NWH: Indoors or Out, Wood Equals Well-Being

This is a post comes directly from the NWH website blog page:

Hardwoods are food for our souls.

Imagine you’re given a choice between two places to work.

You can spend more than a third of your waking life in a bare, minimalist space with a clean design aesthetic, wall to wall carpet tiles and the phosphorescent glow of your monitor. Or you can exist Monday through Friday in a work environment rich with references to the outdoors, the grain patterns of real hardwood in the furniture and beneath your feet, and green leafy plants surrounding you.

Which feels better? And which is best for lowering your blood pressure under a deadline? That’s the question researchers posed in “Effects of Biophilic Indoor Environment on Stress and Anxiety Recovery,” a study published by Science Direct in 2020. It found that interiors that drew from nature—its materials, colors and textures—had a positive impact on participants’ physical and mental health. 
It’s no wonder then that the word bio (ancient Greek for “life”) is popping up everywhere in the world of architecture and interiors. Biophilia, biomimicry, biodesign—these concepts point to a growing appreciation of the connection between life and the spaces we live life in. 

Read the entire blog post here.
 plants surround