Incorporating Natural Elements Into Your Home This Spring

📷 happyhappyhouseplant

Temperatures are rising, and the outdoors is once again bursting with new life. Everywhere you look, vibrant colors explode — emerald green grass, verdant leaves, clear blue skies and a rainbow of florals.

Liven up your home for the spring season by introducing more natural elements. You can spruce your home up with simple decor swaps or more involved home projects to add value and a peaceful, fresh mood to your space. Embracing biophilic design and all it has to offer will prepare you for this season and beyond.

What Is Biophilic Design?

Biophilia is the human desire to connect with nature. It’s the peaceful feeling you get when you hear bird songs or the splash of waves. As a design style, the intention is to bring those sensations into your home, capitalizing on the nearly 90% of your life you spend indoors. Homes with this aesthetic will have lots of natural light and materials, along with plenty of plants. They also tend towards nature-inspired color schemes.

Humans have always longed to maintain their connection with nature. However, it saw a surge in the 70s and again today. The extended shutdowns kept people isolated in increasingly dreary interiors. Nature was a safe space for everyone to spend time and meet with friends. Now, people long to continue that connection by bringing the outdoors into their homes.

Benefits of Bringing Nature Inside

Using biophilic design in your home brings myriad benefits to your family, guests and the environment. These are just a sampling of the advantages of adding the outdoors into your space and lifestyle.

📷 Jewels At Home

Lowers Stress and Anxiety

Studies show spending just two hours a week outside can drastically improve moods, reduce stress, and even promote better physical health markers like heart rate and blood pressure. Some of those benefits can transfer to your time indoors with biophilic design by recreating the sights, sounds, textures, and smells of nature in your interior space.

Improves Air Quality

Biophilic design prioritizes sustainable, natural materials. Decorating or renovating with this in mind moves beyond design aesthetics into a healthier choice. By sticking to natural decor, you’ll introduce far fewer chemicals and volatile organic compounds into your home.

Also, plants are a staple in this design style, which improves air quality by filtering out toxins and carbon dioxide. You and your guests will breathe easier.

Reduces Load on the Environment

Using biophilic design marries traditional homes with nature. It’s more than a simple aesthetic — it influences your way of life. Surrounding yourself with reminders of the world outside your four walls encourages you to live a more eco-friendly life. Plus, the elements you use in your home renovations and decor will have a lower life cycle carbon footprint and are more sustainable choices.

Ways to Add Natural Elements This Spring

Bringing biophilic design into your home this spring can be as simple as changing out some of your stale decor pieces and adding new textures, colors, and elements.

📷 whisperingbold

Add a Water Feature

Water is one of the main elements of nature and possibly one of the most soothing. Adding a water feature will enhance your space with peaceful sounds and sights. Another option is to set up a fish tank and stock it with live plants and an assortment of fish.

Add Rocks to Your Shower

Natural stone adds a textural and visual element to any space. It works well as flooring or a backsplash. A fun way to add stone to your bathroom is a rock bottom for your shower.

The large pebbles give it a natural grip and a unique appearance. If you want a less extensive project but love the idea, you can use strong glue, a shelf liner and river stones to create a DIY bathmat.

Decorate With Fruit

📷 dabito

The fresh produce of spring and summer is an array of vibrant colors. Set out a decorative bowl with a seasonal print or transparent glass to make your fruits and vegetables pop. The hues will liven up your kitchen and bring a sense of freshness to your space.

Let More Light In

📷 punodostres

Light is an essential mood-boosting ingredient. Lift your spirits and reduce your anxiety by letting in as much light as possible. Swap out your heavy winter drapes for light linen or cotton curtains. You can also remove them entirely in favor of woven cordless blinds.

Become a Plant Parent

Live plants are a foundational element of biophilic design. Faux plants can give you some of the same benefits, but living things deepen your connection with nature. If you’ve never cared for plants before, ask for some easy options at your local nursery. Select non-toxic greens if you have kids or pets who may accidentally eat them.

Set Up a Diffuser

Another way to introduce aspects of nature into your home this spring is through smell. A diffuser and essential oils will spread delightful aromas from the great outdoors throughout your space. Choose florals like lavender or rose — or more earthy scents like pine — to embrace the season.

Gather Small Treasures

📷 Jungalow

On your excursions outside, keep your eyes vigilant for little treasures to decorate your home. Unique branches, wildflowers, seashells, and rocks are simple and free ways to infuse each room with nature.

Reflect the Outdoors

If you have minimal windows, you need ways to maximize the natural light in your space. Setting up a few mirrors will increase the sunlight and reflect the outside world into your home.

Settle for Mimicry

📷 Becky Nevitt

When you can’t reflect trees into your house, you kill every plant you touch, and you don’t live in an area where you can forage for goodies, settling for mimicry is a decent fallback. Any home decor store will have faux natural elements for you to choose from. Fake florals and greens should be at the top of your list. Paintings of nature also work well.

Plant an Indoor Herb Garden

📷 Sabrina Tan

Spring is the perfect time to start an indoor herb garden. It will fill your kitchen with delicious aromas and surround you with greenery. Enjoy the sensory experience and infuse your dishes with the tasty results.

Replace Carpeting With Hardwoods

📷 Katelyn Sailor

Carpet may feel luxurious underfoot in the fall and winter, but it’s a trap for dirt, pet hair and any number of messes. Now that spring is here, it’s the perfect time to rip out tired rugs for easier maintenance and more natural options. Hardwood floors will last you a lifetime and bring a sense of the outdoors in. Options like walnut or white maple will make you feel like you’re spending a day in the forest.

Add a Fresh Coat of Paint

📷 Jungalow

Even the right colors on your wall can bring a sense of peace, drawing from the hues of nature. Soft blues, rich greens, and even bright pops of yellow will breathe new life into your space and remind you of nature. You can paint a whole room or stick to an accent wall.

Play Soothing Sounds

For a complete nature experience in the comfort of your home, use your phone and a speaker to add the sounds of the outdoors. Pleasant birdsong or crashing waves can help you wind down in the evening or start your day on the right foot — connecting with the natural world.

Blend Your Interior and Exterior

📷 threeboysandapinkbath

The central principle of biophilic design is connecting with nature frequently and deeply. Adding living things and natural materials to your home is a great start, but to turn your aesthetic into a lifestyle and receive all the benefits, you must find ways to marry your inside and outside living. Installing sliding glass doors to your backyard and creating an inviting patio or porch area will encourage the connection.

Spring Is the Perfect Time to Introduce Natural Elements

Now that the weather is warming up, open a few windows to let in fresh air and get going with your redesign. Incorporating natural elements in your home can be as simple or complex as you like — from adding new accessories and potted plants to changing out flooring. Your family and loved ones will benefit from infusions of biophilic design.

Embrace the essence of spring with DecorMatters - your key to a nature-inspired home. Unleash your creativity through their interior design app, and virtually decorate any space with earthy color palettes and organic textures. Plus, play interactive games that transform interior design into a delightful experience.