Nature has provided inspiration for the design world for centuries—from romantic baroque carvings to simple country florals so I guess we can’t say biophilic design is trending. But natural fibers, earth-inspired color palettes and playing off natural light have been having a huge moment in modern design and explains our recent shift toward light, bright and warm looks, no matter the style you’re going for. A quick browse of Insta or any of the shelter magazines is confirmation. So how do we embrace biophilic design ourselves? “Look out your window,” says Shannon Murray, principal designer at her eponymous interior design firm based in Rye, NY. “What do you see that you want to pull indoors? Is it a color, a texture, a feeling? This helps a home to flow and feel connected to its surroundings.”
Here’s how a few of the pros chose to do it for three very different properties:
A Calming Bedroom
Designer Claudia Kalur at CFK Interiors based in Washington, CT, couldn’t help but use the tree- and fern-filled property of her Litchfield Hills, CT, clients as the inspiration for the serene bedroom she designed for them as part of a new build with architect David Hottenroth. The house was framed over the winter, so when spring came and Kalur began having on-site meetings in spring when everything became lush and green, the objective became clear. “Connecticut winters can be long, so the goal was to bring the outdoors in and prolong the spring and summer seasons,” says Kalur. Blues and greens accent a palette of neutrals, creating “a sense of belonging and calm.” A classic four-poster bed is the leading element, set off by crisp white linens with green embroidery and framed by brass sconces. “Once we had decided on the design direction (both bring in the outdoors and the color green), finding the right fabric was key,” says Kalur. She chose a fern-filled Colefax & Fowler fabric for the drapes and a colorful Quadrille table skirt with blues and green brush strokes, but kept rest calmer and about texture, in keeping with biophilic theme. “This is seen in the textured green linen ottoman, the tone-on-tone cream chenille of the chairs, the wool sisal rug from Merida, the vintage clay lamp and the woven bamboo shades,” adds Kalur.
A Living Room Among the Palms
When Interior Designer Shannon Murray’s clients called her to design their new vacation home in Naples, FL, she knew right away the grand lanai off the living room would be the star of the show. “The outdoor space drew them to this home and was the jumping off point of the design,” says Murray. Inside, she gave the living room a minimalist and neutral look, so your eye is immediately drawn outdoors. “These clients are snowbirds from upstate New York so the outdoors and the ‘Florida feel’ was important.” She chose a soft rounded sofa to play off the rich beige walls and ceiling, and the grand stone fireplace. The mirror was left by the previous owners, and her clients wanted it to stay, so she balanced it with organically scattered gold bowls on the opposite wall. The golds and beiges “work alongside the greens of the lanai,” says Murray, who was sure to choose Sunbrella and performance fabrics on the furniture, even indoors. “Being in Florida, we knew the sliding glass doors would be open to this room most of the time,” she adds. Her advice to others who want to try a biophilic approach: “Look out your window. What do you see that you want to pull indoors? Is it a color, a texture, a feeling? This helps a home to flow and feel connected to its surroundings.”
A Modern and Minimal Getaway
The view was critical in designing this Hudson Valley retreat for Carta Creatives’ Manhattan clients who wanted to renovate their weekend retreat of eight years. While the framework of the house did not change, everything was given an update. The public rooms of this home are open to each other and have large glass sliders leading to outdoor living space. “Everything comes together in that space,” says Elana Tenenbaum Cline, the design firm’s founder and creative director. The kitchen, dining room and living room all revolve around the star player: “these crazy sunsets,” says Cline, who left the focus on the view. “We wanted your eye to go to the outside. We didn’t want it to be plugged straight into a piece of furniture.”
She chose a mix of vintage and new pieces that were rich in texture and light on color. The dining room table, from Fern in Hudson, NY, is a rich wood with classic lines. She reupholstered the couple’s campy Wes Anderson-style armchair in Zak and Fox fabric and chose a furry shearling vintage chair from 1st Dibs for sitting by the window and taking in the sunsets. The kitchen cabinets stayed where they were, but Cline had them refinished and topped them, and the existing oversized island, with a striking natural stone with brown, gold and gray veining throughout. Then she matched the slab backsplash in the same marble. “The kitchen had black cabinets and white tile before, but we wanted it to feel calm, earthy and neutral,” says Cline. “The marble really matched up so nicely with this magnificent handmade pottery collection from her mother-in-law.”
In the bedrooms, less is more. She kept interiors simple with natural and textured linens on the beds, and upholstered headboards— Jenni Kayne in the primary and Interior Define in the guest room. Modest furnishings and simple locally sourced vintage task lamps don’t distract from the views outside each room’s window. “I think a very green exterior can completely change the color of a room,” says Cline. “It bounces the light differently.” When you design with the environment in mind, she says, choosing natural materials and earth-inspired colors is essential to a biophilic design approach. “I think when you’re renovating a house to the studs all the way, but you’re in nature, those imperfect things help you make it feel much more natural and lived in versus feeling pristine and brand new,” she adds.
