Come rain or shine, bringing the feeling of outside in gives a certain freshness and vitality to any interior. By linking indoor aspects like your colours and materials to the areas in your garden that are visible through your windows and doors, you can bring a bigger sense of scale to both areas.
Introduce more light
The key to a successful inside-outside living scheme is the effortless linking of the two spaces, and perhaps the easiest way to introduce this trend is to increase the amount of natural light in your home.
Bi-fold doors in open-plan family kitchens are becoming more and more popular. Allowing in extra light and a feeling of flow between indoor and outdoor spaces, they flood a room with light.
Depending on the age of your property, you may find the majority of your windows are situated at the front of the home. Consider installing windows with garden views to help open up the property more.
To add extra light – and an extra dimension to your home – why not consider adding roof lights to an existing space?
Think about Flooring
Installing a floor that extends from indoors to the outside will help create one seamless space. For more traditional homes, wood is a great natural material and can be stained to give you the finish – and protection – you need. Our range of wood stains helps protect and enhance the natural beauty of wood, making them perfect for interiors inspired by nature. We especially love natural oak colours in more traditional settings and a lighter whitewashed finish for more modern settings.
For more industrial and contemporary-inspired spaces, poured concrete is a great way to bring the outside in and can be softened with the addition of oversized rugs or underfloor heating.
If you’re worried about having one large expanse, divide the areas into zones. Each can have its own floor finish and be used for different activities, such as cooking, outdoor dining and relaxing.
Use Colours Inspired by Nature
An easy way to incorporate this look is to choose a natural-inspired colour scheme. But remember to take inspiration from your nearby natural habitat. Leave ocean colours like deep blues, vivid marines and moody greys for coastal cottages, while fresh greens, watery blues and spring floral-inspired tones are perfect for more rural homes and even suburban settings.
We love interiors inspired by nature that feature a scheme of different shades of one colour. Try layering light greens with more sumptuous shades to help add dimension and texture.
We’re seeing a growing trend for earthy tones in russet browns and deep oranges being used in kitchens and living spaces. For a more contemporary take on these traditional colours, apply them in a matt emulsion. You’ll find these warm natural tones in our lovely collection of yellow colours and they’re available as part of our breatheasy® range, making them ideal for busy households.
Choose Natural Materials
You can blur the lines between two internal and external spaces by bringing finishing touches you would normally see outside into your indoor areas, and vice versa.
We love an exposed brick wall in a kitchen-dining space and this feature looks great in both Victorian terraces and new build detached properties, especially when paired with other industrial-inspired trends like matt black window frames or antique bronze fixtures. Why not paint a metallic stripe on the exposed brick for a more luxe take on the inside-outside living trend? Our metallic emulsions are designed to add a subtle shimmering effect.
Alternatively, paint garden walls and fences in shades that are often used inside, and even hang mirrors and lights outdoors to develop the inside-outside living look further.
For those final finishing touches, add in natural soft furnishings like faux-fur rugs, wool throws and hardy jute rugs and carpets.
Bring in Actual Nature
To create a true feeling of outside in, literally bring the outside in! Houseplants are not only great for bringing flashes of greenery into your home, but they’re also brilliant for your overall wellbeing. From the contemporary cactus to the classic orchid, Insta-worthy lemon tree (!) and oversized philodendron, there’s no shortage of incredible houseplants to choose from for interiors truly inspired by nature.
Feeling inspired to bring your outside in? Find natural-inspired colours from our range of paint samples and get your project underway.
