How To Incorporate Nature Into Your Home
The easiest way to incorporate biophilic design in the home is to start by introducing greenery into indoor spaces.
Biophilia is one of the hottest buzzwords in the design scene in recent years for a few good reasons. The word itself means ‘love of life’. American biologist Edward Wilson brought the term mainstream with his 1984 book Biophilia, in which he made a hypothesis that humans have an innate tendency to seek connections with nature.
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Various studies have since proven that this connection with nature can benefit our health. Thus, biophilic design, defined as a sustainable design strategy that seeks to reconnect us with nature, is more important than ever in our home.
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“We spend 90 per cent of our time indoors, and these days, ‘indoors’ means ‘at home’. So there is this greater urgency to infuse biophilic design into our domestic environment,” says landscape designer Anton Siura, founder of Siura Studio. Here are some simple ways to DIY biophilic design into your living space.
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Sunshine and fresh air are the two most basic needs of all living things. So turn off the aircon and open your window. Ensure that you clean your windows regularly and choose blinds and curtains that are unobstructive and easy to control. This open courtyard populated by creepers in a home designed by Produce is an excellent biophilic design strategy.
You or someone you know has become a plant parent recently for a good reason. We crave to nurture other living beings, and house plants provide a myriad of options in various commitment levels, ranging from a small desktop pot to a vertical green wall. Opt for hanging indoor planters like shown in this home by Studio Siura to keep the floor open and clean. Some plants, like air plants (Tillandsia sp.), require no soil nor watering, and they will purify the air. Others like the money plant (Epipremnum aureum), mother-in-law’s tongue (Dracaena trifasciata) and zz plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) are some of the hardy plants popular in Singapore that require only monthly watering. Can’t make it? Fake it. Artificial plants or plant and botanical-themed wallpaper can create similar biophilic responses. Pair these artificial plants with floral-scented home fragrances for a more intense biophilic effect.
Maybe you’ve aced plant parenting, and now you are ready to move into something more sophisticated, like building a working mini-ecosystem. There are two kinds that are popular in Singapore: terrariums and aquascapes.
“Terrarium can be sustainable with minimal care, so it is a good entry point to cultivating green,” says Charles Loh, founder of Mossingarden. To create your own terrarium, you need a glass container, soil mix, pebbles, rocks, moss, and small plants. Watch the step-by-step terrarium building with Charles in Tiny Garden (episode 1) on Home & Decor’s Youtube channel.
Aquascape, short for aquatic landscape, is a resource-hungry ecosystem compared to the terrarium, but owning one has several benefits. It makes for a dynamic, ever-changing design element; it creates an ecosystem for aquatic pets, and with careful planning, it can be self-cleaning. To build an aquascape, you would need artificial lighting, water filters, CO² systems, aquatic plants, and hardscape materials like aquarium driftwood and rocks. These elements are all available to buy in any aquascaping shop. “Layer your aquatic plants according to height, and match the shape of the container proportionately to the plants – a tall container, for example, is great for tall plants,” says Anton.
The year 2021 is big on neutral shades, ranging from nourishing pastels like beige, taupe and oatmeal to more cheerful tones like terracotta. Pair these with other colours and patterns that remind you of nature like seafoam and forest green. Murals or wallpapers that depict natural scenes work well, too.
Most living beings have curves and organic shapes, but today’s buildings are dominated by straight lines and rigid geometry. The easiest way to work around this and get that biophilic effect is to add curves and organic shapes into your home via furniture and homewares, like an organic-shaped sofa or cabinets and storage with rounded corners. In addition to softening the overall look, these organic elements are also eye-catching and child-friendly.
Microgreens are vegetable sprouts between 2.5 to 7.5cm tall. Nutritious and aromatic, they are a popular addition to various dishes that enhance the flavour and fulfil the fibre intake. A bed of microgreens is the smallest form of an edible garden, and it is reasonably simple to make.
You would need takeaway containers in two depths, peat, seeds, a garden trowel and a drill. You can watch the step-by-step microgreen growing with Jack Yam, founder of The Midnight Gardener, in the Tiny Garden video series on Home & Decor’s website as well.
The cool touch of marble, warmth and grain of timber, irregularity of natural stone, texture of linen against the skin, and sounds of trickling water – these sensorial experiences are part of biophilic design. Bring these into your home via finishes, soft furnishings and gadgets – think of hemp rugs and carpets, linen throws, or fluffy towels against cool tiles, as well as a water fountain and ambient sounds played on your smart audio system. Plants, ample sunlight, natural materials, textures and connection to the outside world make for a biophilic home seen in this design by Monocot Studio.
The balcony is one of the most underutilised spaces in our home. And its bare minimum of 1.5m-width is more than enough to create a garden using pots and planters. Planning is the key, according to interior designer Cherin Tan, founder of LAANK.
She would plan the design of a balcony garden by defining its function. Do you want it to have a seating area? Then start by selecting the key outdoor furniture. How much sunlight does the balcony have? This will determine the kinds of plants suitable to complement those furniture pieces. For more, watch Cherin plan a balcony garden in Tiny Garden on Home & Decor’s website.
This article originally appeared on Home & Decor