How often have you planned a vacation to go visit nature? Sure! Pack the kids up and take them to the zoo, or a neighborhood park or the Grand Canyon. Nature is that thing that’s outside of us. We have to travel away from our homes and jobs to see and appreciate it. It’s certainly not in our daily lives, right?
The truth is that we are actually one and the same with nature, whether we realize it or not. It is all around and we act on nature as much as nature acts on us. Our fast-paced, technology driven, modern world has increasingly led us to believe we are disconnected from nature. Acknowledging our integrated existence with the natural world is the first step in developing a natural life and ultimately a natural home.
Frank Lloyd Wright called this way of living “organic” because of its close association with the unity and integration found in the natural world we inhabit. He felt a home should “spring from the ground and into the light” and wrote a book in 1954 on the subject titled, The Natural House. We’ve adopted these and other like-minded ideas as an integral part of the PrairieMod Principle of "Bring The Outside In." Some examples of adhering to this principle that we will explore this month include:
• Accessorize your home with items like plants and dried flowers. It helps to remind us of the natural beauty of the world around us. The colors and textures of these items help accentuate and unify the other materials that make up the entire environment.
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• Decorate with natural sunlight — it is often overlooked as an aspect to bringing the outside in. When building a home, consider how the sun will move over and through the building through all seasons to maximize it’s potential. Sunlight warms, changes the nature of colors throughout the day and can work with integrated decoration to create interesting and unique shadows.
These are just a few examples of how this principle can be considered as a part of our everyday environment. Throughout this month we will explore these and other ideas on how bringing the outside into our homes can improve, integrate and uplift our lives. We’ll examine the historical origins behind this principle and specific examples of how it can be applied to our lives and homes for today. We look forward to the journey of helping to make your home a natural home.
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