Okay, so I need to tell you about something that basically saved my sanity during the pandemic – and it wasn’t therapy or meditation apps or any of that stuff everyone was pushing on Instagram. It was plants. And better lighting. And basically trying to trick my brain into thinking my 400-square-foot cave wasn’t actually a cave.
I know this sounds dramatic, but hear me out. Before I started bringing nature into my tiny studio, working from home was genuinely terrible for my mental health. I was sitting at my kitchen table for eight hours a day, six feet from where I slept, with one sad window that faces a brick wall. My “natural light” situation was basically nonexistent, and I felt like I was slowly losing my mind.
Then I started following these accounts about biophilic design – which is basically just a fancy term for bringing nature indoors – and realized that maybe I could apply some of these concepts to my situation, even with zero budget and zero space.
**Why Adding Nature to Your Workspace Actually Works**
Here’s the thing I learned from doing way too much research on plant care forums: our brains are literally wired to respond positively to natural elements. It’s not just about making things look prettier (though that helps too). When you add plants, natural light, or even just natural textures to your workspace, it actually changes how your body functions.
I started small with Patricia, my grocery store pothos, and noticed I was checking on her constantly throughout my workday. It gave me an excuse to get up from my kitchen table, move around a bit, and focus on something other than my laptop screen. Such a simple thing, but it broke up the monotony of staring at the same four walls all day.
The air quality thing is real too. I always thought that was just something plant people said to justify buying more plants, but after I had like ten plants crammed into my studio, the air actually felt different. Less stale. I wasn’t getting headaches as much, and I definitely wasn’t feeling as sluggish in the afternoons.
**The Mental Health Stuff Nobody Talks About**
What really surprised me was how much having plants around affected my mood and stress levels. There’s actually research backing this up – the World Green Building Council found that people working in spaces with natural elements reported 15% higher happiness levels. Which sounds made up, but honestly matches my experience.
When I was working in my plant-free studio during early pandemic days, I felt anxious and trapped basically all the time. After I added plants, grow lights, and some natural textures (got a bamboo desk organizer, switched to a wooden cutting board that doubled as a laptop stand), the space felt less like a prison cell.
I started taking what I call “plant breaks” instead of just scrolling my phone during work breaks. I’d water plants, check for new growth, or just sit near my little plant shelf with the grow lights on. It sounds ridiculous, but it was way more restorative than doom-scrolling Twitter.
**Getting Creative With Literally No Space or Money**
The biggest challenge was figuring out how to incorporate natural elements when you have no outdoor access, barely any natural light, and can’t afford to completely renovate. But I found some solutions that actually worked:
Grow lights were a game changer. I bought some cheap LED strips on Amazon and set up a plant shelf using an old bookcase. It created this little oasis of green in my studio and gave me better lighting for video calls too.
I used vertical space everywhere I could – hanging planters in the bathroom (which gets slightly better light), floating shelves for small plants, even a tension rod system in my one window for trailing plants.
Sound was another thing I experimented with. I found these nature soundscapes on Spotify – rain, forest sounds, that kind of thing. It helped mask the city noise and made the space feel less claustrophobic.
**The Rooftop Garden Game Changer**
The biggest breakthrough was when me and some other residents convinced our landlord to let us create a rooftop garden. It took forever – lots of emails about weight restrictions and liability and all that fun landlord stuff – but we made it happen with container gardens and some basic seating.
Having access to actual outdoor space, even if I have to climb four flights of stairs to get to it, made a massive difference in my work-from-home mental health. I started taking lunch breaks up there, doing video calls outside when weather allowed, and even bringing my laptop up for a change of scenery.
**What Actually Makes a Difference Long-Term**
After two years of experimenting with this stuff, here’s what I’ve learned actually works for making a small, dark apartment into a better workspace:
Plants that can handle low light are essential. Pothos, snake plants, ZZ plants – basically anything that won’t immediately die in my terrible lighting conditions.
Good artificial lighting is worth the investment. I replaced my harsh overhead bulb with warmer LED lights and got a daylight lamp for my workspace area. It made everything feel less cave-like.
Creating zones helps psychologically, even in a studio. I used a room divider to separate my sleeping area from my workspace, which helped my brain understand that work was over for the day.
Regular interaction with plants during work breaks was surprisingly helpful for stress and focus. It’s like a mini meditation without having to actually meditate.
**The Bigger Picture**
What bugs me about most biophilic design content is that it assumes you have a big budget and lots of natural light and space to work with. Most of us don’t. We’re stuck in small, poorly designed apartments trying to make the best of it.
But I’ve learned that you can get a lot of the mental health and productivity benefits even with major constraints. It just takes more creativity and accepting that your space won’t look like those Pinterest-perfect home offices.
I write about this stuff now because I think access to nature and decent working conditions shouldn’t be a luxury, but it basically is if you’re young and broke and living in a city. The solutions I found aren’t perfect, but they’re accessible to people in similar situations.
The research supports what I experienced – people working in spaces with natural elements show higher job satisfaction, lower stress levels, and better overall wellbeing. A University of Oregon study found that offices with natural elements like wood and plants had employees with significantly lower stress than traditional offices.
**Making It Work for You**
If you’re stuck working from a small, dark space like I was, here are the things that made the biggest difference for me:
Start with one or two low-light plants and see how you respond to caring for them during your workday. Get some kind of supplemental lighting – even a cheap desk lamp with a daylight bulb helps. Use vertical space and floating shelves to maximize your plant capacity without taking up floor space.
Try nature sounds or invest in an air purifier if plants aren’t an option for your space. Create some kind of physical separation between work and sleep areas, even if it’s just a curtain or room divider.
Most importantly, give yourself permission to take breaks that involve interacting with natural elements, even if that’s just sitting by a window or checking on your plants.
This isn’t about creating an Instagram-worthy workspace. It’s about making small changes that actually improve how you feel during those eight hours you’re stuck working from home. And honestly? Even small changes can make a bigger difference than you’d expect.
Robert is a retired engineer in Michigan who’s spent the past few years adapting his longtime home for accessibility and wellbeing. He writes about practical, DIY ways to make homes more comfortable and life-affirming as we age — from raised-bed gardens to better natural light.
