan baskets and boxes, and even sells a rattan trolley (Lubban) that provides multi-purpose storage. Tupperware can simply be swapped out for ceramic or glass storage solutions.
Finishing touches
It’s all in the detail, so for the richest biophilic experience, extend your ‘natural’ shopping list to the finer points of your room’s design. Invest in natural soaps for your bathroom, chunky wooden chopping boards, ladder plant stands (for herbs) in your kitchen, and use branches as curtain poles. One of the great joys of this design mode is that it really doesn’t have to cost a lot – you can repurpose all manner of ‘in the wild’ finds as home décor.
By referring to natural elements within a room’s scheme in this way, you’ll be creating an incredibly stylish space alongside improving your overall quality of life. And on top of that, your consumer choices will be less harmful to the planet! With all of these attributes, and with the ease of adopting the concept, it’s no wonder that architects and homeowners are embracing biophilic design.