Bringing actual, living elements into Interior Design strategies can transform an Interior environment in ways that create unique impressions on those living in or visiting such environments.
There are no limitations on the ways your Interior design team can incorporate “life” factors into an Interior design plan. The elements that come most readily to mind are the more obvious and quite popular: aquariums and live plants!
In areas such as medical/dental waiting rooms, aquariums provide a special way to fascinate and relax nervous patients. Particularly in Pediatric facilities, children enjoy watching the antics of fish and may soon forget any anxiety about the dentist chair! In residences or offices the beauty of exotic aquariums has long been a favorite element. Seafood restaurants sometimes present tanks where you can even select your future dinner from swimming possibilities!
Bringing decorative and interesting shrubs and exotic tropical plants inside serves the dual advantage of considering beauty and shape along with a boost for that necessary oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange! There is no reason not to take some giant steps concerning bringing living elements inside!
A beautiful way to bring your love for gardens right into your home or corporate facility is the creation of an atrium – large or small –where an ornamental garden can thrive. In keeping with some current housing trends — that are looking toward water conservation — eliminating large yards is also eliminating outside gardening. Your Interior garden does not have to be limited to ornamentals alone. Indoor vegetable gardening does quite well as one way to compensate for limited outside yard space! Along with access to natural sunlight and a pleasing view of the day and nighttime sky, an atrium also lends the illusion of more openness and a feeling of expanded space.
Bringing “moving water” elements inside – in small or large-scale treatments – can be downright magical! The sound of flowing water tends to sooth, but it is not limited to sound alone. The visual of an Interior moving water element also has distinct affect upon an Interior environment and the people who use it. Incorporating a fountain into an atrium element is one way to add the sound of moving water to your Interior environment. A fountain also adds moisture to the Interior atrium garden.
In more extensive concepts, spa or swimming pool elements can be designed to extend from exterior to Interior, bringing both regions together. Specialists in water element design have innovative ideas. So, don’t hold back on something you have in mind – it might be possible!
We all love our pets. More and more, people are presenting more realistic and natural interior space for the small animals they love. The exclusive “mat in the corner” as the only prioritized space for Woof or Meow has become obsolete! Cherishing living animal elements, and deliberately accommodating their presence inside, has become a legitimate factor within Interior design planning.
More and more, pets are being provided with actual, dedicated areas within households. Businesses now encourage pets at work, and many provide outside runs and shelter for dogs that accompany their owners to the workplace. Terrariums for reptiles and atriums doubling as a sanctuary for your birds are more and more popular – and definitely important considerations when planning Interiors.
Along with shrinking outside yards come new considerations for our plants, our love for water and our pets. Homeowners and businesses are re-thinking new ways to accommodate living elements for their Interiors – flora, fauna, wings and fins.
Robert Boccabella, B.F.A. is principal and founder of Business Design Services and a certified interior designer (CID) in private practice for over 30 years. Boccabella provides Designing to Fit the Vision© in collaboration with writingservice@earthlink.net. To contact him call 707-263-7073; email him at rb@BusinessDesignServices.com or visit www.BusinessDesignServices.com or on Face Book at Business Design Services.
