Duncan Neil, creative director at Earthed by William Clark, shares his expert opinion on how to utilise nature-inspired design to create best results in the hospitality industry.
Creating a welcoming and memorable experience in the hospitality industry is vital and the natural world holds a wonder of unique colours, patterns and materials that can inject life into interior spaces.
Hallways and entrances
A spacious entrance with lots of natural light grabs the guest’s attention as soon as they set foot into the venue. The space should have clean lines and a neutral colour palette to create a fresh feeling no matter what time of day or season. The use of large green plants can also help achieve this. Adding greenery in any form to hotel hallways will maintain an air of freshness around the premises and bring a sense of rejuvenation.
Restaurants
It’s important to create a comfortable restaurant area to promote a relaxed dining experience. Red, yellow and green palettes are the most common colours found within food and naturally complement our eating experience. Eating is a basic primal function, so using earthy natural materials, such as natural woods, cottons and linen, can synchronise experience and our primal needs.
In this busy environment pattern can be used to add character and depth, potentially through furniture, upholstery or soft furnishings. Patterns inspired by nature are ideal for hotels as they create calming environments when soft flowing patterns are used, but can also be perfect to add bursts of excitement and vibrancy when sharp bold designs are used. Our collections utilise a mix of elements found within the natural world, from the soft flow of water to the sharp lines of minerals found in the earth’s surface.
Bedrooms
The guest room is arguably the most important area to get right as this will have an effect on how well a guest rests. A spacious room incorporating neutral tones really helps to create a relaxed and calm atmosphere. However stronger colour schemes are more atmospheric and can make a real statement.
The best colour palettes to experiment with in bedrooms are greens and blues. Greens have clear links with nature, one of the most peaceful influences to bring into the bedroom. While blue tones are traditionally linked to harmony and calm, which will help guests to have a restful sleep. Our debut collection, The Upperlands incorporates these colours and tones, with fabrics that have an earthy, calming effect. Incorporating quality fabrics also enable depth and texture to be added to a room, either by print or structured textiles.
Additionally, it has been proven that headboards aid a better night’s sleep, therefore should always be present – they are also an ideal opportunity to add personality and colour.
There is no rule book when utilising our natural world in interiors, so it’s important to be playful and have some fun experimenting to see what works for your hotel and your guests.
