GET A NATURE-KISSED HOME WITH BIOPHILIC DESIGN

Biophilia blends your living space with nature – so you wake up each day in an eco-resort-like space and feel just as relaxed as you would during a vacation in the countryside. You get that by bringing home the sounds, smells, sights and textures of nature through things like waterfalls, bamboo or wood fixtures, lots of indoor plants and if possible, even a whole big tree inside the house growing right out of the ceiling.

Photo credits: Casa Claudia

Neuroscience validates that having natural materials around us leads to a happier mind and body. You can go deeply biophilic and revamp your home architecture to fit in the brilliant concept of biophilia; but just in case you’re not up for a big renovation project at the moment, only a few minor tweaks in your existing interior design can work as well. Here is how you start creating your own little nature-oasis.

Photo credits: Fossil Brewing Design

The water element | The sound of water is among the most therapeutic sounds in the world. Biophilia encourages you to get it home through a fountain – you can install one in an open space, inside your living area, or get a relatively smaller table fountain for your bedroom.

Photo credits: Decoist

Talking of the water element, Koi ponds make for a very pleasant, anxiety-relieving sight in the house. This Asian-inspired design feature is extremely redolent of the tropics.

A bathroom that keeps you in longer | Make your bath time even more pleasurable by planting nature in your bathroom. Put in potted plants like begonia, dracaena, haworthia, ferns and morning glories as abundantly as you can; you can also go for some really attractive bonsai. Use pebbles, river stones or bamboo bath mats on the shower floor. Take it a step further by using soaps and towels of natural materials only.

Photo credits: Home Stratosphere

Another terrific biophilic bathroom idea is to build a shower in the outdoors and make the best use of your terrace – add pretty hedges all around your shower for privacy. Thankfully in India, we have long months of sultry summer to deliriously enjoy an open air shower.

A cosy corner in your house | Another powerful tenet of biophilia is to have spaces where you can take refuge, feel cosy, protected and unhurried – a space that lets you take some off time to reflect, thereby encouraging a more mindful living. It could be, for instance, a little reading nook where you disallow yourself to use any screens or Internet connectivity.

Photo credits: Home Stratosphere

A green wall | It will be a perfect biophilic enhancement to your living room. Offset the coldness of a big TV screen or other modern paraphernalia with this live wall.

The aromas | Use incense sticks in clay or terracotta incense pots, vaporizers with essential oils or a potpourri to make your home an olfactory heaven.

The design philosophy of biophilia does so much more than just appeal to the aesthetic sense – it’s one of the best therapies you can treat yourself to. Welcome it to your life and observe its gentle transformative power.