Bring Nature Into Your Living Spaces
Humans crave a connection to their natural world. Being in contact with nature in one’s everyday life provides numerous health benefits and improves overall happiness. A home designed to connect with its natural surroundings is the epitome of what mountain living entails—and it can be accomplished in many ways.
TAKING IN THE VIEW
Making the environment visible within a home elevates the spirit. It can reduce stress, produce more positive emotional functioning, and improve our concentration. Views can be accomplished with glazing placed at strategic locations throughout the home. Having large expanses of glass means the outdoors can flow seamlessly into the indoors.
MAXIMIZING THE SUNLIGHT
Taking advantage of the daylight in the mountains can be tricky, as it can get dark quickly with surrounding peaks and trees casting shadows on the home. A smart mountain home design is centered on optimizing the available sunrays, which also reduces the homeowner’s reliance on artificial lighting and thus overall energy use.
INCREASING AIR FLOW
Fresh air is an important aspect of introducing nature into architecture, too. It can stimulate one’s olfactory senses and provide pleasant breezes that create a feeling of being in tune with nature. It can also contribute to the cooling of our spaces without the use of artificial cooling systems.
INCORPORATING WATER
Water can sometimes be hard to find in the mountains, but it’s the perfect complement to such gorgeous scenery. Whether it means including a water feature within the home design or providing openings to listen to or view water features in the outdoor space, water can have a positive impact on the overall ambiance of one’s mountain home.
USING NATURAL MATERIALS
The materials that constitute one’s home can also improve one’s connection to nature. Construction materials such as wood and stone, as well as incorporating neutral color palettes, can create a more nature-inspired living space that blends seamlessly into its site.
INCLUDING INDOOR VEGETATION
Strategically styled indoor plants have positive effects beyond connecting the home’s occupants to the scenery. Vegetation purifies, humidifies, and oxygenates the air within a space, improving indoor air quality.
A connection to nature is crucial to overall wellbeing, and to incorporate this connection within one’s home creates not only awe-inspiration design but happier, healthier homeowners.
Stephanie Bowes is the Executive Director at Canadian Timberframes, a British Columbia-based leading manufacturer and provider of timber frame solutions across North America. View their profile or contact Stephanie at 877-348-9924.
Content for this article provided by Canadian Timberframes Ltd.
