20 Ways to Incorporate Nature into your Daily Life

1. Sprinkle plants in every room

Bringing more plants into your home is a great way to incorporate nature into your life. Pick out a selection of plants that are easy to grow indoors. Consider where you’ll place them in your home and how much sunlight they’ll get. Make taking care of the plants a family-centered activity. Let your children choose plants for their bedrooms and let them be responsible for their own plants. Feeling ambitious, try growing an avocado from a seed. Adding plants throughout your home is such a fun hobby and a great way to get your kids involved. Plus, plants help reduce the number of airborne pollutants in your home, so it’s a win for everyone!

2. Choose natural items as decor

Another way to incorporate nature into your home is to use natural items as home decor. When choosing storage bins, accessories, and colors for your interiors, consider choosing natural-made or natural-looking items. Select a color palette inspired by your favorite garden or landscape. White and grey stone pair well in minimalist settings. Wood furnishings can be dressed up or down to suit any theme. Taupe, tan and camel are trendy neutral beachy colors that pair well with nature-inspired wall coverings or rugs. Incorporate decorative items made from wood, stone, antlers, branches/stumps, driftwood, pebbles or other textures found in nature. Paint a mural of trees or frame pressed flowers. Buy wicker baskets for storage and shelves.

3. Natural scents

You can also bring the smell of nature into your home.  You can find candles, wax melters, diffusers, and sprays in many natural scents like pine, rain, fresh cut grass, citrus, oregano, lavender or lilac. There are so many different applications to bring scents into your home to excite your sense of smell and fill your space with something fresh and natural.

4. Nature journaling

Nature journaling is a great hobby that you can do both in and outdoors with a focus on nature’s fine details. Gather a quality-made journal, pens, colored pencils, and some watercolors. Or just some scrap paper and your kids’ crayons! No need to be fancy. Take your time and draw nature. You can draw what you see, copy from a photo or sketch from memory. If you need extra inspiration, go sit in a forest and journal about every detail. If you can’t draw, find a nature-themed coloring book – there are great ones for both kids and adults. Getting creative by practicing this stress-relieving form of expression is a great way to unwind with nature.

5. Indoor Herb Gardens

Incorporate nature into your life by bringing the garden indoors. You might be surprised to know how easy it is to grow edible plants in your home. All year! Simple clay pots of herbs next to a window are always a good place to start. Basil is an easy choice and will provide lots of yummy leaves for salads, pesto, pastas, and more. Turn your countertop or windowsill into a small garden with pots of your favorite herbs such as rosemary, mint, and thyme.  You can also regrow some vegetables from kitchen scraps. Try your green thumb on regrowing celery stalks, green onions and romaine hearts from leftovers. Countertop hydroponics gardens are another neat way to garden indoors. It’s easier than you think to grow everything you need to make your own salsas, salads, and more inside your home!

6. Edible flowers and fresh herbs

Another way to bring the outdoors in is to opt for edible fresh flowers and herbs to garnish and cook with.  You can do this easily by freezing them directly into ice cubes to add to your drinks. You can cut up herbs and flowers and use them to brighten up a salad or garnish a plate. Adding these bright bites into your daily meals will not only please your palate but give you a boost of antioxidants and vitamins. You can grow your own (see above) or find them at a natural grocer or your local farmer’s market.

7. Soundscapes

Tap into your auditory sense by bringing the sound of the outdoors inside. Create a nature-themed playlist that you can listen to at home, in the office, or on your commute to work. Nature has its own music – ocean/wave sounds, gentle rain, whale songs, thunderstorms, bird calls or a crackling campfire.  Close your eyes, listen carefully and connect yourself to the sound of nature for instant relaxation and stress-relief. Kids really enjoy these sounds, too and you can incorporate them into so many daily activities. Next time you’re playing with your kids, turn on the playlist and see how they react. Pretend you’re SCUBA diving while listening to whale sounds. Or hide out in a blanket fort in the basement while listening to a thunderstorm track. The meditating and playtime possibilities are endless.

8. Scroll nature

If you’re going to be online, incorporate nature into your media by following accounts and pages that share amazing shots and videos of nature, wildlife and outdoor activities. Consider this time as research to get inspired by new adventures and activities when you get back out there. Relax by looking at photos of the depths of the oceans, wildlife in the desserts, or camping under the stars. Overload your feed with all things nature. Stay connected with local farmers, garden shops, florists, and state parks. Find online nature-based communities and become involved – this is a great way to also meet other like-minded parents in your area and make new friends. Incorporating nature into screen time is a great escape to beautiful places and a nice break from the daily grind. 

9. Nature studies

Find a good nature study book or nature-based curriculum and follow along with the activities to learn new things about the outdoors. Set up a bird feeder outside your window and place a bird guide and binoculars next to it for easy access. Read about wildlife habitats, local flora and fauna, and study trail maps for hikes you’d like to go on. Learning about nature can be done through books when being outside to study isn’t possible. Learn about the plants that grow in your area and identify the trees in your neighborhood. Review animal track guide to figure out who made those footprints in your yard. There are so many ways to study nature on a daily basis that will inspire many adventures to come.

10. Garden dreams

It’s never too early to start planning your outdoor garden space and figuring out what you’ll plant this year. Use the time and preparations indoors to kickstart a thriving outdoor garden. Research what zone you’re in, what plants grow best there and when to start planting. Learn about soil types. Start indoor seedlings. Stroll through your local nursery to get ideas and ask questions. Collect planters and supplies during the offseason when things are on sale. Gardening can be a year-long adventure and a part of your routine every day. And when you’re ready, choose some easy vegetables to grow with kids and work on your garden together.

11. Find a sunny spot

Pay attention to the times of days when the sun is shining through the windows of your home and find that super sunny spot to warm yourself and soak in the sunshine. Set up tables in that spot, play areas or cozy sitting spaces. Add a comfy chair and some pillows and turn it into a reading nook. Rotate your houseplants in this sunny spot. Notice how the light changes in that location throughout the day and at different times of the year. During the perfect time of day, when the sun is shining through, sit, play, and enjoy it’s warmth.

12. Fresh flowers

Decorating your home with bouquets of fresh flowers are a wonderful way to incorporate nature into your daily indoor life. Grab a bouquet of cut flowers during your next grocery trip. Take time to hold each flower and smell its fragrance. Carefully trim off leaves and snip the end of the stems. Place all the flowers in a vase or spit them up into lots of smaller bouquets. Spread them throughout your home in places where you spend a lot of time: next to your bed, on the kitchen counter, or on a mantle. Seeing bright bouquets can bring so much freshness and happiness to your indoor space.

13. Nature-themed play

To keep your kids connected to nature while playing indoors, choose toys that incorporate nature into your children’s daily lives. Look for toys inspired by nature or made from natural materials like wood and stone. Create nature-themed sensory bins. Bring in bowls of snow for the kids to play with and eat! Paint on collected leaves, sticks and rocks. Use loose flowers and let them make their own arrangements, dissect them to see all of their parts or use them to make flower jewelry or crowns. Create little worlds of landscapes and leave animal figures inside. Creating natural themed play areas is so satisfying for parents and kiddos and will encourage them to be curious about the world outside.

14. Display nature art

Displaying nature art on the wall of your home is another easy way to incorporate nature into your indoor space. Shop thrift stores and find vintage paintings of landscapes, wildlife, herbs, plants or other natural elements. Order canvases of photos of your kids/family on your latest adventure or enjoying nature. Purchase prints from your most admired nature photographer or a local artist. Display projects that you and your family have created together, such as pressed leaves or flowers.  Switch them out through the season or with holiday decor.

15. Open the curtains

Bringing the outdoors in can be as simple as adding more light to your day. Make a morning ritual of opening the curtains and let the fresh light fill your space. This can be just as invigorating as your morning coffee and is a wonderful natural way to start your day. Bringing natural light into your home is so much better on your eyes, and aesthetically pleasing. More light will improve your mood and help your body adjust to the day.

16. Indoor magic gardens

Kids love creating imaginative worlds, so play to that strength using natural elements. Painted rocks, figures, and tiny accessories can turn any potted plant into a magical world. Use your child’s favorite dinosaurs, fairies, or lego figures to create a magic forest around a plant and make it special to them. Adding whimsical touches into your house plants is an inviting way to add some more focus onto them. Choose one item and move it around regularly and make a game of who notices first.

17. Botanical baths

Finally, one last way to incorporate more nature into your daily life is to literally bathe in it! Fill your tub with bubbles, salts, scents of your choice and a sprinkle of fresh or dried flower petals. This is the perfect way to warm up after a long winter day. Unwind in a botanical bliss and transport yourself to a luxurious spa after the kids are in bed. The flower petals are a perfect touch of nature to a relaxing indoor bath.

https://www.realhomes.com/advice/how-to-bring-nature-into-your-home

Bonus Ideas To Bring Nature Into Your Space

18. DIVIDE YOUR SPACE WITH A TRAILING PLANT RAIL

Decorating your home with living plants not only releases oxygen and absorbs carbon dioxide, but they have been shown to reduce stress levels and boost your mood,’ says Konyar. This makes them perfect for dividing up your home office and bedroom to bring some calm to both areas

19. BLUR BOUNDARIES BETWEEN INSIDE AND OUT

Colors of nature, such as earthy beige, warm clay, and all shades of green have been a firm favorite for this season, however, over the past year nature has become even more important. The outdoors has been an escape, somewhere to go to recharge our batteries or even just take a break from everything. We now want to channel that feeling in our home too, with warm, cozy shades inspired by the natural world,’ says Justyna Korczynska, senior designer at paint company, Crown(opens in new tab).

20. SOFTEN UP WITH ROUNDED EDGES AND CURVED SHAPES

Nature is full of soft, rounded shapes, curvy edges and non symmetrical lines, so invite more organic, twisted shapes into your home too. Round jute rugs, curvy stone vases and accessories from the natural world will bring this calm, relaxed vibe to any room.

Incorporating nature into your apartment decorating ideas is doable, you just have to get creative. If you have a balcony, look to that as your starting point. Hang flower boxes on your railings, and hanging baskets from the balcony above, to maximize the outside space you do have. Align your interior and exterior flooring to blur the boundaries between inside and out, and beckon the outside in. 

As for your interiors, maximize plant life with a living wall. There are many types of living wall boxes you can buy – some with in-built watering systems – to add lots of nature without taking up precious space. Hanging macrame planters, introducing natural textures and colors are also easy ways to incorporate nature into your apartment.

https://www.samanthakaplanart.com/blog/blog_posts/7-gorgeous-ways-to-incorporate-nature-into-your-hom

21. DISPLAY STONES, CRYSTALS, AND ROCKS THAT YOU HAVE COLLECTED OVER THE YEARS

It can be so inspirational to surround yourself with stones, crystals, and rocks that you’ve either collected or purchased over the years. According to Ashlina Kaposta, an interior designer who specializes in Decor Therapy, crystals and stones help create a beautiful home decor Feng shui and be used to heal, uplift and attract more of the things you want in your life.

22. DECORATE YOUR HOME WITH FURNITURE MADE FROM NATURAL WOOD

Wood is a durable, reusable, recyclable, and recoverable material that will last longer compared to the alternative options, which are more likely to end up in the landfills. In contrast, wood furniture can last a lifetime and can even be re-used and eventually turn into a new piece of furniture if need be. Wood also reduces CO2 emissions, which helps slow down the climatic change that we’re currently facing and will also help clean your air. Wood furniture will not only give you the feeling of nature. It can also add an elegance and artistic appeal to your home. Solid woods can be a great way to add warmth and texture to your home.

23. DECORATE WITH TEXTILES/NATURAL FIBERS THAT REFLECT NATURE

Textiles can be a beautiful way to make you feel like you can have nature immersed in your home. You can use the fabrics in your bedding, sheets, curtains, placemats, and even dish towels with plant patterns or patterns that reflect nature as a way to connect you more with the outdoors.

24. HANG EUCALYPTUS FROM YOUR SHOWER HEAD

Eucalyptus also has several health benefits, which can boost your immune system throughout the year, especially when you’re taking a hot shower. It is known to be the powerhouse plant to relieve respiratory symptoms. It also has anti-inflammatory properties that can serve as a decongestant when inhaled. Eucalyptus can also relieve symptoms of the common cold.

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