5 Simple Tips For How To Decorate And Style Houseplants
I’ve always loved the look of real plants in a home but for many years the only ones I could keep alive were the faux style. When we moved into our custom built home, I was so excited for the amount of windows and natural light we would have in the new space. Fast forward, after almost 3 years of living in our new home, I have 31 real houseplants in our home, spread out in stylish ways to add to our home decor.
Today I plan to share how I like to style houseplants while staying true to the timeless look I love. If you are just starting on your journey with taking care of houseplants or if you are a pro and just looking for some new ideas of how to style your plants at home, I hope you find some inspiration in this post.
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Styling with houseplants
When I started to incorporate houseplants into our home, I struggled with finding inspiration on how to style them in a way which stayed true to my look. I didn’t want the look of a mini greenhouse and I wanted to incorporate plants into our house as a design element rather than buying a beautiful plant at the nursery and then struggling to figure out where it fits in a space. This approach aligns with my minimalist styling and my focus to purchase with intention any new item brought into our living spaces. Below are a few tips I use around our home paired with some inspirational photos of how I have incorporated houseplants throughout different spaces.
Tip #1: Use decorative planters to add an extra design element
I keep my plants in nursery pots and find decorative pots to match with our home decor. Some of my favorite planters are from Target and I will often buy several of the same style in different sizes when I find one I love. This allows me to carry a cohesive style throughout the house and provides an additional design element while showcasing the plants. I noticed recently several of the planters I’ve bought in previous years are now back in stock in Target stores and I found a few new ones like this charcoal gray planter, white stoneware planter and this planter with stand I am considering for our outdoor space this year. I bought a few of these white terracotta planters for our front porch last year and loved them! These planters have held up well and they come in a variety of sizes.
Styling on a coffee table
I love this ZZ plant on our coffee table as it adds a needed height to the space, gives visual interest and provides a nice pop of green among the other organic colors.
Styling on a console table
Incorporating a small ficus tree on a console or table is a great way to add height and an organic element to your styling approach. I prefer this look over a vase with faux stems if the room has adequate lighting to help the plant thrive in the space.
Tip #2: Use neutral colored pots to showcase your houseplant
This will not be a surprise to anyone who is familiar with this blog, but I prefer neutral, organic colors for our home decor. My selection in planters is the same and all of my pots and planters are selected based on the needs of the room and how I can add visual interest with a well selected choice of a planter. This also allows me to easily move plants around the house when I’m ready for a change in the space or when the plant needs to be moved due to outgrowing the current spot. I buy most of my planters and pots at Target, Lowes, and Home Depot, all of which have affordable and unique pots in neutral colors.
Styling on a mantle
I tend to like minimal decor on the mantle since the main attraction is the TV which limits most options. I added this plant last year and love how the philodendron vines grow, allowing me to play with visual interest along the mantle throughout the year.
Styling in groups of three
I love a grouping of plants together and prefer to keep mine in a cluster of 3 plants. This spot gets sun all day and plants tend to thrive here so I change up the two smaller plants when I need to rebalance the varying heights among the plants in this space.
Tip #3: Don’t repeat the same plant in the same visual space
I have several plants I’ve repeated in our home because I like the style and caring needs of the plant. However, I make a point to not have any repeating plants in the same room as I like the collected look of a variety of plants in one space rather than several of the same. For example, before I found my large Fiddle Fig tree at Home Depot, I bought two of the smaller fiddle figs. After purchasing the larger tree, I relocated the two smaller ones to other rooms with similar lighting in order to not repeat the same houseplant in the same visual space. This plant brings me a particular joy so having three of them to enjoy in different rooms is a styling win for me!
Styling as a focal point
This Fiddle Leaf Fig tree is one happy plant. Since bringing it home from Home Depot it has continued to thrive in the open, bright space of our living room. This tree allows me to have a focal point in the room and often leads to conversations with many of our guests. The most frequently asked question I get asked is, “Is this tree real?”. I’m happy to say, yes!
Styling as an accent piece
This rubber plant from Lowes started off as a small plant and has since grown to several feet tall, making it a great height for an accent piece to fill the wall space between the media console and our wine cellar. I love the contrast of the rich green in this plant next to the warm walnut console.
Tip #4: Incorporate houseplants as a decorative object
When I am styling a space around our home, I will often incorporate a houseplant as a decorative object for several reasons. 1- plants provide texture and a visual interest to a space, 2- selecting the right plant can help fill in an otherwise awkward space on a shelf or bookcase while bringing in natural beauty and 3- incorporating nature inside your home has many well documented health benefits. As I mentioned above, both the plant and the planter can add to your home decor in a unique way and is one of my favorite ways to decorate a shelf, console table or bookcase.
Styling on a shelf
The shelves in our living room are tall and adding in this ficus tree was the perfect addition to bring some needed height to fill the space. This tree will outgrow this spot in several years, but until then it is a great way to showcase one of my favorite varieties of houseplants.
Styling in a home office
This money tree plant has grown so well in this office and also does a great job of hiding my desktop monitors. As more of us work a hybrid work schedule with more time in our home offices, making this space cozy and inspiring was essential for me.
Tip #5: Spread out houseplants for a cohesive, minimalist style
Spreading out plants throughout our home has allowed me to bring an element of nature to our house while staying true to my appreciation of a cohesive, minimalist space. After several years of adding different plants throughout the home, I have decided I have reached my plant capacity. As much as I love having a great houseplant in our home, I still follow the practice that if I don’t have space for it, I don’t buy it. It’s a hard habit to adopt, but worth the investment in maintaining a space with intention.
Styling in an entryway
Entryways typically have great natural light as they are close to a door and often windows, which is a great location for a plant. I like pairing a plant next a bench instead of a side table to fill an otherwise dead space on this wall.
Styling a blank wall
Our wall with TV’s needed something added to it to soften the front of the room and to blend with the rest of the basement. By adding some soft lighting with a floor lamp and a snake plant paired together, it helped to warm up the space in an otherwise empty spot along this wall.
Final Thoughts
Styling with houseplants can be an easy way to add visual interest to your home decor. When you start to think about houseplants as a decorative object for any space, the options are endless for how you can incorporate a few of your favorite plants in any room. Now, keeping the plants alive is a completely different subject and perhaps a post for the future! If you style your home with houseplants, I would love to hear your favorite way to incorporate this into your home! Drop a note in the comments and share your thoughts.
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I have several houseplants but never thought about “styling” my house with them. Thanks for opening my eyes to some new ideas!
So much good information and photos to demonstrate!
Thank you!
This is so inspiring ! Love to see plant decorations
Thank you!
Beautiful advice!
Thank you!
I love how your blog is laid out! I am taking your advice and putting my long pothos on my fireplace mantel! Love the idea, thank you!
Thank you! I’m glad you found a new idea. I hope your pathos does well in the new spot.
I love the green plant with white decor, but I have a dog that is always dirty. I don’t think the white would work as well! Thanks for the tips and I’ll put them into practice once I get a house!
Thank you!
Good ideas. I might have to “branch” out and ditch my houseplant corner and spread them out around the house.
Thank you! Good luck “branching” out!
Love the tips & Love real plants as decor 🥳
Thank you!
Great post and ideas! I enjoy using plants in my decor. I love the natutal look of concrete pots and ones with a lot of texture for interest. I also love to layer a cute pot in a wire basket to add depth and size to a space. Your home is beautiful!
Thank you! I love your ideas too!
Great insight about plants and a focal point that I didn’t even think of. That Fig tree is gorgeous!
Thank you!
I love using plants are decorative highlights in rooms. We used to have quite a few plants in our old place but between getting a second dog and moving cross-country during the winter, we are down to only one houseplant. I plan to add more this year and will be using some of these tips to help keep our home looking good with all this greenery.
Love house plants , some great tips here , thank you