Your home is not just brick and mortar – it’s a living, breathing environment central to your life! What better way to honor that connection than to bring more light and life into your living space?
You may be interested in naturalistic interior design if you love the outdoors. In this blog, we’re breaking down biophilic design and naturalistic design concepts. You’ll discover how to mix natural beauty with modern comfort, helping you create spaces that feel alive, relaxing, and inviting.
What Is Naturalistic and Biophilic Design?
Let’s start with a quick biophilic design definition. Biophilic design focuses on creating a stronger bond with nature. It adds nature-inspired elements to your home’s architecture and other lasting features.
This design principle emphasizes natural elements like light, air, water, greenery, and organic materials. These elements help you feel connected to nature and aim to reduce stress.
Naturalistic design, a close concept, emphasizes adding natural materials and elements into the home and curating an earthy aesthetic to create spaces that reflect the colors, textures, and forms found outdoors.
Key elements of naturalistic design:
- Natural light and ventilation
- Indoor plants and greenery
- Water features or visual access to water
- Organic shapes and textures (wood grain, stone, linen)
- Nature-inspired colors (greens, browns, blues)
- Views of the outdoors or actual outdoor integration
This design aims to increase contact with nature, even inside your home. Studies show that indoor plants effect on human functions can benefit health, such as reduced cortisol (a.k.a. the stress hormone) and improved cognitive function.
How to Incorporate Biophilic Design Into Your Kitchen
The kitchen is the heart of the home, perfect for integrating the principles of biophilic interior design.
Use Natural Materials
Choose cabinets made from sustainably harvested wood. Use stone or recycled materials for countertops and consider adding accents like bamboo or cork for a natural look.
Think about tactile surfaces that remind you of the outdoors: leathered granite, raw-edge wood, or hand-thrown ceramic tiles. Quartz, stone, or marble backsplashes can all look great in contrast to your appliances, faucets, and cabinets.
Maximize Natural Light
Skylights or garden windows can bring natural light into your kitchen. Large windows or sliding full-sized doors can also be great for seeing the natural environment outdoors.
Bring in the Green
Create a kitchen herb garden on your windowsill or a vertical plant wall. Even hanging pots of trailing ivy or pothos can turn a functional kitchen into a nurturing sanctuary.
The effects of indoor plants on air quality have been shown to improve air quality by reducing harmful chemicals, improving humidity, and lowering the temperature!
Bathrooms are great for ferns, aloe vera, snake plants, and peace lilies. These varieties thrive in humidity and help purify the air.
Choose palettes that mimic natural settings—forest greens, sky blues, sandy neutrals. These soothing tones can help regulate emotions and support well-being, especially in busy family kitchens.
Earth-Inspired Color Palettes
Choose palettes that mimic natural settings—forest greens, sky blues, sandy neutrals. These soothing tones can help regulate emotions and support well-being, especially in busy family kitchens.
