Each new year introduces new design trends. This year, get ready for something that’s perfectly natural. Indoor greenery is predicted to play a key role in home design this year, and that means finding new ways to use plants in a variety of settings.
Diana Hathaway, a West Coast interior designer, and color expert who writes the Gorgeous Color blog, believes the focus on natural elements is going to be strong in 2018 because of the influences of green design and living. Even if you’re only able to accommodate a plant or two, you can use the surrounding environment to bring out the green and emphasize the natural touches.
“Using decorating accents in fresh green colors can enhance even the smallest natural greenery in a room,” Hathaway says. One thing that’s great about using plants as design elements is that they’re affordable and come in all different shades, shapes, and sizes.
You can find plants to fit a tall, skinny vertical space or fill up a ledge with a thick, short, bushy plant. With so many different varieties available, it’s easy to completely customize your look — and change it up whenever you please.
Healthy Design
Including plants as part of your décor is not only a great way to decorate your space, but it also adds some significant health benefits. For starters, it freshens the room by absorbing carbon dioxide. Think of it as removing the “dead air.” When there’s too much carbon dioxide in a room, it feels stuffy and leads to reduced energy levels and sluggish mental performance. A green plant can help minimize the amount of carbon dioxide in a room and improve your overall air quality.
Plants are also very helpful in ridding the air of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are gasses that come from building materials like paint and carpet as well as from plastics and electronics. This is important because VOCs have been found to be highly toxic and carcinogenic and can disrupt the endocrine system.
Better Look, Better Living
That’s not all a plant can do for you. If dry indoor air is a problem — especially in the winter months — plants can help raise the humidity level by emitting water vapor into the air. They also produce negative ions, much like an air purifying machine. They do this by removing particles such as mold spores, bacteria, dust, and other allergens. Negative ions are directly connected to increased feelings of well-being.
Green Solutions
If you decide to use plants as a healthy and attractive decorating tool, start by investigating specific plants that could add to the well-being of your home while suiting your design style. NASA has released recommendations of the best houseplants to use based on their ability to filter harmful pollutants and toxins from the air. The options include varieties of ferns and palms that could enhance your home décor while improving your health.
NASA recommends using at least one plant in every 100 square feet of living space for optimal air-filtering benefits. Before you stock up on plants, do your homework. Some plants are toxic to animals, so if you’re a pet owner, make sure you don’t take home houseplants that could poison your furry friend.
As you’re redecorating your home with greenery, look to CORT Furniture Outlet to find the latest styles to help you get a trendy, fresh start on the New Year.
