The Pandemic is a Time to Bring the Outdoors in
By Bill Primavera
It’s been more than nine months since COVID-19 has made us aware that the world outside our front doors is less safe than it used to be. Today, I venture outside only when necessary, wearing a mask and keeping a safe distance from others. It’s a different world that we live in today.
Having been reared in the Tidewater area of Virginia, I spent most of my early years outside – and barefoot at that. So, it was a real transition for me when I went to college and lived in a third-floor dorm and couldn’t just swing open the door and feel the lush, soft grass under my feet.
Now as I contemplate my more stay-at-home existence, I have one particular interest: How can I at least have some semblance of outdoor living?
I began my adult life in a series of apartments and townhouses in New York City and Boston, so at least I was not completely new to the notion of being home in a building, but the decades of tending to my own homestead made me feel deeply connected to the outdoors.
I know I’m not alone. Just recently, as a realtor, I worked with a retired couple who had to make the hard decision of whether to move to one of two styles of condominium: one with a front and back yard, the other in a building with just a Juliet balcony. The former affords many of the same outdoor pleasures of single-family home ownership, but bears the responsibility of maintenance, if only for some flower beds, which the husband didn’t mind, but the wife did. The latter was maintenance-free but lacking that connection to nature, except for the views from oversized windows. The couple eventually chose the latter.
As for me, I know I am now happier in new digs without a yard and content with an elevated view of trees and surrounding hills to greet me each morning. However, the days have grown darker as we approach winter, and soon many of us will be leaving home before the sun rises and returning after dark. So much for the nice view.
Especially for the winter months, here are some ideas to bring a bit of the outdoors inside.
One no-fail option is to fill your home with plants, and literally have nature alive in your home. The volumes written on the choosing and care of houseplants can fill a wall of shelves, but the basics remain the same: observe how much light a room gets, see which plants grow best with that amount, select the hardier specimens – especially if you are a beginner – and from that group pick what pleases you most. If potted plants aren’t your thing, use the decorator’s secret and source out some convincing artificial plants. They may not replenish the air like their genuine counterparts, but I am convinced that they have the same soothing effect on the psyche. From a delicate orchid to a tall, potted palm, artificial plants can give you any look you want without the need to match plant to environment.
My wife Margaret is particularly clever in mixing artificial blossoms with real cut stems to create bountiful centerpieces, especially during holidays. Sometimes she and our guests make a game out of trying to guess which blooms are real and which aren’t.
If it’s the smell of real flowers you miss, you can try to bring fragrance into your home through aromatherapy, potpourri or scented candles, but make sure they are low in chemicals.
Plants and flowers aren’t the only way to bring the sense of nature indoors. An organic feeling can also be built through the various textures of wood, stone and other surfaces. You may be lucky and have these built into the structure of your home already, be they unique wood floor planks, exposed ceiling beams or a stone fireplace. Otherwise, you can use smaller elements to the same effect.
Consider a line of seashells along a mantelpiece or a hand-carved wooden bowl that still retains the irregularities of the original tree. One deluxe option, which includes the element of water, would be one of the new designs of vertical indoor fountains, where water flows down over a wall of copper, slate or pebbles.
While we are on the subject of flowing water, let’s not forget the element of sound. There are machines advertised that generate the sounds of ocean waves, rain or birdsong. Now you can also create the same soundscape with the use of an app or a streaming music service.
With such diverse options available, I do not need to lose the feeling of being in a verdant landscape of my own creating, no matter what the season is outside.
Bill Primavera is a realtor associated with William Raveis Real Estate and founder of Primavera Public Relations, Inc., the longest running public relations agency in Westchester. To engage the services of The Home Guru to market your home for sale, call 914-522-2076.
