Decorate With Plants?!
Decorating year round with houseplants is more than just a lovely way to add greenery to your living space. Houseplants also freshen up the air and eliminate harmful toxins – a healthy benefit that’s always in season! According to NASA research, houseplants can remove up to 87 percent of air toxins in 24 hours! We know you’re tempted to buy the no-maintenance silk variety, but live plants improve your mood, concentration, productivity and reduce stress. Why buy faux houseplants when the real thing has health benefits!
Arranging Houseplants for Aesthetics
How do you strategically and aesthetically place the plants so that they provide maximum benefit AND look casually fabulous? We went to the experts for tips about how-to incorporate real live greenery into décor – and how to minimize the mess from the maintenance.
Designer and blogger Sally Painter, who has designed interiors for both commercial and residential clients, says plants provide color and texture, and the pots offer a way to add another vibrant element to a room. For low or only morning light, the plant options are plentiful, (see suggestions below). But to start decorating your home with plants, think about odd numbers of groupings – three, five, seven – for the most aesthetically pleasing visual.
Better Homes and Gardens plant expert and designer Stephen Orr says the odd number design technique offers a casual, less formal feel. Pick three different sized plants, small, medium and large, and pay attention to leaf shapes, he says. Orr likes grouping, say, ivy with a trailing effect, a short spiky plant and an upright-growing vertical plant. Plant color groupings that complement one another are also a good choice, like a silvery Chinese evergreen, a philodendron with a silvery cast and a fern.
Pots can relate to each other without being identical in hue and finish. For example, you can find pots with different glazes are similar enough in shape and look and coordinate with your color scheme and interior décor.
Star-Struck Corners
Consider, too, one large statement plant like an indoor tree or a large plant that thrives and flourishes in the right light and moisture conditions. A houseplant like a Norfolk island pine or a fiddle leaf fig can shoot up and become the star of your living room without much design effort!
You may also want to group plants that like similar conditions (light and air temperature) but always be thinking about how to protect your floors and furniture. Unglazed terracotta can sweat and leave water rings, and while houseplant saucers aren’t very attractive, with clever maneuvering you can make them disappear. Another solution is hiding a plastic gardening pot inside your ceramic pots so they get needed moisture, but aren’t sitting in water or spilling onto your wood.
Jazz up the Windowsills
Adorn your windowsills with succulents, like a jade plant or the “impossible-to-kill” snake plant with its broad sturdy leaves that resemble green snake skin. Carried in most garden centers, these are great for bright light but also do well in shadier spots where the light is filtered or intermittent. If you’re lucky, this spiky vertical grower may reward you with lush fragrant white flowers at some point!
For more house plants that love the sun, The Spruce shows you the best picks to dress up your windows like papyrus, crotons and, wait for it…hibiscus!
Say Goodnight, Orchids
Surrounded by greenery and nature helps us feel more relaxed and calm, but most plants release carbon dioxide at night when their photosynthesis is in sleep mode. That’s not very conducive to slumber, but plants like orchids, succulents and bromeliads (tropical flowering plants) do the opposite and release oxygen in the dark, making them perfect plants for a good night’s sleep.
Here are three houseplant choices that offer lots of green, easy upkeep and are reasonably priced. The monstera deliciosa or Swiss cheese plant grows quickly with beautiful showy leaves in under three months; the hedera (ivy) which is almost indestructible and tells you when it needs watering (leaves will look limp and soft); and the chlorophytum comosum (spider plant) which sprouts babies regularly, that you can then share with friends and family.
Plants Aplenty in Southshore!
Surrounded by miles of trails, Crystal Valley is a natural habitat for wildlife and wildflowers, so little wonder we want to bring a bit of nature with us when we go inside! Explore the inspiring options from D.R. Horton, Kauffman Homes and Richmond American Homes. The community is among the top five fastest-growing in the state with new homes priced from the $300s, available in ranch and two-story models.
