10 Ways to Use Beautiful Biophilic Interior Design in Your Home
Ever since I started my journey toward becoming a Color Consultant and Interior Stylist, I have found myself increasingly drawn to nature and to how we incorporate it into our homes.
I’ll be honest with you: I hadn’t even heard the term Biophilic interior design until about 5 years ago, and I immediately knew it was the style I felt most passionate about. I absolutely love nature, plants, flowers, natural light, and the peace and tranquillity that nature brings.
If you were to compile your dream home, what would be in your top 5? I am almost certain that most people would include a house with a view, whether that be the sea, countryside, or trees.
But, for most of us, this isn’t possible and we have to contend with a view of someone else’s house (or in my case, the back of a Thai takeaway. Not easy on the eye but great on the nose!)
In the UK, we spend around 90% of our day on average indoors, even though we have a basic human need to connect with nature. We’ve become an indoor nation, whether that be in the office, watching TV at home, sitting in the car, or spending hours on public transport commuting.
Connecting with nature is extremely important for our health and well-being. By bringing it into our homes, we are creating a space that is not only beautiful but can also play a huge part in our mental health.
Biophilic Interior Design
Ever walked into a room filled with lush greenery, natural light, and warm wooden textures and just felt… better? That’s biophilic design doing its thing.
It’s not just a fancy buzzword thrown around by interior designers; it’s a real, science-backed approach to bringing the outdoors in, and it can genuinely transform the way your home looks and feels.
Here are 10 steps on how to incorporate biophilic design into our homes.
1. Fresh Air
It might sound simple, but just opening a window or leaving a back door open to let in fresh air can help alleviate that “stuffy” feeling when you are indoors. It also allows you to connect with the outside by listening to the birds or hearing the rain.
If opening windows isn’t always practical, air-purifying plants and essential oil diffusers with natural scents like eucalyptus, lavender, or cedarwood can help recreate that feeling. It’s all about engaging your senses and reminding your brain that nature is never far away.
One of my favorite things is hearing a thunderstorm outside whilst tucked up in bed. I still feel connected to nature, but without having to get wet!
2. Natural Light
Having access to daylight not only helps our circadian rhythm, but it also makes us feel good! Unless it is really hot, we are automatically attracted to warm, sunny spaces and this is the same indoors.
Maximize the amount of light in your home by keeping windows and doors clear and curtains and blinds open and placing mirrors around your home to reflect lots of light.
If you work from home, place your desk in front of a window to help the light keep you attentive. Create an outdoor working space in your garden or backyard and make the most of it in the warmer months.
If you’re lucky enough to be planning a bigger project, think about skylights or larger windows. Natural light doesn’t just look beautiful, it makes every colour and texture in your home look its absolute best.
3. Bring Natural Materials into the Home
This is where biophilic design really starts to feel intentional. Swap out synthetic surfaces for natural ones wherever you can.
Try to use natural materials such as wood, marble, stone, bamboo, granite, rattan, and cork in the home. This can be anything from furniture to shelving, kitchen worktops, or tiles.
These materials bring warmth, texture, and an organic quality that plastic and laminate simply can’t replicate. I think wood, bamboo, and rattan are fabulous furniture materials due to their perfectly imperfect pattern and patina.
You don’t have to replace everything at once. Even small swaps (like trading a plastic plant pot for a terracotta one or adding a chunky wooden chopping board to your kitchen counter) can shift the whole vibe of a space.
4. Add Some Plants!
Probably the most obvious choice when it comes to Biophilic design! But this is more than putting a potted plant on your coffee table.
Plants increase oxygen levels and can help with concentration and productivity. If you are forever killing off plants, start with something simple like succulents, a spider plant, or Devil’s ivy!
They are pretty forgiving towards neglect. Perhaps try to start growing your own herbs and create a herb garden in your kitchen.
I have written a blog post on some of the easiest plants to look after here, and if that still doesn’t help you, introduce artificial plants. You might not get the health benefits that real plants bring, but they still add a touch of nature to a room.
5. Install a Green Wall
If you’ve already got the plants but want to take them to the next level, install a green wall! This can be anything from putting up several shelves to put your plants on to creating a living or artificial wall in your home.
If a full living wall feels like a big commitment, start small. A vertical planter with a few pots of herbs in the kitchen or a mounted frame filled with air plants can give you a taste of the look without the maintenance headaches.
This is such a great way to add greenery to your home and make a real feature of a wall.
6. Natural Shapes
Many homes, offices, and public spaces are designed with straight lines and right angles and can look quite severe. In contrast, nature is made up of complex patterns, curves, and soft edges.
Think leaf veins, wood grain, ripples on water, the spirals of a seashell. Incorporating these organic shapes into your décor through wallpaper, textiles, artwork, or even architectural details adds visual interest without feeling busy or overwhelming.
Choose curved furniture and add plenty of textiles to soften those sharp edges, like curtains for the windows (but also make sure you can tie them back to let lots of natural light in).
Add cushions, linen, organic wool, or faux sheepskins to drape over dining room chairs, benches, and sofas to give a room a natural coziness.
7. Natural Color – Earthy and Nature-Inspired
Don’t be afraid to use color in the home! The outdoor world has an abundance of color, from the beautiful deep blue of the sky in summer to the yellow of the daffodils in Spring.
The color green automatically makes me happy and I love pairing it with soft pink, probably from my love of pink peonies! Colour has a massive impact on how a room feels, and biophilic design leans into tones pulled straight from the natural world.
Think deep forest greens, warm terracottas, sandy beiges, soft sky blues, and rich earth browns. These colours ground a space and create a sense of calm that bright, artificial tones often can’t match.
You can go bold with a feature wall in a mossy green or keep things subtle with neutral tones accented by natural textures. Either way, letting nature guide your palette is one of the simplest ways to make a room feel like a retreat.
8. Seamless Transition From Inside to Out
Many of us are now looking at our garden as another room or outdoor living space and blurring the boundary between where the house ends and the garden begins. Cozy and inviting corner sofas are popping up on stenciled patios and pergolas and summer houses are becoming the popular setting for an evening G & T.
It doesn’t matter how big or small your garden is, you can utilize this space to help you connect with nature as much as possible.
And if your view isn’t exactly countryside-chic? No worries. Window boxes, balcony planters, or even a well-placed bird feeder can create something lovely to look at and bring nature right up to your glass.
9. Water
Not only is water calming to look at and watch, but the sound of the waves crashing at the beach or a fountain trickling can also help to decrease stress, increase concentration, and automatically make you feel connected to nature.
If you are not lucky enough to live by the sea or a lake, you can install a pond with a fountain that you can hear from the inside of your house, a water feature (and there is a huge selection these days, some are solar powered, so fantastic for the environment), or a small aquarium.
To keep your backyard pond looking beautiful and healthy, consider adding an efficient pond aerator from Everblue Pond, which helps maintain water quality while creating soothing water movement that enhances the calming atmosphere of your nature-inspired space.
If you don’t fancy such a large project, try adding a bird bath to your garden. The splashes from the birds enjoying the water are enough to bring a smile to anyone’s face!
10. Nature-inspired Artwork
If all this seems just a little too much for your home, introduce nature into your home by adding pieces of art. I love abstract art, but I also have a lot of floral-inspired pieces dotted throughout my house and they beautifully tie the color scheme of the room together.
This can be anything from framed nature-inspired prints, and botanical wall hangings to large floral wallpaper murals.
Bringing It All Together
The beauty of biophilic design is that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You can start with one or two of these ideas and gradually build from there as you discover what resonates with you and your space.
Whether it’s a few new houseplants, a shift in your colour palette, or a complete rethink of how natural light flows through your rooms, every small step brings you closer to a home that feels alive, grounded, and deeply connected to the natural world.
I think more designers and homeowners are realizing what an impact adding natural aspects to their environment can have. Furniture made out of natural materials, such as wood and stone, has a longer shelf life, therefore saving money and being better for the planet over time.
In the home, biophilic design can create a calm atmosphere, make you feel good, and increase creativity, positivity, and productivity. What element do you think you will introduce into your home?
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I also use Artificial Intelligence Image generators to create some of my images. These are to show you examples of my ideas and inspiration when I cannot produce the real images myself.
