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Biophilic Kitchen Designs: How to Embrace Nature Into Your Home
A biophilic design is when you want to bring nature into your home and increase its connectivity with the outside world. This can be done in a number of ways, from using natural materials in the build of your home or the furniture, fixtures, and fittings, or by physically including plants and greenery and other natural elements.
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When it comes to a biophilic kitchen design, the obvious choice is to use natural woods and supplement it with herbs and other edible plants, so that it is both practical and rustic. This works just as well in modern kitchens as it does in the more traditional farmhouse-style kitchen. Plus, the self-sufficiency of ‘growing your own’ is bang on trend.
One of the most important aspects of biophilic design is how it makes you feel. It isn’t all about aesthetics. You want to be able to create a multi-sensory environment, using a variety of materials, colors, and textures.
And, what is more natural than cooking up fresh ingredients to create meals for your family and friends? Your kitchen is so much more than a practical space, it is also an area for gathering and socializing. With that in mind, you will want to design somewhere in which people want to stay and feel comfortable in their surroundings.
Furniture to suit your style
Depending on your style of kitchen, you may want to have wooden furniture for a traditional look or glass furniture for something more clean and modern. Both options tie in with a biophilic kitchen design, making the most of natural resources and bringing a feeling of airiness into the room.
Add soft furnishings in eco-friendly materials and neutral colors to make your kitchen feel cozier, but without detracting from a feeling of space and comfort, both physically and mentally.
Informal mismatched seating inspired by the different colors and textures found in nature, combined with Swedish hygge aspirations and feelings will ensure your kitchen really is the heart of your home.
Cabinets and worktops in earthy tones
Most cabinetry for kitchens is made of wood as default, but to give it a fully wooden look, strip it bare and varnish it to bring out the grain, or opt for a non-painted and non-laminated frontage and stick to the natural wood. Alternatively, paint your cabinets in earthy palettes such as greens and browns, to blend in with the outside.
Pair your cabinets – whichever style you choose – with a wooden worktop. Walnut worktops add timeless beauty to any style of kitchen, with their wavy design creating interest and the dark tones complementing most shades and colors. For a brighter, lighter kitchen opt for beech or oak wooden worktops.
Shelving and ornamental displays
The beauty of wood like oak is that it is hardwearing and, as such, can be used in other parts of your kitchen too, such as shelving. Combine the shelves with rope fixtures for a nautical look, or use copper piping for something more industrial.
Dress your shelves with plants, terrariums, or even small water features. Choose stoneware or glassware and incorporate different textures to create a more organic interior biophilic kitchen design. Tactile displays bring an added sense of holistic wellbeing to the room too, helping you to feel grounded and becalmed.
Natural flooring materials
Solid stone floors or stone tiles are a great way to add in another biophilic kitchen design element, as well as being a practical choice for a kitchen with heavy footfall areas as they can withstand any amount of use whilst maintaining their original aesthetic.
For something potentially cheaper and less likely to break anything that may be accidentally dropped, using cork for your flooring is both environmentally-friendly and makes use of yet another natural resource.
Flood your kitchen with natural light
Letting the light in is a fundamental part of biophilic kitchen design, so having large windows or even a wall of bi-fold doors if you have the space and the means, is perfect for really bringing the outside in and creating that feeling of being out in the fresh air.
You want to avoid harsh overhead lights where possible, opting instead for some warmer tones that light the areas where you actually need them. You can achieve this with spotlights or standard lamps, or hidden LED lights under your kitchen cabinets, producing a mixture of light and shadow.
Additional accessories to create wellbeing
Dressing your kitchen with plants and greenery not only contributes to biophilic design but is also a great way to naturally purify the air around you. Using the likes of bamboo washing up brushes, cotton dish towels and natural sponges is both sustainable and eco-friendly. Any form of organic cleaning products, or choosing to make your own with lemon juice and other natural ingredients, adds to the whole ethos.
Shapes that mimic those which are naturally occurring in nature can be incorporated into tiling and splashbacks. Herringbone is a particularly popular biophilic design feature, and is an ideal pattern for your kitchen tiles. Alternatively, use wallpaper to make a feature wall somewhere in your kitchen, opting for designs that feature aspects of the natural world, such as trees, leaves, and water.
Installing a curved island to give the room a flow and create a designated path through the kitchen adds to the sense of wellbeing and automatically strengthens and eases mental health.
Final thoughts
Creating a sample board is a great way to put all your ideas in one place, gain inspiration and see what works and what doesn’t when it comes to interior design. Ultimately, you can include anything that brings you joy, warms your heart, and makes you feel at home.
Sample different colors, materials, and textures and get a feel for how your kitchen could look before you make any changes, putting you on the right track for when you are ready to get stuck in and design the biophilic kitchen to which you aspire.
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