Biophilic Design: How to Nurture Your Indoor Space With Nature

How do you design your house to help you think better, relax more, and be more creative? Try subscribing to biophilic design philosophy.

Biophilic design focuses on incorporating natural elements into our indoor spaces. Numerous studies support the premise that natural light, fresh air, and a view of the outdoors may be helpful to our health.

Working in a room with natural light may raise productivity, improve mood, and improve sleep quality, according to a 2013 study by Northwestern University brain lab researchers.

A refuge is any location where your back is shielded, and there is a canopy over you. A canopy bed, a patio seat beneath an umbrella, a high-back chair, or even a seat hidden near a window or fireplace may all fit the bill. It allows you to take a break without distraction. It’s particularly relaxing if you’ve been caged up and huddled with others.

Houseplants are a simple way to begin your biophilic design adventure. However, more than one philodendron or Kimberly Queen fern should be used to create a flora-intensive space.

Don’t be afraid to pile on the plants! The more leaves the better.

Biophile design emphasizes the importance of opening curtains or rearranging furniture to generate outdoor vistas, particularly if you can see trees, plants, birds, or butterflies. Hopefully, the view is lengthy, stretching 100 feet (30 metres) or more. Close work, such as looking at a computer, causes eyestrain, but a long perspective allows the muscles at the rear of your eyes to rest.

If you aren’t lucky enough to have a lush green view, then try to bring in nature-inspired patterns through your carpets, wall coverings, curtains, and textiles.

While scientific backing for biophilic design is new, past generations were aware of nature’s healing effects. “The health of the eye appears to need a horizon,” poet Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his essay “Nature” more than a century ago.