Bring a Touch of Nature and Total Relaxation to Your Urban Loft

If you’re a New Yorker, chances are you’ve been stuck indoors for entirely too long this winter. Just when you think spring has arrived, another Nor’easter comes barreling down the avenue, leaving you with canceled brunch-in-the-park plans and feeling a bit nature-starved.
IKEA’s new breezy home collection, HJÄRTELIG, brings a few earthy essentials indoors to help balance out the cold urban chaos outside and uplift your senses with light textiles, linens, woven baskets, and birch wood furnishings. The industrial-chic hipster aesthetic is out, and eclectic interiors with natural wood elements is definitely on-trend. With all the concrete, dark hues, and heavy elements going on right outside your front door, it may be time to lighten things up indoors instead.

Here are some of our favorite new items from IKEA’s spring collection to turn your city apartment into a earthy, zen den.

Lightweight, yet warm accents can make a big difference in an urban space and we’re currently loving the double-sided, linen and cotton Gulved bedspread for spring. Linen is a renewable and biodegradable fiber, so you can also feel good about taking it easy on the environment while getting your relaxation on.

To add a different kind of warmth in your space, IKEA’s new Eneby speakers may do the trick. Bathe yourself in soothing sounds (or simply drown out the city noise) with this soft, boxed design that can also be hung up on a bed post or on your roof deck (assuming you’re one of the lucky ones with access).

Who doesn’t love a good textile? From handmade wool rugs from India and Bangladesh, to knitted ottomans, and floor cushions inspired by Inca patterns, IKEA’s new spring collection for 2018 is all about creating exotic floor arrangements for meditative lounge sessions.

In an effort to use wood from more sustainable sources by 2020, IKEA also unveiled a new furniture collection made from solid, renewable Scandinavian birch. The line includes bed frames, nightstands, and drawers made from light and airy materials that will help offset and balance out the heavy, industrial accents that permeate New York apartments.

A standout item in the spring collection is definitely the JOFRID cushion cover and throw, both of which are made from naturally dyed cotton and linen. “Textile dyes are usually oil-based, but the dye we use for JOFRID is instead based on completely natural and renewable resources that look like and function in the same way as chemical dyes,” says Material expert at IKEA, Catherine Larsson. “We’ve started on a small scale, but aim to develop this and other projects as soon as we can.”

This revival of an older, more earth-friendly dying technique utilizes agricultural waste products such as nutshells and leaves, rather than harsh chemicals, to create the subtle hues.

And how could you create an urban zen den without a touch of green? Adding plants to the home not only helps improve the indoor air quality, it also helps relax the mind. If you’re unsure of which plants are right for you, try one of these three, easy city plants to start with. Pair the plants with natural fiber rattan baskets and plant stands for an extra earthy look.

For more ways to style your home, check out this new goth-glam collection inspired by Alice in Wonderland.