If there’s one thing the pandemic has taught us, it is taking good care of ourselves. And now that our days are spent mostly indoors (and online), stepping away from our devices and nurturing a home garden can be an excellent antidote to lockdown-related stresses. So gather around, it’s time for a plant therapy session.
If you’re new to the greenery game, finding a suitable houseplant can be a little intimidating. Whether you’re after a low maintenance rubber tree, climate resistance natives or a large statement monstera, there’s just about every type of plant to suit every kind of style. To save you some time browsing Pinterest looking for inspiration, we’ve gathered all the home decor tips and tricks to help dissect the latest indoor plant trends and up your interior style game. From nailing the perfect cluster to sourcing the best made-to-custom planters, we have you covered.
Why Use Plants For Decoration?
There are plenty of reasons people are getting seriously into the indoor plant game. From boosting the aesthetics to adding personality and bringing mindful calm to your everyday, indoor plants are the accessory de-jour, and we’re obsessed.
1. Lighten up your empty spaces
The next time you walk into your room and notice an empty corner that doesn’t really feel complete, instead of your regular furniture, try out indoor plants. Nothing spruces up your bookshelf or empty living room like a pot of marble queen pothos. Houseplants complete the room while bringing a new sense of freshness to the house.
2. Inject a dose of personality into your home
Houseplants are all about aesthetic interior design and the trend for leafy green pops of color is catching the attention of every homeowner. Each variety of plant brings a unique personality into your indoor and outdoor spaces. From marvellous leathery leaves of a fiddle leaf fig tree to a laid-back snake plant that thrives on neglect, these beautiful creations add liveliness and welcome sunlight to your home in the most creative ways.
3. Add layers and texture
Indoor plants are every interior designers trick to master the art of texture. From high ceilings to the ground, interior decorating with plants brings texture only available in the natural world – think tall cuts of ornamental grass in a sculptural vase or the infinitely complex and mesmerizing patterns and shapes of cacti and succulents.
The best decor trick? Hunt down multiple plants with a variety of leaf shapes, textures and sizes, and cluster them together for full impact. Plants are great to bring an extra dimension to contemporary interiors.
4. Improve air quality and freshness
Tested and proven by Nasa, some indoor plants such as spider and snake plants are efficient at producing high levels of oxygen. By filtering out harmful impurities, these air purifier superstars are doing a great job to fill your own home with fresh and clean air, which improves your overall health and your quality of sleep at night if you keep them in the bedroom.
5. Bring mindful calm and boost creativity
Most studies claim that houseplants tend to create a clean and healthy environment, which gives rise to a zen-like surrounding and reduced stress levels. So forget retail therapy, plant therapy is officially a thing now. Who knew they can also inspire you to be more productive and creative?
Best Plants For Decoration
1. Good Luck plants
If you’re all about manifesting luck, good luck plants can answer your call (thank God!). From cute table plants to foliage cascading towards the floor, good luck plants boast different shapes and plenty of color variations, from chocolate brown to radiant red. These gems are made for Feng Shui arrangements that will boost your fortune and can be kept both indoors and outdoors.
2. Air Plants
Air plants are fun because you can display them in so many ways—on stands, in terrariums, and even in fridge magnets. They have no roots and soak up nutrients through their leaves, making them an excellent option for anyone who forgets to water their plants or doesn’t have time to deal with soil issues.
Simply give them a good soak in a water bath every few weeks (shake off excess water afterwards), and mist in between waterings to give them a refresh.
3. Low Maintenance Plants
We’ve all seen those indoor Insta-plants that are so tall their leaves are dusting the ceilings, but it takes a lot of care, and a long time to get your greenery to that level. So if you’re not part of the green thumb gang, then opt for some easy-to-care-for houseplants.
The ZZ plant is one reliable house plant option for beginners. It can withstand all sorts of less-than-ideal factors, like infrequent watering or dry air. And, most importantly for apartment dwellers or those who live in other shady spaces, they can easily tolerate low-light environments.
Far more down to earth than her regal name suggests, the Pothos ‘marble queen’ is one low maintenance piece of foliage. As one of the plants proven by NASA to increase the quality of air, she is the perfect house guest and looks the biz too.
We’ve also rounded up a list of plants that thrive in darkness for ultra-low maintenance low-light gardening guidance.
4. Small Plants For Apartments
Not much can cause your shoebox of an apartment to feel like a lush, tropical paradise than indoor trees. Though the too-often dark, damp or overly dry environments are not exactly the most ideal for houseplants, there are a few plants that are perfectly suited for living and even thriving in extreme conditions if cared for properly.
Number one on the list, succulents or cactus. Coming in a number of different varieties, they make a great choice for folks with small spaces. Technically a dracaena species, lucky bamboo is the perennial home office plant that thrives on neglect. Plus they bring good luck, enhance the chi, or energy of their surroundings.
Check out our guide to the best small plants for apartments to suit every interior designer.
Planter Arrangements
Once you’ve decided on interior decorating with plants, the fun doesn’t end there. With the large and small sizes, modern designs, and spectacular colors of the Jay Scotts collection of planters, all helping to add to the fun of interior design, it’s relatively easy to get lost in decor.
Not only will the addition of plants make your home a comfortable and refreshing space to be in, but they can also be an effective mechanism in dealing with stress and helping to promote mindfulness. It’s a win-win. Simply style your home with a focus on flower pot arrangements to breathe life to your living space.
Color
One often-overlooked factor when it comes to planters is color. Picking out the best color is the key to winning over your neighbors, guests, or simply enjoying the living space of your dreams.
1. Simple Ways To Use Color
There is a wide selection of color schemes that are useful in decorating and design. Each color has a message. For example, white is associated with purity and cleanliness, which creates a sharp and modern feeling and can open up a space.
On the other hand, shades of blue and green can evoke feelings of relaxation and serenity, which fits in well with the idea of home being a place of comfort and shelter. Check out our article for more advice on decorating with colours.
2. Theory and Common Mistakes
Colors set mood, tone, create atmosphere, draw attention, or hide details. But not all colors work together. Take a look at our color theory 101 to dig deeper into the ideal selection of planter colors for your room. In the article, we provide a detailed view of the decorating theory that’s used by every interior designer.
How To Decor Different Rooms?
1. Living Room
Getting bored of a lifeless interior design? Or maybe it’s time to add a dash of color into your empty room. Interior decorating with plants adds just the right amount of intrigue—they’re free-form and organic yet clean and sculptural; they delight with their unpredictability yet reassure with their steady presence.
And their life span, thankfully, is much longer than that of cut flowers. You can mix large plants with your favorite flowers for a great vase on the dining room table or next to book shelves. If you’re still wondering how to arrange your flower pots in the living room, we’ve gathered a few tips to make them pop!
2. Bedroom
If you’re struggling with insomnia, consider this a sign to opt for an indoor plant. More than just bringing a splash of green to your interior design, several studies have found that some plants are capable of filtering out harmful impurities while improving your mental health and injecting more creativity.
Cascading freely towards the floor with spider-like plantlets, the spider plant is known as a toxin busting houseplant due to its capabilities of sweeping out carbon monoxide and formaldehyde.
Group a few in different sizes near a bedroom window and you’ll have a nice arrangement to bring a little green to your sleeping space. Weeping figs can also help produce a high level of oxygen and make room for some fresh air.
3. Bathroom
Spotted in every corner of the house, those portable greens are now making their way to your bathroom, why not? Though it might be tricky to keep them alive in such humid conditions (we have a guide), a plant-filled bathroom is a great opportunity to show off your green thumb with a line-up of popular green babies.
Beloved by everyone from beginners to plant pros thanks to its stunning look and easy-to-care-for nature, the ever-popular snake plant is a great bathroom option because it can thrive in high humidity and can tolerate low or bright indirect light.
If you’re a fan of whimsical, secret garden vibe, consider English Ivy for your bathroom. With a classic British countryside charm, potted English Ivy is super resilient and grows pretty much wherever it can find room to do so. This plant likes medium light and humidity. Place in a tabletop planter on the windowsill for that vining effect.
Ready to transition your space into a green sanctuary? You should be! Head to our store to get the best planter for your next interior design project! We stock the best planters on the market.
Knowing about plant texture helps a lot for home design and garden design. Check out this article when considering your design theme.
If you are new to the whole planting game, check out our guide to planting. Everything from growing to maintaining your houseplants, we’ve got you covered!
