It's not often we get to explore a completely new design idea, but for our latest Livingetc in Session event, we dug deep into what nature-led design could actually mean. The beautifully nature-led Karndean showroom at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour was the perfect place to pick apart this new phrase, working out what it meant, what it looks like, and why it's relevant to how homes should look and feel right now. Designers Manuela Hamilford of Hamilford Design, Dhilnawaaz Khan Trotman of Atelier Savoir Faire, and Brian Woulfe of Designed by Woulfe pooled their ideas in front of a packed audience.
They all agreed that many of the best interiors take their cues from nature, but this didn't need to be as strict as the principals of biophilic design. It could simply be a color palette borrowed from a landscape, or a texture inspired by tree bark. But if you take the essence of what it is about nature that calms and nurtures you, then you can build beautiful interior schemes. Nature-led design has come a long way since being about 'just' adding a home gym or sauna, and is now about designing spaces that manage stress levels, calm and uplift you, that nurture you in some way. "When design manages to emulate that hug that nature gives you, you are allowing your home to decompress you and soothe yourself and your nervous system," Dhilnawaaz says. And these are my five key takeaways, simple ideas that show why nature-led design is one of the key ideas shaping how decor not just looks, but feels, too.
