Bringing the Outdoors In Through Interior Design

Nature has a significant impact on our health, behavior, mental wellbeing, and stress levels, making it an essential component of our lives. Given our fast-paced lives, we could all use a little bit of nature's calming, peaceful, and rejuvenating effects right now. Here are some creative ways of incorporating outdoor elements into your home. 
If you are ready to hire an interior designer for your home or business, contact Swati Goorha Designs today. We also offer our virtual design service, Ask an Interior Designer, for those who would like a little help with DIY design. 

Indoor Plants

Using indoor plants is one of the simplest and easiest ways to bring the outdoors in, so it is no surprise that indoor plants have become increasingly popular in home decor. Besides being beneficial for their air-purifying quality, plants are a great way to add color, life, and a natural element to your home. Think beyond the traditional snake plant, and look to creative options like terrariums, live moss, or small rock gardens for a more unusual and exciting look. A succulent garden on a coffee table can be a great way to add greenery to your space. Plants are also a great way to add height and depth to a space — a beautiful tall plant (like an olive tree or the ever-popular fiddle leaf fig tree) is an excellent addition to any empty corner that needs something to liven it up!

Biophilic colors

If you read our previous post touching on the recent popularity of biophilic design, you may already be familiar with this trend. Biophilic design incorporates nature, whether directly or indirectly, into a space, and using colors that mimic nature is a great way to do this. Whether you incorporate these colors through wall paint, upholstery fabrics, artwork, or small accents throughout a room, a nature-inspired color palette of greens, blues, and various earth tones will create a calm and serene environment.

Green Walls

There are multiple options for green walls with live plants, but not all of us have a green thumb; for all the brown thumb peeps, green moss walls are an excellent way to incorporate greenery into your space, without the maintenance. These dry moss walls can be placed anywhere in the house and need no maintenance or upkeep. A green wall or a vertical garden is a unique way to create an oasis of greenery inside. If you don't necessarily have the floor or shelf space for plants or want to do something a little different, this is a great option. For visual purposes, a living wall is like a three-dimensional piece of art that serves as an air purifier and noise reducer.

Photo Credit Wabi Moss

Natural materials 

Thinking beyond plants, another great way to bring an element of the outdoors inside is through the use of organic materials. Utilizing elements like natural wood, rattan, jute, and sisal is a great way to add texture and warmth to your space and to add an organic design element. We also love adding fresh flowers and fresh-cut branches. The pops of color and scent of fresh-cut flowers, branches, and herbs are great ways to enhance a space. Additionally, fresh lemons in a bowl on a table or a tray of fresh apples on an island can add a much-needed pop of color.

Effective lighting

Natural light has a significant effect on our mood and wellbeing. Being in a space that's bright and has a lot of natural light lifts your spirits and supports a sense of wellbeing. While one can't always control the quality of natural light, there are ways to maximize lighting with strategically placed reflective surfaces like mirrors opposite windows, glass, and reflective furniture in dark corners. Effective window dressing and brighter colors that mimic nature will brighten an otherwise dark room. Additionally, effective lighting is essential in a space; think beyond chandeliers and downlights. Utilize multiple lighting sources to create a mood in an area, such as floor lamps, table lamps, picture lights, and task lights to create a cohesive lighting strategy for your space. Lighting is a very important aspect in a space, in design we call it the hidden accent and if done right, it can truly enhance a space, if done wrong even the best design room will fall flat. 

We hope that this blog post helped give you some ideas about how to bring the outdoors in with interior design. If you plan on trying some of these techniques yourself and designing your own space, consider our Ask an Interior Designer service. We can provide you with some professional interior design guidance from Swati Goorha to bring your space together to create a room you truly love to spend time in. Learn more about our Ask an Interior Designer service or contact us for our full-service commercial or residential interior design services.