10 Natural Materials to Bring Wild Beauty Into Your Home

When it comes to interior design, nature is your best friend. To cultivate an air of tasteful timelessness, you’ll want to bring more of the outdoors in. From artfully warped wood planks to gleaming panes of glass to the rustic warmth of terracotta, we’re sharing some of our favourite decor elements made with natural materials. Because nature is always in vogue.

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A live edge desk is pushed up against a bay window with a view of snow covered land and green fir trees. Atop the desk is a laptop, a desk lamp, and some small indoor plants.

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Add Some Wood With an Edge

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Wood is one of the best raw materials to use in natural design. Not only has this sturdy material been used since antiquity for its structural integrity, it’s just plain old beautiful. We’re taking the nature factor up a notch in this recommendation, however, by suggested that you opt for live edge wood. The next time you’re mounting a shelf or purchasing a dining or coffee table, consider these stunning slabs of wood with one or more uncut sides. Each live edge slab is unique, so you’re sure to have a one-of-a-kind piece.

A spacious, modern apartment living room with large glass windows, a glass two-tier table with gold hardware, a buttercream-yellow sectional sofa, some burnt amber armchairs and plenty of leafy green indoor plants.

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Glam it Up With Glass

Glass is conventionally thought of as a manmade material. But really, glass exists in many forms in nature, from volcanoes spewing molten rock to lightning striking in the desert. The formula for glass is pretty simple: Rock particulates like sand, usually high in silica, are heated to extremely high temperatures and then cooled rapidly. This results in the sleek, shiny surface we know to be glass. If you want to open up your space and elevate the glam-factor, incorporate more of this material. Not only does glass allow light to pass through it, certain thicknesses of glass can act as a prism or as a mirror, allowing beautiful light-play to dance across your walls and make your space seem magical.

A wood lounge chair with rattan seating and backing is the focal point in this highly neutral room, also featuring wood floors, a woven jute rug, a wicker basket, a two-tier wooden coffee table on wheels with shelves housing decor items, a large French-pane indoor window with rustic trim and some decor elements along the ledge such as a couple photo frames and decorations, and a hanging curtain in the doorway made of chain-linked straw.

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Keep it Raw With Rattan

This isn’t your grandmother’s wicker living room set. Or is it? Cane furniture is back in a big way and shows no signs of disappearing. Some may say it’s a come-and-go trend, but if it keeps coming and going, can it really be just a trend? Regardless, there’s no harm in incorporating rattan here and there. You can go all the way and purchase some investment-worthy pieces like the lounge chair pictured above. Or you can sprinkle it in sparingly, like we do in this DIY IKEA TV stand upcycle with elegant cane webbing over its drawers.

If you’d rather keep your furniture the same, you can scatter small touches of rattan through decor, such as this stunning tea tray, Amazon, $30.

A pair of blue geode bookends, filled with blue and white crystalline ripples.

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Gorgeous Geodes Galore

Okay, can we all agree that the beauty of geodes is just undeniable? The pinnacle of natural beauty, these interior decor gems (literally) bring so much raw glamour to any space. But how exactly do you decorate with geodes? Well, there’s nothing wrong with littering your shelves, cabinets and window sills with whole geodes. Or you can try more functional forms, like coasters or these eye-catching bookends , Amazon, $197.

A pair of small brass figurines, a squirrel and a whale, sit atop a couple vintage books - one green with a worn spine and one navy blue with gold lettering on its spine.

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Beautify With Brass

Admittedly, brass is a manmade material. But we can’t exactly drip our homes out in real gold and silver, can we? So, brass is the next best thing. Plus, considering the fact that we invented it in roughly 500 BCE, we think it’s been around long enough to warrant a place on this list. Beautiful, durable and full of old-world charm, brass heirlooms can last lifetimes with proper care, bringing warmth and history to wherever they live. How exactly can you get your hands on some brass goods? Try thrift stores and estate sales! These markets are perfect for finding brass figurines like the sweet duo pictured above, brass hardware like handles and drawer pulls and brass fixtures like door knockers.

An apartment filled with green life in every corner, with a woman carrying her tall fiddle leaf fig walking across the room.

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Create an Indoor Jungle

We’re huge plant-lovers at HGTV Canada, so this list wouldn’t be complete without the inclusion of our leafy green friends. While more people are in love with the colour green than ever, we’re not all chomping at the bit to paint our homes green. That’s why plants are always an excellent addition in terms of colour – they’re the perfect verdant pop. Thanks to their grand variety in height, width, shape and colour, there’s something for every type of space when it comes to plants. Even if you have pets in the home, you can find a plant that works for you.

Several terracotta planters planted with flowers sit atop a wooden table, alongside a large terracotta water jug, a brass candlestick, a small terracotta bowl, and a cream linen cloth strip. In the background is a tall fiddle leaf fig in a wide, white planter.

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A Touch of Terracotta

When it comes to materials from the earth, you can’t get more literal than terracotta. It’s in the name – terracotta is derived from the Latin term “terra cocta,” meaning “cooked earth.” This clay-based ceramic’s signature brownish-orange colour is a common sight in the garden – terracotta is a porous material that allows air and water to move through it, helping prevent soil disease and root rot. But this gorgeous material doesn’t have to be relegated to the outdoors. Bring more terracotta planters inside to house your indoor plants and infuse your space with warm, sunny colours and bohemian charm.

A round, asymmetrical shelf houses several porcelain items, listed in order from top to bottom: A set of three white bowls painted with cherry blossoms; a set of two burnt orange bowls; a pair of mismatched neutral-coloured bowls; a blue and white porcelain urn; a more rustic blue and white vase; and a small beige bowl with neutral-coloured splotches.

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Prettify With Porcelain

Like terracotta, porcelain is made using all-natural raw materials. But due to changes in the process such as the type of clay used and the glaze finish, the final product is quite different. As you can see above, porcelain is available in a wide array of styles, ranging from rustic, earth-tone wares to fine blue and white Chinese or European delftware. With the rise in cottagecore, we’ll be seeing a lot more porcelain everywhere, so get ahead of the trend and decorate with some pieces you truly love.

A renovated kitchen featuring a large marble backsplash, marble counters, and an all-marble island with five wooden barstools tucked under it.

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Marvel at Marble

Marble is one of those materials that remind you of the raw beauty of nature. Marble comes in a huge range of colours, patterns and density of swirls and veins, dependent on the mineral impurities that were originally present as layers in the stone during its formation. Thanks to its ability to withstand extreme heat, it’s an ever-popular choice for kitchen counters and backsplashes. So if you’re renovating your kitchen this year, make sure marble is on your wish list.

A large stone fireplace with a wide hearth and a roaring fire faces a living room with a white couch, a wooden coffee table and colourful, striped textiles such as a rug, cushions, and a throw over the couch's arm.

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Snuggle Up Next to Stone

If you’re going for a cabin-cozy aesthetic, you need to have a stone fireplace on your renovation bucketlist. Fireplaces take up a considerable chunk of all, especially if you’re also adding a wide hearth like seen in this living room. The material you decide to use here will greatly impact the vibe of the room. We love the atmosphere of coziness and raw beauty that chunky, rustic stone creates. At the same time, thanks to its neutral colouring, stone is impactful but generally not intrusive or overpowering.