The Latest Design Trends of Biophilic and Sustainable Choices
By: Gabriella King
Published on: November 1, 2025
As an interior designer, there are some key trends in design that are well-worth following.
Some of my favourite ones are towards incorporating biophilia into a design, as well as selecting upcycled materials instead of creating waste.
The delicacy of these two concepts incline the overall design to be exceptionally well thought-through. Important aspects such as the lighting of a space, the essential purposes and durability required need to come into consideration during the planning phases as a forefront matter.
Biophilic Designs
Before thinking about a renovation or re-design of a space, why not consider bringing the outdoors in?
Although we are lucky in the Algarve to have quite sunny winters, there are days where we are stuck indoors due to heavy rainfall.
Imagine having a space where it is not such an issue and you can keep receiving all the benefits and purity of air from indoor plants.
With careful designing, a space can perfectly incorporate elements from nature, to integrate the décor of a home or commercial space.
Giving extra benefits other than aesthetic purposes. A plant-based décor, will upgrade your space to being, without a doubt, a unique environment as no two plants are exactly the same. Only natural elements can offer this type of differentiation. Not only is it a beautiful way to design a space, it is also beneficial to human health physically and psychologically.
It is of course, not for everybody, as the design requires much maintenance and care. The natural design requires a lot of attention as plants are living entities with their own requirements.
Sustainable Designs
Alongside Biophilic Designs, I would always consider sustainable materials, as it works towards the same goals of thinking about the environment.
There are more and more brands that are bringing awareness to the impacts humans are having on the planet during their material selection for new constructions.
A beautiful material that is a easily brought back to life is rustic wood. Not only does this material tell a story of its own, it can really bring into a design something uniquely beautiful.
For instance, an old door can be upcycled to become a table, or the planks from an old terrace can be turned into vintage cabinet doors for a kitchen design.
The colours of the material will show that it is something that has lived and cannot be made through new materials.
Another material that is easy for us to find here in the Algarve, however a little complex to harvest, but offers stunning results in the end, is the bamboo we find alongside river streams and water zones.
When fully stripped of all the extra green leaves and properly cleaned and dried out, they can be bunched together to form either a very unique fence or a shade cover on a pergola.
There are however some materials in sustainability that are to be avoided.
For instance, one of the very trendy materials currently made for floors are cork tiles. Although visually pleasing and a great concept, I must admit, this is not a material I have ever considered using in my designs as it is still in a state of fragility for which I cannot guarantee durability for.
If they are to be placed anywhere in a room I would suggest to have them fixed to walls rather than the floor as the passage would not cause constant damage to the material, but in a place such as the Algarve, this is a material that should never be used. Homes here are too humid to have such a fragile material, which will soak up moisture and blacken with time.
In next month’s column, I will be discussing tips on how to select the right wall décor for your homes.