Wellness Interior Design Ideas
Staff wellbeing and mental health should be one of the driving factors that you consider when looking to improve the productivity of your team. Recent studies have been conducted into the relationship between natural interior design that incorporates wood surfaces and natural elements to improve mood and productivity in the workplace.
One study, conducted in Australia, revealed that workplaces that incorporate natural elements such as wood surfaces, access to natural light and plants boost the mood and mental wellness of the people who work within them. This effect then in turn boosts productivity of the workforce.
This study went as far as saying that 82% of work environments that contained 8 or more wood surfaces resulted in higher personal productivity, mood, concentration, confidence and optimism. The employees in these work environments were also more likely to find their workplace relaxing, calming and energising.
Over recent years the importance of maintaining a healthy mind has almost outweighed physical wellness and designers have started to incorporate changes into their building designs to assist with this by boosting moral and reducing stress in the work environment. With smart and considered design, your next build can become a positive wellness space, influencing staff and visitors.
How Can You Incorporate Natural Elements Into Your Interior Design to Improve Wellness?
With studies demonstrating the benefits of incorporating elements from the natural world into your interior designs, many employers are looking for inspiration for how to improve focus and mental wellness for their workforce.
As timber cladding experts, the specialist team at NORclad can offer guidance and advice. Here we’ve explained some of the ways you can incorporate natural elements into your interior design.
Natural Wood Desks and Furniture
Not only do wooden desks, tables and furniture add to the wellness benefits provided by bringing outdoor materials inside, they look great too.
Natural wood desks and tables that are unpainted or uncovered provide a unique look to your office. The natural colouring and grain pattern of wood creates intriguing furniture, perfect for centre pieces or impressive large installations.
No two pieces of wood are the same so including natural woods into your interior design will bring a truly unique element to your office space.
Open Spaces
Inside outside builds often include spaces entirely open to the elements, whether through restricted roofing or an exposed courtyard. Allowing light (and even rain) into a space helps one feel like they are outside but still gives the privacy of being secluded inside; the ultimate amalgamation of isolation and escape. Courtyards can be incredibly effective, especially when surrounded by glass, at allowing the outside in, even in central parts of a building. Exposed walkways or corridors have the added affordance of aiding natural ventilation, increasing the sustainability of a building.
Mirrors
Exceptionally useful in smaller spaces, mirrors help a space feel bigger and create dramatic interiors. Mirrors also reflect light around a space, maximising natural light from windows and reducing dimly lit area. The feeling of allowing the outside inside can be accentuated by mirrors; reflecting the woodland and flora outside creating natural vistas inside.
Plants
Having office friendly plants incorporated in your interior design will improve the feeling of your environment. Simply have some leafy greens or colourful flowers to add a pop of colour to reap the wellness benefits.
Some high stress environments have gone so far as to have trees and large plants inside their buildings to create a calming area to escape. Some examples of this are the student library at Lancaster University and large financial institutions.
Natural Lighting
Natural lighting has physical health benefits in addition to improving overall mood and mental wellness. It is proven that along with providing a natural boost to vitamin D, natural lighting is also known to ward off seasonal depression and improve sleep.
When designing an indoor space try to position high traffic areas near a natural source of light. Large windows and an open plan design help to encourage the spread of natural light through a space.
If aiming to design an environmentally considered build, timber is an invaluable material as it’s carbon neutral and sustainable if sourced properly. Check out our sustainable promise to find out more.
Indoor Timber Cladding
Much like with wooden furniture, using timber cladding inside can help you bring natural materials and elements into your indoor space. Not only does it look great, it helps to improve the overall wellness of the environment by adding natural elements to the space.
Timber cladding can be installed inside and outside of your office to incorporate natural elements, insulate and build a unique feel to your workspace. By using timber for both interior and exterior facades, a building’s flow continues and naturally incorporates the outdoor environment into the interior. Find out more about inside/outside architecture and design here.
Get Started with NORclad
If you are looking for professional advice for installing timber cladding to your building or incorporating it into your interior design, please don’t hesitate to talk to the team at NORclad today. Our experts are on hand to help you find the best timber cladding solutions available for your project.
NORclad have been trusted to provide timber cladding for hundreds of projects just like yours so our team know exactly how to get the most out of your space and timber. From striking interior facades to huge building-wide exterior timber cladding, we have provided expertise and sustainable timber cladding to a variety of applications.
