Bring Spring Into Your Home with These 5 Tips
As we finally approach springtime after many areas in the U.S. have experienced everything from a polar vortex to record-breaking snowfall, many are itching to feel the warmth of the sun on their faces.
For those in areas where spring can remain cloud-covered and rainy, we wanted to give you some practical tips for how to enjoy nature even if you remain largely stuck inside.
The Benefits
Adding natural light to a home can cause energy costs to decrease by as much as 75 percent. However, additional research has proven that natural lighting helps people be more productive, happier, healthier and calmer. Natural light also has proven to regulate some mental health disorders including Seasonal Affective Disorder.
The How
When you bring the outdoors in, it can be easy and also fun. Incorporating our happy, light idea of springtime even when the weather may be more rain-soaked than sunny, can help us improve our mood as we re-decorate.
Bring Plants and Flowers Inside
Whether you pick up a bunch each week from your local farmers market and use a simple Mason jar for a vase, or you prefer long-lasting succulents, choose an uplifting plant or flower and stick to it. Bringing in the green and the bright colors of floral arrangements can lift our mood and increase the natural flow of oxygen in your living space.
When you want to push a little further, it is always great to add a large plant such as aloe or even a small citrus tree. Something like this can be planted in a basket to live in the corner of your small space. These little details can really bring the sunshine inside.
Use Natural Building Materials to Bring the Outdoors In
Natural materials are home products and physical materials from the natural world. Organic materials include plant products, materials like wood, fiber, bark and soil are some examples. Inorganic materials are mineral products like stone, metal and composites like clay. Some benefits offered by these are:
- Low maintenance and operation cost
- Energy efficiency
- Enhances indoor environment quality
- Water efficiency
- Better health
- Material efficiency
- Better for the environment
- Reduces strain on local resources
Use Natural Light and Fresh Air
This idea goes beyond simply incorporating screens in doors and opening your house windows. From the building front, adding more windows or larger ones like French doors can be a great way to allow more natural light and outside air spill in.
Air conditioners and heaters can accelerate the airflow in your home. But these options require greater energy consumption. So opening windows across from each other in a floorplan can allow air to flow freely through a home. Open those at opposite ends of a house to push air through the space, especially when ceiling fans are used.
To Bring In the Outdoors, Create a Green Space
This is a perfect idea for a kitchen, home office, or even one wall of the main living space. Growing a green wall can be as minimal as adding hanging baskets and planters with florals, succulents, or even herbs… or as complex and growing ivy to cover an entire space. This greenery livens up an interior, adds a pop of color, and also brings a natural vibe that isn’t found in a bouquet of flowers.
Use Nature-inspired Decor
This idea never goes out of style. From the incorporation of hardwoods in tables and furniture to the accents of wool on blankets and baskets, these natural fibers breathe life into an otherwise underwhelming space. Natural decor can soften a bedroom, bring fun into a child’s area, or vibe up a shared living space. With modern manufactured homes offering many interior design options, the opportunities are endless.
Some of our favorite nature-inspired decor to bring in the outdoors includes:
- Exposed brick backdrop
- Firewood in a living room
- Natural wood furniture
- Wool blankets on bed and couches
- Organic sheets in a child’s room
- Bamboo in the bathroom
When you bring the outdoors in, it allows you room to breathe. The inspiration that comes from the fresh air, natural light, organic materials, and natural decor can breathe life into your home too.
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