Designers across North America and Japan are drawing fresh inspiration from the natural world, creating furnishings and decorative objects that evoke landscapes, plant life, and water in ways that also address sustainability and the fragility of the environment.
In southeastern Quebec’s Eastern Townships, designer Simon Johns channels the rugged terrain of forests, rivers, and mountains into his Future Fossils collection. His Grid Shelving tower, crafted from aluminum and glazed ceramic, mimics the appearance of lichen on rocks, aiming to bring the sense of encountering nature’s complexity indoors. The piece is priced at $18,500.
John Derian, a decoupage artist based in Salem, Massachusetts, has built a career on repurposing antique botanical lithographs. After discovering 19th-century illustrations in a box of damaged books at a flea market, Derian has translated these images into household linens, producing French linen napkins and tablecloths adorned with flowers such as poppies and daisies. His napkin sets are priced at $270, while tablecloths begin at $450.
In New York’s Hudson Valley, designers Constantin and Laurene Boym utilize sycamore bark shed near their summer home to fashion sculptural LED lamps and clocks. The Artifacts series, which emphasizes the natural beauty of the bark with minimal additional embellishment, features hand-painted details and is available starting at $2,000 per signed piece.
Los Angeles-based landscape architect Sarita Jaccard has crafted metallic wind chimes inspired by the pompom-shaped seedpods of the sycamore tree. The series includes the Cilindro, which produces a deep, bell-like tone, and the Petal, which offers a brighter sound. Made from bronze or aluminum, these chimes retail from $4,000, with part of the proceeds supporting the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA).
Toronto studio Hollis+Morris, led by Mischa Couvrette, developed its Beaufort lighting line after observing Arctic icebergs. The fixtures use layered wood and acrylic to replicate the transparency and gradients found in melting ice. Prices for the collection start at $950.
Calico Wallpaper’s creative director Rachel Cope designed Prima, a wallcovering printed on woven sisal, inspired by the early stages of leaf growth. Rendered in a monochromatic watercolor style, the pattern explores light, shadow, and botanical form, with panels measuring 9 feet by 32 inches available from $912.
The Office of Tangible Space, founded by Kelley Perumeti and Michael Yarinsky, created a bar cabinet drawing on Craftsman-era furniture traditions. The wooden cabinet features a sliding pocket door veneered with pressed wildflowers left unsealed to age naturally. The piece is priced at $10,000.
Finally, glassblower Naoya Arakawa of Kyotama, Japan, incorporates water’s diverse textures—such as streams and waterfalls—into his glass creations. Featuring bubbles, crackled effects, and clear volumes that interact with light, his work recently included a collaboration with New York design studio Roman and Williams for the restaurant Marcel. Individual pieces start at $120.
Together, these designers illustrate a broader trend of integrating elements of nature into home furnishings and decorative objects, reflecting a heightened awareness of environmental change and a desire to honor the ephemeral beauty of the natural world through craft and innovation.