When I first moved into my current apartment, I was beyond ecstatic. I was living in another rental before that had very poor lighting; was loud; and despite having a balcony, I had a difficult time growing produce due to the the buildings around me blocking light.

 

My now apartment is a new build, and they incorporated eco-friendly designs into it, which made me very motivated to rent here. I thought it would be interesting to complete this checklist on a newly designed building, to see what I am still missing and what I might be able to incorporate with rental-safe decor. My image is a piece of artwork I have hanging above the bar/tea cart. I thought it was perfect to represent this assessment as it brings in natural textures, colours, shapes, and is hung up on a damage-free hook!

 

For Nature, my apartment receives an 8/11. I am lucky enough to be situated beside my city's commons, which includes green spaces (and a gorgeous wildflower field in the summer if they don't mow it), an outdoor skating rink, public pool, skate park, and a playground. My building has a roof top garden, which I used this past summer to grow food, and flowers for pollinators. I am considering buying a little ladybug house to incorporate this year. Despite living in a harbour city, I don't have views of the water - although I can see the fog rising off! While there are definitely blank, flat walls in my apartment to build a mini living wall, I am not sure how to do that without causing some damage to the walls.

 

Light, I give my apartment a 5/11, which is really quite surprising. I technically gave myself an extra point despite not being on a higher level because there are no buildings around me blocking my light. My apartment is bright and airy because it's open floor plan (mostly), and has entirely white walls and light wood-coloured flooring. Most of my furniture is also white/light wood. However the windows face east, and the further you move away, the less light there is. My office and bathroom have no windows. Unfortunately there is only so much I can do, but I did add a desk-top grow light to my office and have 4 plants growing in there. I do find lighting to be a problem for my office, and often escape to the living room to get some natural sun. But, due to the way my apartment is set up (a small 1 bed den), that is where my home office must be.

 

My apartment receives a 4/6 for Air. As mentioned, I live really close to a green space and have lots of plants in basically every part of my apartment. My city also currently has "good" air quality according to my country's standards. The thing I miss most about living in a house rather than an apartment, and what is lacking here, is cross ventilation and windows that open all the way. For safety (I assume), the windows only open to about 45 degrees, and I actually only have 2 small windows set within the larger ones that open. 1 in the living/dining area and 1 in my bedroom. I do not find that the breeze can enter at all during the summer.

 

For Noise, I guessed that I would rate pretty low. My apartment receives a 2/5. I am across from the emergency department, which means lots of sirens and helicopters. Below and around me are also major inner-city roads, and a very complicated intersection where there are constantly cars honking because city planners long ago decided to just pave that intersection in the way it was pre-cars. My building does have quiet hours, and either it's very well insulated or I have very polite and quiet neighbours on both sides! I can, however, hear people talking in the hallways.

 

My rating for Texture comes almost exclusively from my decor and furniture. The only elements my apartment itself adds are tiles in the bathroom and a quartz countertop & island. I give myself 5/7, though it was a bit more difficult to assign a number to this one. My bedding and couch pillows are 100% cotton or linen, and I have a genuine leather second-hand couch. My plant pots are a variety of ceramics, cements, metals, terracotta, as well as dimpled, smooth, riveted, and wavy. I have some solid wood furniture, and pillows with knitted or fringe textures, and my favourite: coasters my significant other made out of a fallen branch. Plants themselves add texture too - from spikey, to soft, to smooth. And my artwork includes paper, dried leaves, cotton canvas, and thread (from embroidered pieces).

 

Finally, Tasting. I have a 3/3 for this one! Plus, I grow my own herbs and jalapeños indoors. I am currently testing out if I can grow strawberries and sweet peppers too. Outside in my roof top garden plot, I usually grow string beans, lettuce, carrots, and snap peas. I am extremely fortunate with and grateful for my kitchen, cooking, and growing spaces.

 

After completing this analysis, I am quite happy to see that my apartment overall is pretty biophilic! And while there are things I cannot change, I am interesting in exploring what I can. I did do a side analysis of my home office space (rated very poorly, which is not a surprise) and I will be focusing on making this space better. If I have proper grow lighting, I can have plants. While I cannot see nature from a window, I can add nature paintings and photographs to my walls. I can look into lighting that mimics daylight, and maybe add some fresh cut flowers or a flowering plant for smell. My colour scheme has been pretty nature-based (wood furniture, lake blue ottoman, yellow and orange pillows, and of course, brightly coloured plant pots) and that has certainly helped a lot from when I first moved in.