With the classic British weather, we spend a lot of time indoors. If you still want to embrace the outside, just without the cold and rain, Nicky Roeber, Online Horticultural Expert from Wyevale Garden Centres, has given us his top five interior design tips for bringing the outdoors into your home.
As a nation, we spend a lot less time outdoors than we should, but we can easily bring the best elements of the outside into our homes. I’ll be giving you my top five tips for bringing aspects of the outdoors to the inside, which not only look great, but can also positively impact your health and wellbeing.
1. Grow indoor plants
Of course, one of the best ways you can bring your garden inside is to grow houseplants. Hardy plants like aloe vera, snake plants, spider plants, peace lilies, heart leaf philodendron, pothos, succulents and cacti are perfect to grow indoors because they can usually tolerate the indoor conditions well.
Some of these plants also have some great beneficial properties for your home as well:
- Aloe vera plants have a gel inside their leaves which has great soothing properties when applied to burns, stings, cuts, rashes and dry skin.
- Snake plants filter out toxins from the air, such as formaldehyde, which is commonly found in cleaning products, adhesives and some cosmetics. Formaldehyde is regularly linked to skin, eye, nose and throat irritation.
- Peace lilies also work to purify the air; in fact, NASA found them to be particularly effective at removing trichloroethylene, benzene and formaldehyde, which are all toxins that can build up in your home from cleaning products.
Herbs, chillies and cherry tomatoes also make great additions to your home for their practical uses. You can grow these in small pots on your kitchen windowsill and just pick them off when you need them to add a burst of flavour to your dishes.
2. Nature-inspired colours
When redecorating your home, what’s one of the first things you decide on? Colours! Review your colour scheme and try to stick to natural earthy colours like green, brown and grey. Pair your natural walls with some nature-inspired art, such as a landscape painting or paintings of birds and flowers. Shadow boxes are great if you want to try some DIY art with any interesting items you find in the garden or out walking.
3. Natural materials and patterns in décor
Natural materials and patterns can really evoke a sense of peace and can easily be incorporated into your home.
- Wood: As one of the most organic materials available to us, wood looks great in the home and can take on many styles, from raw and bare to polished and shiny. For a more natural look, pick wooden furniture with an untreated finish, which really brings out its natural grain. Polished wood is great for a modern style and is a better choice if you want a more subtle feeling of the outdoors.
- Stone: Stone can be introduced into your décor in the way of sinks, worktops and floors. Exposed brick adds a stylish touch to walls and gives a raw organic feel to the space. Bathrooms and kitchens are ideal places to use stone and are particularly effective when mixed in with other natural elements, like wood.
- Patterns: Utilising patterns is an incredibly easy way to inject flowers into your home. Add a few floral cushions to your sofa or bed or go the extra mile and put up some floral wallpaper. For a modern feel, palm prints can look great and add a lovely tropical effect to your walls and furniture.
4. Make the most of natural light
Big windows can add a fresh and open look to your interior and provide an almost seamless transition between the inside and outside. Roof windows and skylights are great at letting in natural sunlight whereas floor-to-ceiling glass can create an easy flow through to your garden. The more you have, the more natural light you’re letting in, which is great for your health and wellbeing too.
French doors can create a seamless path between your home and the outside when they’re open and let in some fresh air to stop rooms feeling stuffy. An easy way to incorporate windows and French doors into your house design is by building a conservatory, which gives you the feeling of sitting in your garden, without having to suffer the cold British weather.