Do You Know How Much Time You Spend Indoors (And Why it Matters)??

90% of our time is spent indoors.*

That’s a shocking amount of time, especially considering all the benefits of being in and around nature.

One of the takeaways of living through the pandemic is realizing how and where we spend our time.

Being in offices, working from home, spending time in classrooms, going inside buildings for appointments, meetings, dining and shopping.  When you think about all the things we do indoors, it adds up to most of our days.

But there are simple ways to bring nature inside – plants and living walls are a great way to improve moods, lower stress, reduce depression and create a calming atmosphere.

But bringing vegetation indoors isn’t always possible, especially when talking about healthcare environments.  Plants can harbor bacteria and germs and require specific growing conditions and care.  Substances required to properly disinfect surfaces can impede plant growth.

The solution?

Choosing nature images of lush plant life and living walls for hospitals and clinics.

Research has shown, viewing images of nature have many of the same effects as being in nature.  These detailed photos of living walls mimic the details and texture of natural plant life.

Providing comfort and calm indoors, especially in healthcare settings where people are often in stressful situations, can improve recovery time, lower anxiety and lead to positive outcomes for the entire care team.

The image above was taken in my studio. Doing so, allowed me to be creative with the colors and textures. It gave me the freedom to create my own nature-based artworks to photograph since you can’t go out in nature and rearrange a forest or field of flowers.

Sometimes it’s fun to have control over the way I can show the viewer certain aspects of the natural world through my photographs. And I’m always excited to capture and share the beauty I find I around me so I can help in creating spaces for wellness, calm and healing.

*Kellert, Stephen R. (2018). Nature By Design: The Practice of Biophilic Design. Yale University Press