Three Ways To Bring Nature Back Into Your Home

With our huge, glistening cities made of concrete, steel and glass, it can sometimes feel like we’ve completely rejected the natural world. While we have a few parks placed here and there, testaments to our attempts to bring a little nature to the cities, it’s still not all that uncommon for the average person to crave some green among the grey.

And what better way to satisfy that desire than by updating your Australian real estate to reflect the mores of Mother Nature? Here are a few tips to bring a bit of life back into your property.

1) Rawsome Materials

Raw materials are very much in vogue at the moment. It’s almost impossible to walk into a recently-renovated home for sale and not spot at least a little natural stone or organic wood. Often combined with an overarching minimalist design, a touch of wood gives a natural atmosphere to a room while also providing a rustic, homely feel.

Kitchens with good access to sunlight get a real boost from the use of raw, lighter stone such as marble, as the natural light scatters over the surface – it almost looks like it sparkles. If you want to try something a little more regal than rustic, add a bit of brass as an accent to the stone. The legs or foundations of tall bar stools around the kitchen island present an excellent opportunity to add burnished copper as a perfect complement.

2) Embrace Biophilia

Biophilic design is a trending new style philosophy that believes  humans benefit in mind, body and soul from the incorporation of more natural aspects to their daily lives. That could be as simple as more indoor plants, right up to a complete overhaul of your interior to include more natural elements.

“In the process of people experiencing nature we see reductions in stress, we see improved healing rates, we see enhanced cognitive function, we see better creativity, we see a variety of ways that that plays out,” explained property expert Bill Browning in an interview with Planet Experts. This is not merely an aesthetic choice, it is a chance to improve nearly every aspect of your life.

For example, an office enriched with potted plants could boost your productivity by 15 per cent according to one study from the University of Queensland, while even NASA have lauded the abilities of common house plants like peace lilies to clear the air of harmful chemicals.

What this all means is that a lush, verdant cornucopia of potted plants and succulents scattered about your real estate could bring more than just a splash of green to your decor.

3) Put a Cork in It

Cork isn’t just for boards any more. It has natural mildew resistance, making it perfect for a bathroom, but it has far more applications than just in the smallest room. Consider covering a wall in a home office with this natural material, giving you a distinct point of difference as well as converting that space into a vertical filing cabinet with some drawing pins.

This method gives you the chance to quickly chop and change your decor without having to worry about driving in nails for art frames. It’s natural, it’s chic, and it helps define the room in the minds of any visitors or buyers that might be swinging by. Even better, you get the chance to experience an environmentally-friendly inner glow – cork is harvested from the tree every 10 years without harming the plant, meaning that it can be sustainably gathered again and again with hardly any effect on the environment.

If you’re finding yourself yearning for a reconnection with nature, make it easier on yourself with a revisit to your interior home design.