Exploring the Connection Between Home and Nature

As the world gets more and more metro-politized, the link between home and nature is not only a luxury but a necessity. Homes are designed as the refuge, the place of repose and revival in all human cultures. But in the hurry of today’s world, they are able to be detached from nature despite the fact that it is present in most societies. His concept of bringing nature into home can be very therapeutic in that it gives people more than an aesthetic bonus; it also provides physical and psychological rewards. In this article, the author takes a closer look at how we can bring changes to our homes that can show our connection with nature which leads onto six points of view that prove that it is possible to bring nature inside our living spaces.

1.Biophilic Design: Embracing Nature Inside the Home

Biophilic design is a concept that tries to bring nature into the buildings so that they have positive impacts on the mental health as well as outcome. Adding house plants, natural lighting systems, a fountain, or organic decorations and materials to the interior of a home relieves strain and stress. Research has pointed out that the presence of nature even when the environment is enclosed can reduce cortisol levels and thereby stress, promote rest and enhance concentration. This design philosophy takes our homes to the next level by creating living spaces that cocoon us and feel part of nature.

One of the principles of Biophilic design is to take advantage of daylight, and have unobstructive natural image inside the house. Use of windows, sliding windows, light wells and light tubes can be well planned to admit natural light and enhance the temperature of the house. Daylight saves the expense of artificial lighting and, at the same time, helps regulate the body’s biological clock which controls alertness. The ability to sometimes view trees, plants or water through the windows is thought to make us feel more connected with the larger environment around us thus improving the state of health.

2. Green Spaces and Indoor Plants: Nature’s Ambassadors Indoors

But aside from being ornamental, indoor plants can actually make a home healthier by cleansing the air, producing oxygen, and raising humidity. In given city environment, the indoor plants can effectively neutralize the impact of pollution arising from enclosed environment due to high-rise buildings and congested areas. Some certain plants such as snake plants, peace lilies and spider plants can effectively cleanse the air removing toxins and making it more-healthy. Other than purifying air naturally, this process improves health and brings a cheerful, affirmative factor into the home.

Plant species demand time to be spent on them, time to be tended, and they form a symbiotic relationship where one can have the nurturing of an increased space of the nature under one’s roof. Something as simple as watering a succulent or repotting a fern can bring us to the present moment and this in itself is beneficial. This relation provides a therapeutic feeling of doing something both significant and fulfilling; these plants we tend to grow and thrive. Hence, plants are our interlocutors and together with them, we perform tasks that make us desired members of the natural environment.

3. Sustainable Building Materials: Reducing Environmental Footprints

The elements like bamboo, recycled wood, and recycled metalwork and other organic and recycled materials like copper, if implemented in the interiors of the home, present a natural, raw appeal to conventional home décor. Such a type of material is renewable and has a very long-life cycle as opposed to other conventional types of material and can be processed in minimal energy. Through selecting environmentally friendly building options, the homeowner will save useful resources, which likewise lessen the negative impact of home construction to the overall environment and create a balance between human-made structures and the natural environment.

In addition to the structure, using recycled and upcycled decoration in a home enhances its environmental conservation factor. The use of recycle furniture and antique lamps, these things bring elegance and story to the residence and at the same time, decrease more consumption for new items. It fosters creativity, and the owners, select articles that were made with great care, with history behind them. Moreover, using sustainable furniture not only creates an individualistic ambiance, in addition to that the idea emphasizes the cyclical utilization of materials.

4. Outdoor Living Spaces: Extending Home Boundaries

Building of patios, balconies or gardens mentioned above brings the exterior into the interior environment thus creating an expanded living space. These areas provide exposure to fun, leisure and contemplation, whether it is having the cup of coffee in the morning in the garden or practicing Yoga on the deck. Outdoor areas are a means of coming face to face with nature, taking in fresh air to, basking in the sun and touching the ground. Subsequently, when the creation of certain areas is intentional, they become semi-outdoor spaces that are part of our daily life.

Practical actions such as using native plants and pollinator plants in an outside area can create more habitat for wildlife in our own backyard by feeding the birds, bees and butterflies. Selecting native species to grow in your garden means that you are creating homes for native species and these plants need little water and are easy to manage. Seeing gardens with local flowers also bring liveliness and energy to our green areas while providing us the opportunity to contribute to a local ecosystem. This biodiversity can make one feel so fulfilled seeing the relationship between plants, animals and our environment.

5. Energy Efficiency: Reducing Impact While Embracing Natural Resources

Solar panels and geothermal heating are familiar examples of renewable energy sources that create a sustainable atmosphere in our homes while reinforcing our relation to resources. Photovoltaic systems capture sunlight and reduces cost of electricity bills and also the consumption of conventional sources of energy. Geothermal heating takes advantage of the earth’s constant temperature beneath the surface to control home temperatures globally. These energy efficient solutions do not only reduce the level of emissions within society but also encourage a conservation nature within the society, hence improving stewardship of the planet.

From the natural environment, ideas of insulation and air flow can be borrowed in applying efficiencies to home living. If we use natural insulators such as wool, cork, and clay in construction, we are likely to regulate temperatures indoors, therefore, eliminating frequent usage of artificial heating or cooling. Good ventilation systems that replicate natural ventilation improve better indoors in that they allow fresh air to circulate and at the same time regulating temperature. It enables people to live in harmony with the processes going on in nature, keeping our homes warm in winter and cool in summer.

6. Mindful Minimalism: Creating Spaces that Respect and Reflect Nature

This concept can be defined as careful simplification of the immediate space to achieve aesthetic and functional tidy environments, which aligns well with our want for nature. Minimalist home design is all about simplicity in which the exterior and interior materials, textures and colors echo the exception to the bare essentials. They are designed to help us live a monastic, purposeful life, to learn to love and appreciate simple things such as natural light, space, and minimalistic design. Intentionalism reduces home decorations to essentials so that components of nature coming into our houses may compliment, our habitat by giving us a serene environment.

Selecting natural color schemes like green, brown, and blue for interiors will take up the natural theme of a home. Main colors, therefore, are used to bring comfort and relaxation into the house and replicate the feeling of nature’s stability. The use of textures such as wood grain, stone and woven fibers creates dimension and promote the story of nature therefore making the home to be in parcels with nature. This concern with colors and texture fosters the creation of an ambient that feeds directly into our desire for a better connection with nature.

Conclusion

The places we inhabit are the physical manifestation of the self, an indication of how one perceives and engages with the environment because the home is a constantly changing entity, the world outside mirrors this reality. In purposefully arranging the areas of our homes to integrate with the earth and being conscious, environmentally friendly living, we build environments that nurture us; which reciprocally nurtures earth’s environment. Being conscious about what we select for architecture, how we construct living areas, and how we use power is bringing ourselves into harmony with a sustainable and earth-focused way of living. As we create beautiful homes within the nature and with the beauty of nature, we make others create the same, so that the world becomes beautiful. Take the first baby step today- include a plant, reuse a furniture or open a window to let the natural world into your home.