Bring A Touch Of Nature And Total Relaxation To Your Urban Loft

IKEA just unveiled a new spring collection featuring sustainable birch wood, exotic linens, and natural materials to bring the perfect dose of relaxation and nature to your urban abode.

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.

Add some warmth

Ambient sound

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).

Earth Elements

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.

Natural & Renewable

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.

Textiles

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.

Go organic

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.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.