Written by: Rinka D
Our personal space, our home is the most secure and serene place where we all want to be after a hard workday at school or office. The question arises, if adding just the right amount of aesthetically balanced natural environment, which can give us a sense of life, growth and progression (we are talking of real plants and not plastic IKEA one’s). Very often than not it seems like adding few plants and creepers here and there is not good enough for creating a better indoor living space, but with our observations about such spaces we have learnt to design nature
inclusive house designs. This considers variety of spaces within the house which can be uplifted and enhanced extremely well to create a well balanced Biophilic House. Some such ideas are discussed here, so feel free to make them your own to create just the right space for yourself.
1. Making best use of a window opening is essential as it is our way of connecting the internal space to the exteriors. A view of the large expanse of the sky with some beautiful trees around helps. Curtains are also great but lighter ones and with floral or nature inspired prints can add that artistic and eclectic taste to your urban abode.
2. A balcony or a terrace space is the perfect opportunity to add that biophilic essence to your everyday life. A balcony can accommodate vertical plantation and can free up the floor space for a small coffee table along with some foldable chairs. A cup of fresh tea or coffee is just what you will need along with a book to feel the simple pleasure of life being with nature and outside your built space.
3. A terrace garden space seems like a daunting task, but it is simplified with design which can consider the hardscape and softscape space with defined space for large plantation then the work is easier said than done. Several small climbers and creepers can be part of the house interiors, but for outdoor terrace consider growing perennial shrubs (few in number) and fewer tall trees which creates a sense of sitting under the tree and reading a book. Maybe our love for reading is what we would like to suggest our customers.
4. Adding a water body next to the open space our courtyard space in a house can also add lot of fun to the house. You can grow lilies or lotus in them for a serene Monet painting effect within the house. Water has such a simple and calming effect on us that it cannot be avoided to accentuate our hardwired connectivity with nature.
5. At home our study spaces or work desks are usually filled with our papers and stationery, but if we can create some space for plants then it can be a great boost for keeping our desk clear, plant watered and work on schedule. Such a small gesture can go a long way as it is decorative move but also has an impact on us in pushing us to creating a clutter free nature inspired space.
6. Use of
natural building materials and products cannot be stressed any further in our Climate Change Crisis days in 2022 while the world over is thinking and looking forward to doing some very impactful changes to deal with it. Its time for us also to make the move with natural and more sustainable products for our everyday surrounding along with plants. Use of cane, bamboo materials and products, recycled, paper, handmade soaps, etc etc can be part of our sustainability list but are a great way of adding essence of biophilic nature to our home.
7. Along with all the above, there is need to give importance to keep the overall look and feel of our house in accordance with nature and natural light. We can try to keep the colour palette of our house simple with pastel shades or just natural wood, or stone floor etc can add up to be the extension of outdoor feel to our interior spaces as well. Colours have a great impact on our mood and mindset, a beautiful rainy day with a cup of coffee has the same Hygge effect as sitting in a arid climate with all wooden furniture and paste shade soft furnishings for curtains, sofa fabric, etc. Some do feel they need to highlight certain spaces within the house, but with our years if experience we have realised that it may look good for a shorter duration of time and then it looks mundane and monotonous, but in the same breath nature and being outdoors never gets dull. It is essential to design spaces which can breathe in the artistic qualities of a space is a very understandable and understated way.
8. Certain Pattern’s and textures are quite interesting to consider as they can be nature inspired and can ebb to coax our minds to consider an illusion of nature within the house. Since copying nature is not easy, it is essential to make very thoughtful decision so that one doesn’t land up with a juxtaposition of ideas which had an intention of getting nature within, but landed up making it quite a busy thing to look at within the house. Art within a house is a very selective and eclectic taste of the homeowner, but if the art inspired by nature is not balanced it can create spaces which are not welcoming or inspiring. So it will be great to select very few pieces of art for the house which are inspired by nature and allow them to be part of the house for some time, so that you can see how your mind and body reacts to it rather than taking a quick decision about the same.
We hope our honest opinions and feedbacks are of some help and assistance to you and your adventure in designing and developing your biophilic house. There are so many more ideas that we will be glad to discuss if you have any query. Do write to us at homeplansind@gmail.com and let’s begin a talk about what can be done.
