First thing's first. Let's talk about the psychology of color, specifically the colors that tend to facilitate focus & concentration. Green tends to promote concentration and focus while also playing into aspects of biophilic design. Blue is incredibly calming, which means using it in your office or home would promote calm and aid concentration.

Read more about color psychology here. Now, on to actual design elements. One important consideration is space. Do you want the area to be more open to encourage collaborative discussion, or closed off to ensure individual work gets done?

According to InteriorArchitects.com - in open office spaces "employees experience more uncontrolled interactions, higher levels of stress, and lower levels of concentration and motivation." Clearly there is a need for balance between collaboration and individual work that promotes concentration and productivity. Consider creating "focus areas" - places where people can work independently, and make the rest of the space more open to encourage collaboration and effective group work. 

Another possibility is to set up the space similar to a library layout, that is, long conference tables (see image below) that serve as collaborative meeting spaces, (but don't have to if an employee would prefer to work individually.)

Alabama Sawyer Furniture

There are a ton of different ways to approach the maximization of concentration and focus in interior design elements, and these are just a few, so be sure to check out our sources and further reading section!

Sources & Further Reading

Source: Curbed

Source: Focus on Focus | Interior Architect 

“The biophilia hypothesis ... suggests that humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature"

That’s all well and good, but how does biophilia relate to interior design? After all, the title of this blog suggests there’s a type of design related to biophilia. There is, and it’s called biophilic design. The idea is to reconnect people with nature through various design elements:

"Biophilic design is a concept used within the building industry to increase occupant connectivity to the natural environment through the use of direct nature, indirect nature, and space and place conditions. Used at both the building and city-scale, it is argued that this idea has health, environmental, and economic benefits for building occupants and urban environments, with little drawbacks."

Let's break that definition down a little, and discuss what is meant by direct and indirect nature.

Direct nature- Simply put, direct nature refers to potential physical contact with some sort of natural feature. This can mean taking advantage of natural lighting with skylights, or having a small fountain where people can sit and listen to the calming sounds of moving water.

The stream, plant life, and natural lighting are all examples of direct nature here

Although it may sound odd at first, finding a way to use animals to evoke nature can be achieved through aquariums and gardens. Obviously there are a ton of other ways in which nature can be directly evoked in biophilic design, read about those ways here.

Indirect nature- The use of indirect nature is much less involved than direct nature. To have an indirect experience of nature, there need only by contact with images/ depictions of nature. A beach painting over the fireplace, wood furniture, use of earth tones are all examples of indirect nature. Read more about indirect nature here.

Both the plant & the wooden table base would be considered use of indirect nature

To elaborate, indirect nature can involve the use of wooden furniture. Another reason to use wood furniture is the health benefits. That's right, different materials can actually be more harmful than others, especially in furniture where the user is constantly making contact with its surface.

Wood, however, tends to have less toxins than other materials, so you really don't have to worry about that. A piece of wood furniture that would really tie a biophilia inspired room together would be one of our Alabama Sawyer Lanett Credenza's (see image below.)

Lanett Credenza in Elm Veneer

Basically, if you're interested in biophilic design, wood furniture is one of the easiest ways to incorporate it into the room. So go ahead, take a look at some of our other pieces as well - and consider this: all our wood comes from the urban forests of Alabama. 

We’ve had several customers ask what the difference is between our cutting board oil and our wood polish. In terms of price the board oil is $18 and the wood polish is $6. However, price isn’t the only difference between these two products.

Speaking broadly, there are different reasons for using oil or polish on your wooden furniture. Use oil on furniture that has an oil finish and polish on raw wood. That said, our board oil is really only suited for cutting boards, whereas our wood polish can be used for many types of wood furniture. Click to learn when it’s appropriate to use oil VS wood polish. 

I know what you’re thinking, “why should I care about some stinky college intern’s opinion?” To be honest, you probably shouldn’t. Not about most things anyway. But hear me out, I’ve spent a lot of time exploring Alabama Sawyer’s website, and it isn’t lost on me just how high quality our products are. So without further ado, here is a list of my five favorite Alabama Sawyer products:

Coasters
There are four different coaster designs based on variations of the Alabama Sawyer logo. What does the logo mean, is it supposed to be abstract? I think it looks like a tree, but who knows. The reason these coasters made the list is simple: the logo is awesome. Having guests over? Use these coasters and see what type of discussion they spark.

WineX Wine Rack
In typical college student fashion, I like to let people know that I drink- but try not to be annoying about it. The best way to achieve that is by classily displaying my wine selection for all to see. It’s more than that though, the minimalist design really appeals to my taste, while easy storage & assembly is just a bonus.


Sputnik Tables
These cute little things are great. This picture reminds me of the dodo birds from Ice Age forming ranks to protect the last watermelon. And with a spacey name like Sputnik, what’s not to love?


Cocktail Cubes with Brass Details
I’m redecorating my room and discovered a fair amount of stuff that would look nice if I had a proper way to display it. The problem is I lack the storage space for all my trinkets, which is where these cocktail cubes come into play. One I use to display my nail polish collection, another I use for movies.

Wide Plank Table on Legacy Base

What can I say. I like minimalism, and this fits the bill. The live edge white oak iteration of this table is especially appealing because of its rustic vibe. Imagine sitting down at this table with your family or spouse after a long day at work.

Feel free to email us or make a FB post explaining your favorite Alabama Sawyer products (be sure to tag us!) We love hearing from you guys!