How To Decorate With House Plants!
How To Decorate With House Plants!
I have been collecting plants for a long time. But this quarantine sent me over the top with my collection and I now care for 70+ species in this one space alone! If you are reading this, I’m sure you can relate XOXO. I collected so many plants that it became a jungle and not in a good way. Plants were everywhere, hiding each other from light. Pots were a mix of plastic, color, and anything I could find including ice cream cartons! So I went on a self-imposed mission to learn how to decorate with my growing collection. And here are my top 7 tips on how to decorate with house plants! This will also be the brand new start of my “Garden” section on the blog. I’ve always shared my gardening and plant care tips on Instagram stories and now they’ll be saved here too!
- Elevation
Play around with different heights and move your plants from a single level shelf, the floor, or table to multi-tiered plant stands and hangers. Plants tend to accumulate and get lost behind each other. Put them all in vision with this vertical growing tip!
- Depth
Create multiple layers of dimension and let your eye wander through your urban garden. One large plant like these Fiddle Leaf Fig trees ground each new section. Take a step back from your space and look at the gaps, rearrange, and reassess.
- Interest
Place your favorites in the spotlight to create focal points. Think about the plants in your collection that pop out to you with color, texture, and shape. And place them where your eye most likely will see them!
- Shaping
Trim and train willing plants to desired shapes. think vertically, horizontally, but also what makes the plant healthier or more full (or less full depending on your vision). This Golden Pothos is getting a little long and starting to intrude on the plant below. By giving it a trim, it will also produce fuller growth.
- Housing
Pick pots, trellises, shelves, etc that go with your decor. I try not to overpower a plant with bold prints unless the plant itself is very simple. You can even pick a common pot theme like terra-cotta and stick with it for a cohesive color motif. I keep a lot of my sensitive plants in their plastic nursery liners and place them in pretty cover pots that may not have proper drainage.
- Clean
Snip and cut off damaged or dying foliage daily to keep everything looking healthy! Huge leaves are hard to part with so sometimes I will trim part of a leaf instead of a full chop. Half a healthy leaf is better than half dead.
- Collect what you love.
I love collecting rare and unusual species. I never let myself forget my love for all the basics too! When I find something I truly enjoy caring for, I propagate it. Propagation stations are beautiful on their own. Growing something from a baby clipping is rewarding. And redundancy in plants throughout your collection is a lovely way to create flow.
