In a world increasingly dominated by concrete, screens, and artificial lighting, biophilic design is rising up the ranks and becoming a top choice for interior design that offers a refreshing return to our roots. This design philosophy integrates natural elements like sunlight, plants, water, and organic textures to create spaces that nurture both body and mind.
Whether in homes, offices, or urban spaces, it’s redefining how we live and work, and in this blog, we’re going to take you through all the benefits it offers as well as how you can integrate it into your home.
What is biophilic design & why is it popular?
Biophilic design is the concept of designing buildings and landscapes that nurture the relationship between people and nature by introducing various natural features into the built environment.
Biophilic design is gaining popularity because it helps people feel, think, and live better. In an age where most of us spend nearly 90% of our time indoors, there’s a growing desire to reconnect with nature. Biophilic design meets that need by bringing natural elements, like light, plants, water, and organic materials into built spaces.
What are the main elements of biophilic design?
To achieve the right look and feel of biophilic design, there are some rules that you need to follow. There are six elements that serve as the foundation of Biophilic design, and these include:
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Environmental features - This includes the direct use of natural elements like plants, water, natural light, fresh air, and natural materials such as wood or stone. These features bring the outdoors inside to create a sense of calm and vitality.
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Natural forms and shapes - This element is about mimicking the natural forms of nature. This can look like curves, spirals, leaves, shells, and fractal patterns that create visual harmony and contrast sharply with the harsh lines of modern architecture.
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Natural patterns and processes - Spaces designed with changing light, shadows, seasonal variations, and textures that age gracefully reflect nature’s rhythms. This will help your space feel more grounded and connected to the natural passage of time in nature.
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Light and space - Natural light is a central part of biophilic design. Spaces that use sunlight, shadows, reflections, and open layouts can uplift mood and enhance productivity while maintaining a sense of openness and balance - perfectly reflecting nature and outdoor lighting.
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Place-based relationships - This element ties design to the local environment and culture. Using materials, colours, and motifs inspired by a region’s natural landscape creates a sense of belonging and reinforces connection to place. This can include some of the region’s natural plants, historical themes, and cultural connections, such as colours and patterns.
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Evolved human-nature relationships - This involves tapping into our deep, instinctive responses to nature, such as fascination, exploration, or refuge. This can be shown by creating cosy corners in your home. Spaces that make us feel safe, inspired, and connected appeal to these innate human emotions.
What benefits does it bring to your home?
Biophilic offers a range of benefits that go far beyond its aesthetic appeal. The natural elements that biophilic design offers, such as plants, sunlight, water, and organic materials, help reduce stress and promote a sense of calm. This makes them a great design choice for everything from your own homes to offices and more.
Research shows that exposure to nature can lower blood pressure, improve mood, and even enhance creativity and focus. Natural light and fresh air contribute to better energy levels and productivity, while indoor greenery helps improve air quality and overall well-being. Biophilic design can help us foster a deeper connection to the natural world, reminding us of our intrinsic bond with nature and encouraging more mindful, sustainable living.
How to incorporate biophilic design into your home
Focus on the lighting
Natural lighting is one of the biggest principles in biophilic design. It does a lot more than making a space feel bigger and more airy; it helps regulate our hormones and circadian rhythms (which tell us when to wake up and when to go to sleep), so we can feel more energised when awake and have a more restful night's sleep.
You can incorporate more natural lighting into your home by removing heavy curtains and replacing them with a lighter or sheer curtain, or roller blind that will ensure the maximum amount of light enters a room during the day. You can also use mirrors and reflective surfaces such as glass pendants or marble side tables to bounce the sunlight around the room.
Incorporating natural minerals
Natural materials such as stone, brick and clay can all contribute to a biophilic home. Not only do they look great, but they can also benefit our general health and well-being. Stone, brick, clay and more can help us feel more in tune with our natural environment. In fact, a study shows that the use of biophilic design and natural minerals in an office workplace resulted in lower heart rates and blood pressure for workers in that environment over those who worked in offices with synthetic furniture.
So try to incorporate real natural materials, which could look like anything from terracotta plant pots in your bathroom to timber furnishings in other areas of your home, to feel the benefits of this design trend.
However, we know natural materials aren't appropriate for every room or easy to incorporate, and that's where panels can come in handy. If you’re looking to create a similar effect for a much cheaper price, then browse our natural effect panels, such as our wood effect and brick effect panelling.
Think about the colours
Biophilic interior design takes a much more intuitive approach to choosing colour for your home. Rather than simply painting on a colour that looks nice, it’s more about how you want to feel in that room. Do you want to feel inspired, cosy, or relaxed?
For a more relaxed feel, a soft, light blue is often the best choice. Reminiscent of waves lapping on the shore, a soft blue helps create feelings of contentment and relaxation that you’d find on a beach. Try these Aquarius wall panels to help you recreate that scenic beach feeling in your own home. Featuring a soft blue colour that promotes peacefulness as well as easy-to-install and maintain properties, these panels are a great choice for biophilic interiors.
A soft green, such as these Elegance Abstract Sage wall panels, or a warm brown, can portray feelings of calm as well as creativity and adventure, as they mimic the colour of trees and bark - wonderful choices if you’re looking for a more forest-inspired inspired for your room.
Elegance Abstract Sage - £23.45
Asking yourself how you want to feel in your space will help you identify the perfect colour for your space. Whether it’s something to spark creativity or a colour to bring a sense of peace to your everyday life.
Indoor vegetation
Breathe life into your space and incorporate plants into your interiors to complete the biophilic design. Not only do these natural splashes of green help a room look better, but they can also help you feel better as they can promote a healthy indoor climate by increasing humidity and moisture in dry air, and have also been proven to help us relax and reduce our stress levels.
Plants can also help contribute to that much-needed air quality, which is a big element in achieving this interior design trend.
Mimic natural shapes and forms
A great way to connect with the outdoors in your home is to copy the natural shapes and forms of nature. Think of botanical patterns to mimic flora and fauna shapes, think of soft lines and edges, such as using a curvy or wavy shape mirror instead of a square one, and think of an organic pebble-shaped coffee table. These subtle touches will really put the icing on the cake when completing your biophilic look.
Focus on air quality
It’s not just about the look but about the feel of a space when it comes to biophilic design trends. You’ll want your space to feel light and airy to mimic the outdoors. This can be done in a number of ways, from limiting the amount of harmful chemicals in a space and incorporating natural, untreated materials.
Paints are one of the biggest factors when it comes to air quality. Try switching to an eco-friendly paint such as lime, chalk and clay paints that will reduce the amount of harmful chemicals in your home.
However, an easy and free way to keep your air circulating in your home is to open up your windows every day. Whatever the weather. Fresh air will help you feel more alert and focused. If windows aren’t an option, try a dehumidifier with a built in purifier for better air quality instead.
Jump into biophilic design with Panel Company
In essence, biophilic design is more than just a style - it’s a way of creating spaces that truly nurture the human spirit. By weaving nature into our homes, workplaces, and communities, we invite calm, creativity, and balance back into our daily lives.
Whether it’s the warmth of natural wood, the freshness of indoor greenery, or the soft glow of sunlight through a window, every element of biophilic design helps us to reconnect to the natural world. Discover natural wood effects, bright, airy colours and stunning mineral styles and browse our full range of wall panels here at Panel Company to help you get started on your new Biophilic space.
