[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text css_animation=”top-to-bottom”]If you are a plant lover or not, one thing is clear, plants do love you. I think everyone has an innate understanding about plants and their beneficial relationship with humans. We evolved surrounded by grass, flowers and trees, for the most part we feed on them and so our minds began to associate nature with well being, with nurture[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Now, for some time, not too long ago, we started alienating ourselves from nature, in cities of rock, steel and glass we separated, comfortable, and at the beginning nothing seemed to be lost. Recent scientific papers on this matter, however, discovered that this is not the case. You see, apart from obvious benefits that plants bring indoors like increased air quality or controlling the level of humidity, there are more important benefits, benefits for your mind.
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Benefits for your body:
By having a couple of plants inside, potted plants or green walls you are actually saving a lot of money on your medical bills. Your immune system is boosted, your stress level is lower and by association your blood pressure is normalized, you may experience fewer colds and lung problems, and in the end increase your life span. In one study a researcher named Dan Buettner found what people that live the longest have in common and among the top six characteristics was “People who tend to gardens”1.
Benefits for your mind:
You may want to live long but not depressed, or sad and unproductive. Yet again plants come to the rescue, I told you that they love you! So the biggest surprise for me was the mental benefits of having plants around you, aka in your home, on your desk, everywhere! I may even considered carrying a plant with me at all timesJ.
So the findings are that by looking at plants, touching them, smelling them, you can alleviate mental problems. It can decrees negative emotions like anger and annoyance. If you have pain, it can help dealing with it. It helps people with depression. It helps you concentrate and be more productive and recover from mental fatigue faster.2 If these benefits don’t make you want to transform your apartment in a greenhouse I don’t know what will!
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Benefits for Design:
The question is now, how to blend plants into your home design. Well it depends on what you want to achieve and it depends on the function of the space. Let’s say first you have your kitchen and you think about greening it up. You could put some decorative plants in pots, or you could plant some herbs that you can use when cooking. The goal is to get as many benefits from your plants as you can, with style. You can have fresh herbs and beautiful design in one strike, so don’t be afraid to use all kinds of plants.
In the bathroom we need to think a little bit differently, you have a very wet environment, it’s also good to not have pots siting around on different surfaces, because of mold and bacteria, so maybe the best solution for some green love is a green moss wall, moss is water loving, low maintenance, and will not grow out of proportion. You may even want it by the bathtub so you can have the best relaxing bath.
In the bedroom the way I think about it is, smell, use your nose, make use of plants that have a nice scent. So don’t be afraid to put some plants right on the nightstand. It’s certainly better than scented candles, sleep tight!
For the Living room the accent is on the visual, has to look good and blend with the overall design of the space. Use a green wall or pots to make an impact, capture the eye and walk it around the room. The atmosphere must be relaxing a treat for you after a long day.
In the office, I think you can do everything you like, it’s your private space, you work and you create, so let your plants help you. As a thought you may want to put some greens around your monitor, so you can look away from time to time and rest those eyes.
The list can go on and on but the key here is to use this process yourself, think about what your activities are in a certain space and see if you can use plants to enhance them, if you do that, bringing nature inside will be as natural as a walk in the park.
