The popularity of indoor office plants keeps gaining ground as research proves their benefits. However, most offices can’t knock out walls to add a sky-lit atrium. Leases limit what redesign choices tenants can make, budgets rarely cover construction, and few teams can work around a major renovation. Good news: redesigning an office with nature doesn’t require any of that!
Here are six ways to bring biophilic design into the office space you already have. If you’re hungry for more ideas after reading this article, feel free to schedule a complimentary consultation for inspiration and custom plans!
1. Rent container plants
Potted greenery is the most flexible way to redesign an office with indoor plants. Container plants require no plumbing, no wall mounting, and no permits. Our plant rental program bundles design, installation, and ongoing indoor maintenance into one monthly agreement, so staff members aren’t burdened with plant watering and pruning. Plant Solutions selects species for the light level of each area of your office. Because nothing attaches to the building, the plants leave no trace when the lease ends.
Another perk? A rental program can grow with you long after your office redesign is finished, as your space expands, or your budget allows. Our guide to plant rental for different types of workspaces notes how a small business can start with as few as a dozen containers, and our article titled “Plant design on a budget” covers how rental makes professional plant design accessible to all budgets.
2. Hang moss wall art for rooms with no natural light
Preserved moss is real moss treated with glycerin. This allows it to stay soft and green without water, soil, or natural light. A MossWallArt™ piece hangs like framed art, which makes it one of the easiest ways to add natural texture to a conference room or windowless corridor. When embarking on an office redesign, preserved moss fills spaces with nature where live plants would otherwise struggle.
3. Place artificial plants for hard-to-reach and low-light areas
Every office redesign runs into spots a live plant will not survive: shelving that’s too tall for plant maintenance, dark corners, and hallways with no windows. High-quality artificial plants bring greenery in to places with no watering, pruning, or light requirements. They also solve a scale problem: big rooms call for big plants, but a living twelve-foot tree needs more light than most interiors can provide. Artificial trees, however, can fill an extra-large space without needing excessive light.
The best office plant ideas mix the two. At Blanco Cocina + Cantina, artificial olive trees anchor the room while living plants fill in at their bases. Quality varies widely, and our article on whether artificial plants can look real covers what to look for.
4. Install a self-contained water feature
Water is one of the most powerful elements in nature, and the perfect thing to consider during an office redesign. Self-contained fountains recirculate their own supply of water instead of connecting to a waterline. They need only an outlet and, with the right model, require minimal upkeep. A 2021 analysis of 18 studies published in PNAS found that water sounds had the largest effect on health and positive mood of any natural sound category tested.
Because a fountain can easily turn from a feature into a nuisance — a crowded reception desk, crusted mineral scale, or a burned-out pump — be sure to consider these suggestions:
- Place it where people pause, such as a lobby or break room. A steady trickle beside work spaces can distract from tasks and take up much-needed surface areas.
- Use distilled water. Hard water, common across the Phoenix metro, leaves mineral buildup on pumps and basins.
- Check the water level often. Dry desert air speeds evaporation, and a pump that runs dry can burn out.
5. Use natural materials and textures
Natural materials are a subtle but impactful part of a nature-inspired office redesign. Wood, stone, cork, wool, and linen bring natural textures into the workspace; they soften hard lines, warm up sterile spaces, and create dimension. When redesigning your workspace, consider swapping a laminate table for solid wood, or adding a wool rug to a bare floor.
As with plants, the presence of natural materials has been shown to lower stress and increase a sense of calm. A review of research on wood and human physiology in the Journal of Wood Science found that seeing, touching, and smelling wood tended to produce physiological relaxation, including lower blood pressure and heart rate. However, more isn’t always better. A room with about 30% wood surfaces lowered participants’ blood pressure and pulse rate, while rooms with excessive amounts of wood had the opposite effect. The studies were small, but they suggest wood accents may work better than covering every inch with timber.
6. Play natural sounds in the background
Sound is easy to overlook in an office redesign. If your workspace has no room for a water feature, soft audio of birdsong or rainfall is the simplest substitute. The same PNAS analysis found that bird sounds had the biggest effect on stress and annoyance of the natural sounds studied, though only two of its studies tested them. Soundscapes cost almost nothing to try, which makes them an easy experiment in a noisy open floor.
Start with the space you have
The strongest office redesigns mix elements: live plants where conditions support them, preserved or artificial greenery where they don’t, and water, wood, and sound to engage the other senses. For offices that already own plants, horticultural service keeps them healthy without adding work for staff.
Plant Solutions’ design and installation team can assess your light, layout, and traffic patterns to plan a nature-centered redesign around your existing space.