There are some houses that just make you exhale as soon as you step through the door. The air somehow feels softer. The light falls more evenly. The space somehow doesn't feel overly styled but it is calm, warm and looks perfectly composed. Quite often there's not much to do with the size of the house or the architecture. It really all comes down to the materials, textures and tones used.
At Indu House, we have always been drawn to interiors that feel connected to the natural world. Layering earthy tones, handcrafted textures and organic surfaces tends to create a quiet stillness that sharp, man made finishes cannot achieve. It feels natural not manufactured. It is perhaps because nature, more than anywhere, does not rely on all surfaces being exactly the same. Stone, clay, timber, rattan and linen all have subtle differences to them. Colours vary from each fired piece of terracotta, textures soften as they age and as they are used. Nothing ever looks completely flat and immobile. It is this slight unevenness that allows a house to feel alive.
Earthy interiors do not necessarily mean dark and rustic interiors. In fact some of the most peaceful homes that we know have extremely neutral colour schemes – chalky whites, warm oat tones, weathered browns, soft green and muted terracotta shades with natural wood all blended together with ease. They complement one another because they are all naturally derived. The combinations result in timeless interiors not trendy ones. Natural texture is equally as important. A fully smooth room, although well designed can seem visually cold. Texture lends a much softer, more lived in feeling. Woven rattan takes light differently throughout the day. Linen moves delicately as it is lived with. Fired terracotta traps warmth into its surface and wood takes on the marks that time and use creates. These surfaces feel inherently touchable. A key reason that handcrafted homeware works so well in earthy interiors is that it is already imbued with a sense of natural variation. No two woven baskets are precisely the same, no handmade pot fired, nor was any handmade piece of homeware designed to be exactly identical. This prevents the interiors from feeling too manufactured or contrived and allows them to evolve over time, appearing not to have been put together as much as collected.
At Indu House we find that, generally speaking, the warmest interiors allow for a little imperfection; this may be chipped pottery displayed on open shelves, a basket simply left in a pile near the fireplace, or slightly creased linen from being casually discarded onto a chair after use. It adds warmth because it feels very real and very unconstructed. In turn the spaces they are within feel calmer and more relaxed. Earthy interiors can also work very well all year round.
Natural textures in summer are light and fresh and feel perfectly appropriate with an open window and fresh greenery. But in the autumn and winter months, exactly the same surfaces, when paired with the glow of candles, heavier linen fabrics and deeper woods will look warm and inviting. No need to completely re decorate, the colours blend with the changing seasons seamlessly. This slower, more thoughtful style of decorating also leads to a more relaxed approach to the contents of the house itself. Rather than replacing every new season there is no need to do so; the house simply ages around its belongings.
Homes accumulate personal meaning and character through carefully chosen pieces, valued more for their material quality, their functionality and emotional connection to the person who lives within it, rather than because they have been recently purchased to fulfil a trend. Handmade homeware forms part of everyday life; a woven tray taken out to the garden to serve lunch in the sunshine, a woven storage basket moving between rooms as it is needed, a terracotta pot with autumnal branches in for the winter season. The room feels as though it has memories stored within it rather than just décor. The materials feel more tactile when they change and evolve through use. Rattan continues to darken and its patina deepens, linen softens with each wash and wood gains the marks and scratches of a life lived. They become even more personal and beautiful rather than less valuable as they age. At Indu House we believe there is so much to be learned from this sense of continuing evolution. A beautiful home doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to feel warm, grounding and loved.
Materials like these help us achieve this as they are always so grounded, natural, handmade and ultimately connected to what home should be, and perhaps that is why earthy homes continue to prove so popular year after year. It is not because they are trending but because they reflect how truly comforting and restful a home can be when nature, texture and even a little imperfection lead the design.