Exploring Ideas For A Biophilic Home Design

23 December 2023

Biophilic design has become a popular global interior design trend. Pinterest Business reported a 100% increase in searches for “biophilic design bedroom” between 2019 and 2021.

This design approach is rooted in biophilia, humans’ innate affinity with the natural world.

Moreover, it has practical applications in design. Research indicates that it can positively affect productivity and well-being.

For instance, a study showed that people spent 11% more time in biophilic-inspired hotel lobbies.

Similarly, schools in Washington State saw a 5% increase in student test scores and a 15% reduction in absenteeism with a biophilic design approach.

Let us explore what interior designers suggest for a biophilic home and ideas that you must explore!

Understanding Biophilic Home Designs

The modern world of technology has taken a new direction towards nature. Robotics, AI, and the Internet of Things (IOT) have caused urban architects to incorporate biophilic designs.

These designs involve greenery and natural elements. It helps to improve air quality, airflow, circadian rhythm, heart rate, and human health.

Biophilic designs stimulate visual connection and enhance the multi-sensory experience using indoor plants and natural patterns.

Stephen Kellert and Edward O. Wilson, who founded biophilic designs, have made nature feel more accessible at home. He incorporates plants, sunlight, natural materials, and fresh air.

How To Make Your Home Biophilic?

Given below are the different aspects that you can add to your home for a biophilic design—

Add Plenty Of Greens

Integrating plants into your interior design can create a natural and inviting ambiance. Adding greens helps enhance the aesthetic aspects of a biophilic home, ensuring a calming environment. Moreover, indoor plants help purify the air inside your home.

However, this does not necessarily mean you must go overboard and transform your home into a tropical paradise.

You can opt for potted plants, hanging baskets, or even a simple vase with fresh-cut flowers. Match your live elements with the color scheme of your decor. Most home designing experts advise you to get more succulents for your home. These plants require less watering but look amazing in every setting.

Alternatively, nature-inspired artwork, botanical prints, or murals can bring the outdoors in.

The idea is to create a synergy between the artificial environment and the natural world. This home design can positively impact your mood, health, and well-being.

Therefore, incorporating natural elements into your interior design can create a more harmonious and balanced living. This biophilic element can be functional and beautiful at the same time.

Enable Natural Lighting

Incorporating natural light into interior spaces has numerous benefits.

Biophilic design emphasizes the connection between humans and nature. Therefore, it prioritizes light and space to create a healthier, harmonizing, and more comfortable environment.

Biophilic home designs use different components of warmth and sunlight. Natural light can blend the boundaries between the interior and exterior of a space.

For instance, large windows and skylights can allow sunlight to stream in, making a space more open and inviting.

Additionally, glass roofs and walls allow you to save electricity with natural lighting during the daytime.

If you can reduce your exposure to artificial lighting, you say goodbye to stress and fatigue. It helps invigorate the body and mind.

Therefore, we can design spaces incorporating biophilic principles to improve our well-being and strengthen our connection to nature. It creates spaces that promote well-being and encourage a greater appreciation for the natural world.

Use Organic Decor Items

Biophilic design is a concept that aims to connect people with nature by incorporating natural elements into the built environment.

To create a peaceful atmosphere and promote a sense of well-being in your home, incorporate natural materials like leather, wood, and stone for your decor items. This brings a natural touch to the textures, colors, and forms around your home.

Furthermore, using subdued and organic color schemes can also help to enhance the calming and stress-reducing properties of biophilic design. Handcraft your decor with jute ropes,

Therefore, you can create an affordable and easy-to-maintain space with these decor items. That is aesthetically pleasing and enhances your physical and mental health.

Maintain The Patio

Biophilia is an evolutionary concept that suggests humans have an innate affinity for nature. This idea is gaining traction in outdoor architecture and design as well.

Biophilic design is a concept that aims to create a connection with nature and its resources. To achieve this in your outdoor space, you can incorporate some major additions like the following:

Eco-friendly composite decking.
Vertical gardens.
Green screens in small spaces.

Native plants can help support wildlife and blur the boundaries between the territory and nature. Therefore, it is essential to consider factors such as sunlight exposure and irrigation when selecting plant species for your patio.

Furthermore, incorporating water elements like fountains or cascades can help create a tranquil atmosphere.

It is also important to choose outdoor furniture inspired by nature instead of plastic. Install fire pits made of natural materials like stone or metal. This can help create a comfortable and inviting outdoor biophilic space.

Let The Air Flow

Achieving a biophilic home design involves paying attention to the air circulation within each room.

You can start by determining the direction of the wind around your home. Next, open your windows accordingly to facilitate the flow of fresh air.

Additionally, you can enhance the airflow in your home by ensuring that your rooms are spacious and free of clutter.

Consider using furniture that provides ample storage space to keep your rooms organized and uncluttered. This allows the air to circulate freely throughout your home.

By creating a well-ventilated and spacious environment, you can enhance the biophilic design of your home. Therefore, bring nature indoors and improve your overall well-being.

Add Water Features

Adding water features like cascades, fountains, or reflecting pools to your outdoor space can incorporate a biophilic design. It helps create a serene atmosphere.

The sound and sight of water can instantly transport you to nature and induce a feeling of tranquility and relaxation.

You can go for a small pond or stream in your backyard if you have a generous budget. This addition can create a more natural and immersive experience.

However, a small water fountain in your garden, patio, or deck can do the trick if you prefer a simpler option.

It’s a quick and easy way to add elegance and calmness to your outdoor space!

Wrap It Up With A Fire Pit

Adding a fire pit to your outdoor space can significantly impact its ambiance and appeal.

By creating a warm and inviting atmosphere, fire pits can make your outdoor area a more comfortable and enjoyable place to spend time.

Furthermore, fire is a natural element that can uniquely evoke feelings of tranquility and connection with nature.

Therefore, incorporating a fire pit into your outdoor design can help create a biophilic environment that promotes relaxation and well-being.

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Ankita Tripathy

Ankita Tripathy loves to write about food and the Hallyu Wave in particular. During her free time, she enjoys looking at the sky or reading books while sipping a cup of hot coffee. Her favourite niches are food, music, lifestyle, travel, and Korean Pop music and drama.

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Smart Fun Gardening: How to Take Care of a Money Tree

The beauty of gardening is to see your seedlings grow into healthy beautiful plants. Some of the plants we grow in our homes have natural meanings attached to them while others we grow them to remind us of something special. Money tree which is also known as Pachira aquatic is a tree grown to symbolize prosperity and good luck. The money tree can grow up to 60 feet tall when it naturally grows outdoor, but when we decide to domesticate it, we limit its growth to 6 or 7 feet tall. There natively grow in South, and Central American swamps and you can determine the age of the tree by its size. In many customs of the world, the tree is linked to prosperity and positivity. It creates a positive aura that allows for economic benefits to flow into the family. However, caring and doing regular maintenance can become difficult for normal human beings and families. This is why a good idea is to opt for growing trees with Tree Service Stockton. They are professionals who can take care of everything from planting to regular pruning and fertilizers. This will ensure that your money tree will always be healthy. Image of money tree that symbolizes prosperity How to grow a money plant can be easy, but how to take care of the five trunks braided tree can be a challenge. The braided trunk is a symbol of a lock that locks in your prosperity and good luck. Here are tips on how to take care of a money tree: Where to Grow A smaller pot is preferred for the growth of your money tree because it regulates the growth of your tree and also controls water and fertilizer. Big pots make it easy for you to overwater the plant. Your pot should have a proper drainage system and if you suspect that’s not the case then drill more holes at the bottom of your pot. DynaPOT 2 Gallon Garden Planting Aeration Fabric Container is a nice choice because it is eco-friendly and has a perfect drainage system. Also, place your tree in a place with indirect light because direct sunlight makes the leaves vulnerable to scorching. However, if you notice that the leaves are turning yellow or withering then expose them to more light because that is an indication of light deficiency. Fluorescent light can do the magic if you are growing the tree inside your house or at the office. Glossy and healthy leaves of Pachira aquatic Money tree grows well in moderate to high humid regions that why they mostly grow in South and Central America. When you domesticate the plant regulate the humidity at about 50% and above. Wet pebbles are a great way of maintaining humidity for your plant all you need to do is place the pot on a basin with wet pebbles. Also, you have to retain the room temperature around 16-25°C. When there is no enough humidity in the room the plant will respond by turning its leaves dry crispy. Read also: 5 Essential Tips To Designing A Beautiful Front Yard Garden Fertilizer and Watering When it comes to domesticating the money tree, you get a challenge of water and fertilizer ratio and how often you should add them to the plant. This tree needs moist soil but not wet to grow well. So you will need to water it after 7-10 days or when you notice that the top 3-4 inches of the soil are dry. Then thoroughly water your plant until water comes from the drainage system, but you have to avoid watering up to the trunk because the stem may start to rot. However, you have to cut down on water during winter because the growth is slow at this time of the year. When you see the leaves of your plants turning yellow, and you have put them in the right lighting condition then it may be an indicator or overwatering your plant. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txHs21rkED0[/embed] How to grow and care for your money tree During spring and summer, you can add water-soluble fertilizer that is diluted by half after every two weeks. Whether you want to use an organic or inorganic fertilizer that’s a personal choice that does not have a significant impact on the plant. The Grow More 5010 All Purpose Fertilizer 20-20-20 is a multi-purpose fertilizer that contains all the micro and macronutrients your tree will need for healthy growth. Read also: Does Organic Gardening Improve Soil Quality? Pruning and Shaping Pruning is one of the easiest steps when it comes to taking care of your money plant. You can use a clean pair of scissors or prune shears to remove yellow or damaged leaves and also side branches that could disrupt the braiding process. The pruning process is usually done during spring and summer to allow the plant to produce new leaves. Image of a well braided Pachira aquatic Do the braiding (shaping) of the money tree while the plant is still young and flexible. In the wild nature takes its course and braids the tree at a particular stage. Continue braiding the tree as it grows and ties a knot at the end of the braid to secure it. Repotting As the tree grows the roots also grow, and that’s why it is recommended that you report your plant after every two years. However, when the tree has reached your desired size, you can just report in the same sized pot with fresh soil. Mix your soil with peat moss to help in retaining moisture and sand to help in drainage. Avoid moving the plant too much because it gets shocked and responds by losing leaves or leaves turning yellow. How to Propagate Propagation should be done during spring because the growth rate is at its peak during this season. Chose a stem that contains not less than two leaf nodes. Sanitize a pair of scissors or pruning shears and chop off the stem then place it in a hormone rooting powder. When you the stem is well-soaked place it in a well moist pot mix. Give it time because it takes several weeks to start rooting. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlZVZkKy6IY[/embed] How to propagate money tree It is easier to take care of your money tree if you know the favored conditions and how to troubleshoot any problems. The Pachira aquatic gives out various signs if they are not satisfied with the conditions that you place them. The soil that you plant your tree in is critical because it needs to have the ability to retain moisture throughout. Like most plants, the money plant is prone to aphids, mealybugs, and scale insects which will affect their growth. How to get rid of mealybugs can be a bit hectic if they infest your garden but you can use systemic insect control to treat your plant in case you notice the infestation.

What Are Trailing Plants? – What Are The Types Of Trailing Plants?

According to many people, having a garden in your house is said to invoke a real sense of creativity. People say this because they seem to feel refreshed and creative if there is a lot of vegetation surrounding them. Also, many consider gardening to be an innovative form of expression. Therefore, which plant to have in your garden will decide its beauty in the eyes of the beholder. If you are new to gardening, then this article is for you. Here, you will learn about the various types of trailing plants and some of the best breeds of them. What Are Trailing Plants? Trailing plants are a unique breed of pretty long and slender plants. Their stems grow more extended, often taking up the length of the entire room vertically. These plants are generally kept in balconies and bigger rooms, like dining or living rooms. They are also typically placed in pots and then hung from the ceiling. These plants are often called creepers or climbers, or even spiky plants because they have slender stems mistaken for vines. These vines require support to grow. Therefore, they follow the surface of the roofs or the walls to propel themselves and grow in a specific direction. Types Of Trailing Plants There are two distinct types of trailing plants that can be categorized. They are, 1. Flowering Trailing Plants As the name suggests, flowering trailing plants are simply trailing plants that can produce flowers of their own. These often look great because when these trailing plants become bigger, they will make flowers all over their stems. The longer their vines have grown, the more flowers they will produce. 2. Non-Flowering Trailing Plants As the name suggests, non-flowering trailing plants are the direct opposite of flowering trailing plants. These foliage plants do not produce any flowers and are mostly greenish yellowish. These are the most common types of trailing plants that you get to see in people's houses Best Trailing Plants For Your Garden If you have finally decided to buy trailing plants, then here are seven of the breeds that we highly recommend you add to your balcony or garden. 1. Golden Pothos One of the most popular trailing plants in the market is scientifically known as Epipremnum Aureum. We recommend you start your trailing plants gardening journey with this newbie-friendly plant. Because setting up this plant to hang from the ceiling is the first thing you should learn - how to hang trailing plants. This plant is a low maintenance plant since it requires almost no cutting since you can leave it to hand and grow naturally in a basket from your ceiling. Read More: Grow these flowering plants in your home garden 2. Red Herringbone Scientifically known as the Maranta Leuconeura Erythroneura, this plant is one of the best trailing plants indoors. It has a trippy, attractive design on its leaves highlighted by its red color and unique look. The distinctive red patterns of the leaves of this plant have been compared to the mark of a herringbone. The unique aspect of big leaf plants is that they close up their leaves during the night, giving them the shape of a hand-folded prayer position. This is why many people call this plant the prayer plant. We recommend this plant for experienced gardeners since it needs high maintenance to grow safely. 3. Staghorn Fern Scientifically known as the Platycerium Bifurcatum, this plant has been called strange by many gardeners due to its leaves' odd, uneven shape. This trailing plant is best kept in a wooden basket with compost, and other organic matter buried deep in the compost. Again, we recommend this plant for experienced gardeners since it requires specific gardening skills to grow these tropical plants fully. Additionally, this plant is best kept in a humid place outside the range of direct sunlight. 4. String Of Pearls These types of trailing succulent plants are scientifically known as Senecio Rowleyanus. Its leaves are smaller than the other plants mentioned on this list, which look like tiny, green pearls. However, upon closer observation, you will notice that it looks like a green string is keeping the pearly leaves attached to the vine. This is why it is called a string of pearls, one of the most aesthetic plants. Sometimes, the top of the compost becomes very dry. This is an indicator that the plant needs watering. Generally, this plant likes to remain dry. But too dry will result in its untimely demise. Therefore, always keep a lookout for the dryness of the plant's compost. 5. Spider Plant As the name suggests, this trailing plant looks like a spider. Botanically named as the Chlorophytum Comosum, this easy to grow plant is another common tracking plant that you see in many households. Maintaining this plant is easy since all it needs is well-drained potting soil and exposure to bright, indirect sunlight. Just remember to water it frequently, and keep it as a bedroom plant. You May Also Like This: 4 Essential Tools Needed to Maintain Your Garden in the Winter 6. Creeping Jenny While the name might sound very creepy, its looks and beauty tell a different story. These bright fluorescent green trailing indoor plants are famous for their round leaves. Their vines also grow long, till about 18 inches in length. Unlike other trailing plants on this list, these plants can be placed on the soil and can also be hung from the ceiling in a pot or basket. 7. Million Bells Also known as the Calibrachoa, it is one of the most highly colorful and vibrant trailing plants ever to exist. This is because it is a flowering plant. But that is not its only specialty. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that its flowers can be of random colors, from red, blue, purple, to pink. This is perfect for you if you want trailing plants for hanging baskets. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Q1. What Is The Best Trailing Plant? There are many great trailing plants like Million Bells, Golden Pothos, and Red Herringbone, to name a few. Q2. What Plants Are Trailing Plants? Trailing plants can be identified by their long vines that grow along the side of walls. Q3. What Are Trailing Plants Called? Trailing plants are also called spillers, creepers, and viners. Q4. What Is A Trailing Flowering Plant? Trailing plants that produce flowers are known as trailing flowering plants. Conclusion Trailing plants are one of the best choices for keeping plants in your home. These plants look great and unique. These plants look even better if you hang them from your ceiling in a basket or round vase. If you are a beginner at gardening, then we recommend growing plants like the Golden Pothos or the Spider Plant. And if you are an experienced grower, then we recommend plants like the Red Herringbone and the Million Bells. If you found out which trailing plants to buy, then check out our other articles as well! Read Also: How to Maintain Your Garden Railings? 5 Best Vegetables You Should Try Growing In Your Garden Looking for a Gardener: 8 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Professional

6 Smart Organizing Tips for a Messy Store Room

Imagine going into your bedroom wardrobe and not finding a spot to display your clothing or finding shelves or cabinets to wrap your folded garments, clothes, and accessories away? This won't be easy to keep the clothing sorted without the framework and storage structures in place. The same laws extend to warehouses! This often appears that the best thing about storerooms is their weakness: they always become a blank canvas. These become open space or closet deficient in organizing, sometimes resulting in being a drop zone and landing area for bins and things to build up over time. When it causes you a headache when you try to search and grab it, it might be time to arrange your storeroom and unpack it. Here are some of the tips you can consider to organize your storeroom. 6 Smart Organizing Tips for a Messy Store Room: 1. Categorize and De-clutter the area You want to arrange similar things together, close to having sorted in certain parts of your house. This physical activity can help you see just what you possess, how much of it, and what to consider when determining when to go in the garage. Gather your childhood mementos, gather your holiday decor, take out your luggage and travel supplies, dig out service pieces, etc. Categorize the things that you don't need anymore. While making the area clean, do not forget to spray a Responsible Pest & Scorpion Control medicine to make your storeroom pests free. 2. Widen the vertical space Don't confine yourself to a room on the board. Usually, the storerooms have relatively high ceilings, so step up. The more things that you can push into more upper shelving or shelves, the more floor room you can open up and bring in your work workers, which is also a bonus. 3. Make adjustable shelves They are perfect for tiny rooms because you can change the shelves' heights to match different storage requirements and wishes. Make some storage unit shelves to get things placed easily. This will give the room a more approachable and organized look. 4. Place the most important things in front When putting something, you need it more frequently in front of you, and you would be able to get to them faster. Often, moving boxes or objects further would then be needless to enter the purpose you seek. It does away with unnecessary confusion and discomfort. 5. Make Labels The trick to an efficient storage room has to learn where each object is. It's possible to lose track of where they are, no matter how beautiful the memory can be. Making labels for your room's storage choices allows it more accessible to easily find items and recognize where to place new products when you buy them. 6. Keep checking and Clearing your storeroom To stop the hoarding of products, periodically visit your storeroom to give away outdated goods or give away things that have not been used for more than half a year. It will keep the items from collecting in the storage room, which will motivate you to tidy up more effectively. Read Also: Small Kitchen Storage Ideas How to Decorate a Room with no Cost 5 Innovative Ideas To Lend Your Bedroom With More Space

Exploring Ideas For A Biophilic Home Design

Understanding Biophilic Home Designs