6 Ways to Take the Stress Out of Your Home With Biophilic Design
Use biophilic design to improve well-being and boost creativity at home
Biophilic design is the interior trend that complements sustainable and energy-saving architectural concepts with the theories of biophilia. The aim is to create homes that are environmentally friendly yet are also capable of instilling physical and emotional well-being, reducing stress and improving concentration and creativity. How? By building spaces in harmony with our innate, and often subconscious, tendency to seek connections with nature.
Sho & Co.
Designing using biophilia means being conscious of what people perceive as pleasing, intriguing and reinvigorating in their natural surroundings, and systematically integrating the lines, colors, materials and solutions that make them feel good on both a physical and emotional level into their spaces.
But what kind of interior choices does this translate into specifically? Read on to find out.
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Designing using biophilia means being conscious of what people perceive as pleasing, intriguing and reinvigorating in their natural surroundings, and systematically integrating the lines, colors, materials and solutions that make them feel good on both a physical and emotional level into their spaces.
But what kind of interior choices does this translate into specifically? Read on to find out.
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Melissa Rieser Interiors
1. Directly Connecting With Nature
The first and most intuitive way of furnishing any indoor living space in line with the principles of biophilia is by adding plants in pots, vases and terrariums.
How to Choose a Bathroom Vanity
1. Directly Connecting With Nature
The first and most intuitive way of furnishing any indoor living space in line with the principles of biophilia is by adding plants in pots, vases and terrariums.
How to Choose a Bathroom Vanity
Rebecca Interiors & Design by Numbers
Sharing our homes with furry friends can also help us to feel closer to nature.
Sharing our homes with furry friends can also help us to feel closer to nature.
CatastrophiCreations
A biophilic home therefore has space for everything you need to respond to your pet’s needs, such as cat climbing walls and cozy dog beds, and even bird feeders, butterfly gardens and aquariums.
A biophilic home therefore has space for everything you need to respond to your pet’s needs, such as cat climbing walls and cozy dog beds, and even bird feeders, butterfly gardens and aquariums.
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Andrea Vertua Architetto
2. Connecting With Nature Through Sight
Biophilic design also encapsulates design strategies that can encourage memories of being among nature through sensory triggers.
2. Connecting With Nature Through Sight
Biophilic design also encapsulates design strategies that can encourage memories of being among nature through sensory triggers.
Tammara Stroud Design
Upholstery, wallpaper and trompe-l’oeil surfaces with floral motifs or posters of wild landscapes all work. If possible, a biophilic house should enhance the visual connection with the nature directly surrounding it through large windows.
Upholstery, wallpaper and trompe-l’oeil surfaces with floral motifs or posters of wild landscapes all work. If possible, a biophilic house should enhance the visual connection with the nature directly surrounding it through large windows.
Sho & Co.
3. Connecting With Nature Through Touch
Natural raw textures or stone and wood surfaces that have been left as untreated as possible help us feel at one with nature through touch.
3. Connecting With Nature Through Touch
Natural raw textures or stone and wood surfaces that have been left as untreated as possible help us feel at one with nature through touch.
Yummi Candles
4. Connecting With Nature Through Smell and Sound
References to nature through smell and sound can be particularly rejuvenating and calming. Candles and diffusers, small indoor fountains and natural sound simulators work well.
4. Connecting With Nature Through Smell and Sound
References to nature through smell and sound can be particularly rejuvenating and calming. Candles and diffusers, small indoor fountains and natural sound simulators work well.
The Sitting Room
6. Replicating the Feeling of Natural Spaces
Nature is full of spaces that make us feel happy, from familiar places we go to when we want to seek refuge, to new places where we rediscover the joy of the unexplored.
A biophilic house is therefore designed with this in mind: with spaces you can retreat to, such as a cozy reading corner, and spaces where you seek adventure, such as a hanging chair or a view across a vast, expansive landscape. The key is to acknowledge your need for nature and simply allow yourself to be inspired by it.
6. Replicating the Feeling of Natural Spaces
Nature is full of spaces that make us feel happy, from familiar places we go to when we want to seek refuge, to new places where we rediscover the joy of the unexplored.
A biophilic house is therefore designed with this in mind: with spaces you can retreat to, such as a cozy reading corner, and spaces where you seek adventure, such as a hanging chair or a view across a vast, expansive landscape. The key is to acknowledge your need for nature and simply allow yourself to be inspired by it.
Silo Studios
5. Repeating Natural Forms
Another biophilic design strategy is to replicate the organic structures that we find in nature, by prioritizing soft, rounded shapes.
5. Repeating Natural Forms
Another biophilic design strategy is to replicate the organic structures that we find in nature, by prioritizing soft, rounded shapes.
Carl Mattison Design
The use of repetitive biomorphic patterns has a similar effect and therefore also plays an interesting role in biophilic design.
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The use of repetitive biomorphic patterns has a similar effect and therefore also plays an interesting role in biophilic design.
More on Houzz
Read more stories about creating a feel-good home
Find a pro for your next home project
Shop for home products
Biologists and psychologists began studying biophilia in the mid-20th century, developing a scientific theory to articulate humans’ innate affinity with nature and all living beings. Some seek now to apply biophilic theories to architecture and urban planning. The idea that we need nature in design couldn’t be more relevant to modern living — as we found out during the pandemic.
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