With the last weeks of summer looming ahead, it becomes more important to spend our days appreciating the time with nature, family and friends in comfortable environments that are in tune with the sunny season. While avoiding the scorching rays of summer, one can still enjoy its benefits within the comfort and safety of home in a way that enhances creativity, sensory stimulation, and encourages design opportunities. By bringing the outdoor element to our interiors we can create spaces that contribute to a more conductive environment, come up with innovative and personalized design solutions, and create a holistic living space. This is why today we are bringing forth some creative and unexpected suggestions to open one’s door to the natural world while the festive summer mood still reigns.
A classic approach
The first and most straightforward approaches that come to one’s mind is the incorporation of indoor plants, enhancing natural light, and drawing inspiration from biophilic design. While natural light opens up your interior and creates an airy feeling, indoor plants improve air quality and create a calming atmosphere that makes room for other adjustments. Lastly, following the guidelines of biophilic design to incorporate natural elements such as wood, stone, and natural textiles, integrates an organic aspect to our stylized interiors. Nonetheless, these methods alone may lack an inventive angle and while they work effectively on their own, one can also dare to step outside the comfort of standard guidelines to experiment with unusual techniques that produce breathtaking results.
Walls that breathe
One of such methods relies on the use of living walls: installations which bring a lush, green, and vivid feeling to interiors that almost seem to breathe with the beauty they bring. These can consist of a vertical garden or moss walls depending on the space available. Using vertical planting systems or wall mounted planters, one can arrange a variety of plants such as trailing vines, lush foliage, and flowering plants with varied shapes and textures that create a dynamic look. Similarly, in the case of a moss wall the selection of different types and shades of this plant can be strategically arranged to create visually engaging patterns or gradients.
Nature in art
Another large-scale approach to the construction of a natural and open aesthetic consists of embellishing one’s walls with nature-inspired murals. Whether it is a forest, beach, or mountain landscape, a custom made mural envelops our room and expands its boundaries with a newfound depth. Through skillful artistry, this feature can create the illusion of a connection with the outdoors, inviting occupants to immerse themselves in a serene oasis amidst the daily hustle of city life.
Light that changes
Next we have the possibility of bringing the changing patterns of the sky indoors as offered by ceiling skylights. This interplay of light and design imparts a heavenly sense of openness and vitality that allows us to experience the passage of time and weather transitions from the comfort of our home. As an artistic element, skylights also serve to enrich an ambiance with an ethereal quality and to foster a sense of connection with nature’s rhythms. To appreciate their full effect, they can be naturally styled above an arrangement of comfortable seating or a cozy reading nook to make the most of their glow.
A transparent approach
In harmony with this airy and ethereal aesthetic, one can embellish interiors with glass elements that introduce a graceful and clear touch to any design. Imagine the effect produced by replacing wooden floors with glass that opens up the secrets of the ground below. This is especially impactful and effective in multi-level spaces to give the illusion of walking through a canopy of trees. However, besides its use as a revealing material, glass can also house the beauty of miniature ecosystems through terrariums or a vivarium. These delicate worlds provide a glance at the outside environment and serve as captivating focal points for conversation starters.
Appreciating nature in private
Lastly, we cannot underestimate the quiet appeal of carefully designed hidden nooks or alcoves filled with natural elements. These cozy corners can be adorned with plants, soft lighting, tree trunk furniture, and nature-inspired textures to recreate the atmosphere of a secret garden. For example, furniture made from reclaimed tree trunks suddenly become functional works of art that endow interiors with a raw beauty from the outdoors. Meanwhile, natural and unconventional gestures such as tree bark wall coverings or stone-textures upholstery also create an ornate bridge with nature.
Final note
The approach of welcoming the outside in has been a timeless and captivating trend in the world of interior design and in holistic advances. When we intertwine the natural world with the built environment, we are not only enhancing an aesthetic but transforming living spaces into vital sanctuaries. Whether it is through the incorporation of verdant plants, organic furniture, or nature-inspired patterns, this philosophy of design invites us to forge a deeper connection with our surroundings beyond our walls.