Everything you need to know about biophilic tile design

What is biophilic tile design, and where did it come from?

A relatively new term to the house project vocabulary, biophilic design is the mix of the Greek words for life and love – bio and philia. Biophilic translates to a love of life and, in terms of design, can be interpreted as a love of nature and organic living. To create a biophilic design in your home, you will need to incorporate your connection to nature through natural light and warming, natural colours you would find outside your home. These colours could include creams, browns, light blues and greens.

As we are surrounded by nature throughout our lives, the human connection to nature underpins much of our wants and needs. Biophilic tile design may support this need. This month, Aylesbury Tile Centre look at how you can incorporate biophilic design into your kitchen and how this change could benefit not just the aesthetic look of your room but your health and wellbeing.

Incorporating biophilic tile design into your kitchen

There are many ways in which you will be able to incorporate biophilic design into your home. We mainly look at two ways of doing this – direct and indirect design. Let’s look at these options in more detail.

Direct

One way of bringing biophilic design into your kitchen is to capture nature in your home. Simply put, you bring elements of nature into your space and work them into your design. Many of us are already doing this without thinking about the type of design look we are going for. We surround our homes and kitchens with plants, herbs, natural light and animals. This is a direct way of bringing a biophilic design into your kitchen.

Indirect

Thinking about your space indirectly will also lead you toward this design trend. Much less about filling your kitchen with very solid representations of nature, indirect biophilic design involves thinking about the look and feel of your kitchen design. This could be through your choice of colours, the materials you use to finish your kitchen off and the furniture you incorporate. Natural stone tiles are great for your kitchen design as they will reflect the light off walls and create the feeling of a larger space. Choosing hexagonal tiles on your walls could represent a bees hive – another nod in the direction of biophilic design.

The benefits of biophilic tile design for your home

Not only does the biophilic design make us feel more at one with elements of nature, but it also provides many benefits for our home and health.

Health and wellbeing – Being in a place with a strong connection to nature can give us the chance to restore our bodies mentally, which could lead to increased focus and capacity on the tasks we have to achieve. By giving ourselves some time to relax within this space, our cognitive functions can take a moment to catch up and repair themselves.

Mood and emotional improvements – studies have shown that interacting with natural environments can lower our levels of tiredness, help improve our mood and regulate our emotions. Nature is considered to be stress-reducing and restorative.

A feeling of comfort to improve our bodies – not only does biophilic tile design help us mentally, but also physically. Being able to relax and feel comfortable reduces stress levels, and in turn, our bodies can also relax and repair. Having a visual connection with nature means our lungs and muscles start to feel better, offering a feeling of refreshment.

A peaceful home and workspace – incorporating biophilic design into your home and workplace can boost the benefits above and make your space a more peaceful one where productivity and concentration levels are much higher.

Aylesbury Tile Centre has a range of tile designs perfect for your home

Biophilic design is a growing trend amongst architects and interior designers looking to integrate the natural world into their designs. The term ‘biophilia’ was coined in 1984 by American biologist Edward O. Wilson to describe the innate love of nature that people seem to have. The term has since been used to describe the movement to make people feel closer to nature and increase the presence of plants, water, sunlight and other natural elements that humans have evolved to need for survival.

Aylesbury Tiles has a range of biophilic tile designs for your home. These designs can work in any room of your home, from your kitchen and bathroom to your living room or bedroom. The biophilic tile designs are easy to incorporate into your home, and they will give your home a touch of creativity. You can design your home with biophilic tile designs any way you like. You can have a single strategy in your home or have a combination of designs. It’s up to you. Aylesbury Tile Centre are here to support you in sourcing the perfect tiles for your home. We invite you to visit your local Tile showroom today to see what you can find.