How to create a healthy family home // Bringing the outdoors in.

5 WAYS TO CREATE A HEALTHY FAMILY HOME

We all agree that being parents means looking after your children and making sure they grow up to be happy and healthy. However, have you ever thought how healthy the space is that you are growing your family in? How can you create a healthier home for you and your kids? We’re all spending more time at home at the moment, so I asked interior designer Nicla Diceglie of Nicla D Interiors to explain the concept of Biophilic interior design and how it can help us create a healthy family home. Over to you Nicla!

“First of all, let me explain what the term Biophilia means, if you have never heard of it before. Literally, Biophilia means ‘love of living things and nature’.

This concept was introduced and popularised by an American biologist, Edward O. Wilson in his book called Biophilia, published in 1984. Wilson, in his Biophilia Hypothesis, suggested that humans are innately and emotionally attracted to other living organisms and generally speaking to the natural world. This theory is supported by a decade of research that reveals how strongly and positively adults and children respond when in contact with nature.

Kids gain a huge amount from messing about in the outdoors. Studies have shown that spending time outside decreases levels of childhood depression and anxiety, and helps kids develop a positive attitude towards nature. It also helps them to become more environmentally aware adults.

What can we do to harness the nature healing power into our home? I will give you 5 quick tips for you to implement in your family home.

1. BRING THE OUTSIDE IN

The easiest way is to include living plants in your house. Too often our inside spaces are sterile and have no reference to nature in them. Living plants purify the air and boost wellbeing, mood and attention span. You could grow a small indoor garden with your kids and ask them to look after it for instance. This would help children to experience the magic of watching a plant or flower grown from seed. Edible plants are especially exciting, and kids are more willing to eat vegetables that they have had a hand in growing.
You can find a wonderful selection of houseplants offering UK postage over at Happy Leaf Lady

2. NATURAL SHAPES AND PATTERNS

Indirectly introduce elements of the outdoor in children’s bedroom. A wallpaper picturing their favourite landscape, be it the seaside or woods for example. You can use wall stickers like leaves or trees to decorate their rooms. Use more of curved shapes than right angles or straight lines as those are not common in natural forms.

3. FRESH AIR

It’s important for kids to have access to fresh air. Make sure you install windows that can open and let fresh air and daylight in. Through an open window kids can also hear the sound of rain, wind or birds singing and connect to the season and weather. Also, a regular experience of temperature variation in a room, can help foster resilience in both adults and children.

4. LIGHT

Increase levels of natural light. Being exposed to natural light seem to increase how effectively children learn. It also regulates the energy during the day and help to sleep better at night. If you can, don’t allow your children to use mobile phones or computers late in the evening as their blue light stimulate the brain, affecting the ability to sleep well at night.

5. MATERIALS

Always try to be aware of the toxic substances your furniture or floors have been treated with – such as glue or varnish. Did you know that most of the furniture we have in our homes get treated with toxic varnish? There are lots of lovely natural finishes in commerce like beeswax, shellac instead. We just have to buy consciously. Furthermore, natural materials, like timber, stone, bamboo, cork and many more don’t off-gas toxic chemicals.
(If you’re local to us in Reading, you must check out Frangipani Home! They have a wonderful range of furniture and home decor items made from various natural materials)

The benefits of Biophilic Design are countless for both our family’s mental health and wellbeing. At such, it is very important that we continue taking steps in implementing design methods that encourage the beneficial engagement with the natural environment also in our home.”

Thank you so much Nicla! I’m a huge fan of houseplants myself and have enjoyed learning more about how else I can introduce other natural elements into our home.

If you would like to learn more about Biophilic design, or interior design in general, you can find and follow Nicla using the links below.

www.nicladinteriors.com
www.facebook.com/nicladinteriors
www.instagram.com/nicladinteriors