Bringing nature into the home

Love this, brings so much colour into the room (image)

It's proven that time spent outdoors is good for both your physical and mental wellbeing and it's something that as a family we truly believe in. Having grown up in South Africa I can honestly say I spent most of my time outside, preferably from dawn to dusk, running around, swimming in the pool, eating outside, socialising with friends and living in a warm country allows you to do that. Right from the beginning I have actively tried to pass down my passion for the outdoors to my son, who now loves nothing more than gardening, cycling or going on some kind of outdoor adventure. During the summer we thrive at this and during the winter we still enjoy outdoor time everyday come rain or shine (investing in Swedish waterproofing clothing is a must) but it's more of an endurance during the colder months. We are also actively trying to bring more of the outdoors into our home and I will always pick natural wooden objects over plastic any day, aesthetically they are so much more pleasing, but I thought I would put together a few tips on how to bring the outside in.

Some produce from our garden

1. Start a little urban garden and grow your own – we don't have the biggest garden but this year we created a small raised vegetable bed and purchased a mini greenhouse and we have had great success with growing loads of radishes, herbs, tomatoes (which are about to ripen) potatoes, onions and even our first courgettes and aubergine are now appearing which is very exciting. What is even better is going outside with the little man, picking what we need and taking them inside to cook, this is such a simple pleasure but fills you up with immense satisfaction and really connects you with nature.

Don't be afraid to display your nature finds in an interesting way (image)

2. Get a few house plants. I love house plants and now that most of the unpacking has been done (we moved into our new house at Christmas) we are excited to pick up a few large house plants for the living-room and hallway as well as matching our wooden finished natural tops in our kitchen. Not only do that bring in a little bit of colour into the home but they also improve air quality so it's a win win all round if you ask me.

Mr A's little nature table

3. Start a nature table or terrarium. Since having Mr A we have always had some kind of nature table going on in our house that changes with the season. It's usually a collection of our little finds when we are out on our adventures and often include acorns, conkers, sticks, dried flowers, sea shells, pine cones and little bits and bobs, we than sometimes turns these things into wild art and did you know it's proven the more time you spend around nature the more creative you are, I think it really rubs off on us at home.

I love this butterfly print (image)

4. Nature inspired Art - there are some lovely prints out there that would brighten up any wall as well as bring in a real sense of the outdoors onto your walls and into your home. You could even create some wild art of your own, or make a wonderful seashell mobile or a leaf collage.

What a stunning way to work from home, dream (image)

5. Bring in natural fibres such as wicker and rattan, even a little piece of furniture such as a foot stool or a hand woven wicker basket, made in a natural fibre will bring an element of the outdoors in. I have seen some beautiful hemp rugs that I would love to have in the lounge. Another thing I love and we would have if we could would be natural flooring – I don't think there is anything better than walking on wooden floors, they really make my soul happy and pair that up with a large window bringing some natural light in, is there anything better?

We always try and make the home reflect our passions and love and even though our new house is very much a project in process at the moment we already have our little nature table set up and our urban garden going and are about to hang a few nature inspired prints around the house and pick up a few house plants so that we can keep this summer outdoor feeling going for longer than the season does.

In association with Betta Living