Relax With Slow Living Interior Design
By Ana Zuravliova
In 1980s Italy, in opposition to the fast food trend, a philosophy arose called slow food. The movement around this way of thinking wanted to promote a different approach to food, with a focus on quality and sustainability, but the principles underlying it have spread out into many other aspects of life. Slow living is a very similar concept to the slow food movement, which focuses on quality, longevity and providing a counterbalance to the stresses and fast pace of 21st century living. Today, we’ll be exploring slow living interior design and how you can add it to your home with great results!
Start small
At the core of slow living is attention to small details that not only make a difference to a space’s style but have meaning behind them.
Photos of friends and family dotted around the room alongside gifts from loved ones will help you to reconnect with the things that truly matter in life and help you to find shelter from the constant distractions and pressures of the world beyond your front door.
The overall aim of today’s topic is to find peace and curate a space that’s not only functional but a pleasure to be in. What’s more, by following these steps, you’ll be wanting to fill it with friends and family, bits of finger food and plenty of fun which you’ll remember fondly for years to come.
Calming slow living colours
Colours have been known to reduce stress and help find emotional balance for centuries. While bright, saturated and energising colours are wonderful for many spaces and trends, they’re less handy for slow living.
Instead of electric yellows or lime greens, opt for more natural, calming colours. The new neutrals, both warmer and cooler shades of grey are all great starting points. For a little more colour, look to nature for inspiration. Natural, soft greens like olive or sage are wonderful, but so too are very soft dusky yellows.
Blue is also a lovely calming colour that reminds us of the sea and the sky. Soft duck egg blues, or even gentle shades of teal will be excellent spot colours for a slow living inspired home. If you’re not 100% certain on which colour is best for you, don’t forget you can order up to eight free fabric samples via the website!
Invest in quality
Quality is something that’s sadly underappreciated in much of your modern world, but it has important value.
Buying something that’s been lovingly made, from high quality materials will ensure it stands the test of time. By lasting for years, quality furniture, blinds, curtains and accessories will make your home feel more familiar to you, granting consistency in an ever changing world.
At Blinds Direct, quality is at the heart of everything we do. Our talented and experienced craftspeople work tirelessly to produce only premium quality curtains, blinds and home accessories from our specialist factory in the heart of Yorkshire. Moreover, we stand by our commitment to quality by offering a five year guarantee on our products.
Slow living and sustainability
Sustainability is a foundational aspect of slow living. With much waste and destruction in how we live our lives, sustainability is an important counterbalance to throw away culture.
Let’s start off with wood in interior design. Wood is beautiful, it reminds us of the natural world and it helps countless people find peace and harmony at home. That said, it’s very important to source wood sustainably. At blinds direct, our wooden Venetian blinds and shutters are built from wood that’s only sourced from responsibly managed forests.
In addition to sustainability sourced wood, we have also expanded our ranges of products that are made from recycled materials. By finding new uses for materials that would otherwise have gone to landfill, we can reduce our environmental impact and encourage a more positive approach to the world.
Go scandi
One well established way of living that’s ideal for slow living already is Hygge.
Hygge is a word in both Norwegian and Danish cultures and is used to mean cosiness and comfortable conviviality. Just imagine a cold outside contrasted with a warm indoors with warm jumpers and lovely conversations with family and friends coupled with hot drinks. It’s this sense of comfort and cocooning that we want to achieve in our slow living homes.
There are some wonderful components in Nordic interior design which you can learn all about in our Looking To The Future: Nordic Style blog. You can also find some excellent tips for cosiness in our Cosy Living blog.
Slow living interior design is the perfect medicine for the stresses of modern life. By investing in quality pieces that you’ll come to love, and by minimising your impact on the environment, you’ll be perfectly placed to enjoy slow living and all the positives it will bring to your home life.
Shop some of our best slow living products:
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