It is true that every space needs good bones, or at least halfway decent but even the most strategic and staged or stark and contemporary or pale and frilly decor needs a touch of nature.
Making or breaking a look generally comes down to the details. Layering the room with lighting, texture and color gives the room cohesion but also tension. You want a soulful kitchen or perhaps a spa bathroom but it is the composition and play of materials that give it that feeling or not.
Collaborate with nature and you have a winning scene every time.
Every style is graced by bringing in something alive, natural or depicting nature.
Take my pinecones off my distressed, vanilla cream colored tray and you lose the subtle connection. Omit a painting of a still life with a wooden bowl of fruit and your room suddenly seems dull. Move any of my amethysts or crystals and literally the energy of the room will be askew, unless it is time to move the energy around.
Have you ever had the experience of killing off a plant, tossing it and then walking back into the room and feeling something is missing?
You can enhance every space in your home with simple touches of nature and it does not matter if it is real or replicated.
Here are some ideas I came up with:
A real plant in a pretty pot. A small desk fountain with smooth blue stones or one made of slate. A botanical print. A piece of driftwood. A wreath of succulents (but not dried flowers according to all feng shui schools of thought – supposedly they suck the life right out of you and your home). A living bouquet or a single flower in a vase. A primitive wicker or richly woven, grass basket filled with fresh fruit, veggies, unshelled nuts or pinecones. A tray of seashells, crystals or herb pots. A mineral, crystal or rock specimen atop a small mirror. A vase of branches, with leaves or bare. Sprigs of rosemary or lavender hung upside down ( rubber band the ends and it will catch on a nail on the wall ) wrapped with raffia or ribbon. Blue green Aruacana chicken eggs in a wire basket (see older post last month with picture). And of course, pets and animal prints, but not too many!
When you feel your home needs warmth or realism, give a nod to mother earth and bring in the outdoors.
