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How to Decorate Your Home with Plants

Houseplants can boost your well-being. They also make your home look attractive. Here are some ideas on how to decorate your home with plants.

We’re increasingly trying to bring the outside into our homes through natural decor. Neutral colors, light, airy spaces, and wood, stone, leather, and jute are trending in interior decor. Decorating with indoor plants is part of that trend toward nature.

You can decorate your home with plants in many ways. You can layer them for a lush indoor garden. This adds character and a focal point to minimalist designs. You can grow a statement-making green wall. And, you can choose pots, planters, and stands to add style to your decor. 

5 Creative Tips for Decorating with Houseplants

Plants do much more than make our spaces pretty. They are living, changing art that turn our homes into sanctuaries. Let’s explore how to add these wonders to your decor, whether you want one or a jungle.

#1. Make Your Indoors Lush

Different tropical indoor plants.

Generously layer numerous plants to create a luxuriant green space in your home.

Like maximalist interior design, you want your indoor garden to show your personality. It should breathe vibrancy and joy into the room. So, cover surfaces high and low with greenery that makes you smile.

Group flora of different sizes, colors, textures, and leaf arrangements. Put them at different heights—on the floor, table, stands, shelves, and wall. Let trailing types cascade over upright shrubs. And grow taller plants behind shorter ones in wide planters.

Keep the look cohesive, not haphazard. Do this by finding a shared characteristic that ties all the plants together.

#2. Grow an Edible Garden

Herbs in pots on windowsill.

The kitchen herb garden is ever-popular. It lets anyone with a sunny space decorate with plants. The plants taste as good as they look.

I’m proud of the basil, cilantro, and mint (or what I like to think of as my windowsill urban farm) I’ve nurtured over the years. Every morning, I’m greeted by a pretty assortment of little leaves. I also always have fresh mint on hand for an impromptu mojito.

You’ll usually see herbs on the windowsill. But, there are more creative ways to decorate with indoor plants.

You can grow herbs in pots on a mini ladder shelf against the wall. Put them in pockets of a shoe organizer on a door or on a clear acrylic window shelf. And how about growing them in hanging pots above the kitchen island or table?

#3. Breathe New Life into Your Walls

Green wall in living room.

Botanical wallpaper has been fashionable for a while. Make this trend come alive by covering your walls with real plants.

There are many ways to create a living wall. You can support plants with a homemade frame or grow them in a system designed to simplify the process. Or encourage vines to escape from baskets or floating shelves hung high against the wall.

Plants in a basket trailing on the wall.

Pot holders attached to the wall are another vertical garden option.

Trailing houseplant in a red pot on a wall.

#4. Boost Plants’ Visual Impact

Various houseplants in assorted pots.

Consider the details when decorating with greenery. What plants grow in and on can enhance or detract from the style you want for your room.

Terracotta pots are classic. Woven rattan planters add warmth. Concrete pieces are conversation starters. Raised champagne-colored vessels with leather handles are luxurious. And, sleek metal boxes fit modern aesthetics.

But before picking your pot purely to match your decor, get familiar with its material. Ceramic absorbs water (you’ll need to water more often). Plastic keeps the soil moist (watch out for overwatering). And terracotta holds onto heat (soil can dry out quickly).

Other essential features are drainage holes and something to catch excess water.

Potted plants on shelves.

Suppose you find a pot to perfect your room’s look that doesn’t tick these boxes. Put your leafy friend into a smaller plastic container inside the must-have pot. And if all the containers you see aren’t quite right, decoupage, paint, or whitewash them to your liking.

Look for a unifying element, like a glossy finish or matching color, when grouping pots. Arrange them in odd numbers for a less formal effect.

I like to get creative when displaying my living decor accessories. Attractive bar carts, TV stands, and built-in shelves look enchanting when dressed up in plants. The same is true of bookshelves and pegboards.

#5. Create a Focal Point

Monstera in living room.

A striking green beauty like monstera or fern adds excitement and personality to a minimalist space.

Plants can also direct attention to standout decor pieces. Picture lush leaves next to a glam chaise lounge. Or elongated shrubs pointing to a showy light fixture or wall art.

Picking Indoor Plants for Decorating Your Home

Assorted house plants.

Look for different yet complementary foliage, sizes, and growth patterns. I love combining trailing and upward-growing varieties in my arrangements.

Also, consider their needs before you bring them home. Will the space you have in mind give them enough light to grow luxuriantly?

Here’s a look at some of my favorite indoor plants for decorating and how to help them thrive:

Fiddle Leaf Fig

  • Grows to a dramatic height
  • Give it bright, indirect light

Snake Plant

  • Flaunts attractive stripy markings
  • Be careful not to overwater

Dumb Cane

  • Thrives in a home environment
  • Keep its soil moist and well-drained

Rubber Plant

  • Has lovely glossy leaves
  • Put in bright, indirect light and keep the soil moist 

Golden Pothos

  • A fast-growing trailing vine
  • Give it medium, indirect light

Heart Leaf Philodendron

  • Boasts large emerald leaves
  • Put it in moderate to low, indirect light

Final Thoughts

If your decor feels lifeless, add plants! Greenery refreshes inside spaces and gives them a restorative quality. These living decorations brighten up every room and design style. They can stand out against simple furnishings and a neutral color scheme. Or, they can be part of a flourishing indoor garden on floors, shelves, walls, and trailing from the ceiling.

Related Home Decor Article:

Plants in a bedroom and text overlay that reads, "Tips for decorating with houseplants".  

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