I can recite countless studies that tell you bringing the outdoors in purifies the air, increases concentration and is just all round good for you. It’s also aesthetically beautiful as well!

Now I can’t promise that the ideas below will deliver all that goodness (I know one of them will), but if you’re historically the anti-green thumb – guilty – and struggle to keep indoor plants alive, then there are plenty of other ways you can integrate natural outdoor elements to your home whether that be structural changes or otherwise.

The first and most obvious is indoor plants. There are a multitude of options here, down to the humble cactus if you feel that is a safer bet. Plants filter the air and more often than not require little more than some water and a bit of sunlight.

Instead of potting your indoor plants, keep them in their original packaging and simply display in a planter box or basket. This ensures you can easily move the plant around, in and out of the sun, outside to water or to dry off, and even to the shower if they are a tropical plant and need that little extra TLC. Plus, this means you can tailor your pot to complement the style of your home and update should you like in a way that is fuss free.

Now, if as I mentioned your thumb is far from green, traces of living elements can still fit beautifully within your home that require no maintenance what-so-ever and still bring the outdoors in. Dried foliage like pampas grass, wheat and even cotton branches are everlasting and are a refreshing way to dress your home. With varying heights – some are meters tall – you can prop them in entry ways, in vases, or even displayed as art. Suspending a large cotton branch from your roof like a pendant light is such an impactful feature that is fairly simply to create and incredibly cost effective.

Beyond this, simple decorative elements like a well-placed mirror can amplify not only the size of the space, but create the illusion of indoor/outdoor composition. Ultimately though, by far the best way to bring the outdoors in, is by creating a multifunctional space that fuses the indoors and outdoors. Whether that is through beautiful bi-fold doors or the more affordable French door, adding a skylight or utilising greenery as a privacy screen against a bathroom window. Bringing the outdoors in, in whatever way, shape or form possible is an artful way to style your home.

Rosalie Molloy

Creative Director
www.notsavinglives.com

Posted: 20 June 2018