20 Ways To Decorate With Plants To Create A Lush Oasis
This page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon affiliate, we may earn a small commission for any purchases made through these links. Click here for the disclosure statement.
If you’ve ever scrolled for a period of time on Instagram, Pinterest, and other aesthetic social media apps, you’re sure to come across a plethora of rooms and houses decorated with plants of all kinds. Using houseplants as decor is a trend that we can’t wait to hop on!
The best part is you don’t need a green thumb in order to successfully style a house with plants. Many low-maintenance plants are available for beginners and can liven your space in a cost-effective and sustainable way.
How to Start Decorating with Plants
Lucky for you, reading this article is a great place to start to stoke your creative fire. Take what you like from the following items and leave what you don’t. Experiment with what works with your space and how you can live intertwined with your new plants. We’ll walk you through each room in your house and how plants can be used to create an air of freshness all around.
Living Room
The living room is the room in the house where the action happens. Lively family gatherings and chill movie nights all happen from the comfort of the living room. Make your decor match this loving atmosphere with the following plant decoration recommendations:
Hanging Plants
Your living room likely has some sort of bookshelf, television stand, or window sill where you can hang plants from as decoration. Pick out a vine-like plant for this decoration. Something like a pothos, hoya rope plant, or a string of pearls succulent are excellent hanging plants to drape over an elevated surface.
Our Favorites:
Image: Etsy
Image: Etsy
Image: Etsy
Image: Amazon
Wooden U-Shaped Hanging Vase
Grid Forte
Image: Amazon
Image: Etsty
Create A Plant Shelf
Group a bunch of plants together by making a plant shelf. It’s like a bookshelf, but with different varieties of plants in place of books! Pick out decorative planters that match your home’s aesthetic and add as many plants as you feel necessary. Succulents come in all shapes and sizes, making them a great plant choice for this space.
Fill a Corner
Even in a small space, a big plant placed in the corner can liven up your living room. Big plants may look intimidating, but they’re actually rather low maintenance. You likely don’t know what to do about that awkward corner of space, so let the plant do the decorating for you. Tip: If you’re not ready to commit to a large plant right away, a fast growing plant, such as a Monstera, can start small and grow to be large!
Our Favorites:
Image: Amazon
Bird of Paradise
Costa Farms
Image: Amazon
Monstera
Costa Farms
Coffee Table Plants
Small, potted plants can be placed as a centerpiece on your coffee table. Throw a fun coffee table book underneath and you have an insta-worthy picture. Good plants for this type of decor are small snake plants or ZZ plants (they can be slower growing plants, but they will eventually outgrow their coffee table space), and other indoor plants that don’t hang or get in the way of your coffee table space, but also are low-maintenance.
Our Favorites:
Image: Etsy
Image: Amazon
Important Reminder:
As one of the rooms in your home that likely receives the most amount of daily traffic, it’s important to be aware of the types of plants that you are using to decorate, especially when you have pets. Many popular houseplants, especially those with bright, colorful flowers, can be toxic—or even poisonous—to your cat or dog when ingested. While these side effects can range from mild stomach irritation to death, it’s crucial to understand the risks. While a toxic houseplant doesn’t have to be off-limits if you have a cat or dog at home (especially if placed on a high shelf or hanging out of reach), here are a few of our favorite pet-safe plants if you want to be completely safe!
Our Favorites:
Image: Amazon
Spider Plant
California Tropicals
Image: Etsy
Image: Etsy
Kitchen
The heart of the home, your kitchen is a space filled with love, nutrition, and creativity. Embrace and enhance these qualities with plants that add to the aesthetic bliss and energy of your kitchen.
Grow Herbs
This one is a no-brainer. What better place to grow plants you can cook with than the kitchen? Pick a sunny area of the kitchen and start your indoor garden. Herbs are notoriously easy to grow, so don’t feel intimidated. You can even find pre-grown basil, thyme, and other herbs at a local grocery store or farmer’s market that will continue to sprout new growths, even when you’ve consumed all of the original plants.
Our Favorites:
Image: Amazon
Culinary Herb Seeds
Heirloom Seeds
Image: Amazon
Herbs Grow Kit
Home Grown
Purifying Plants
If there’s any place in the house where you want the air to be especially clean, it’s the kitchen. Air purifying plants—like English ivy—can drape off of a counter or hang from the ceiling in a decorative manner, all while promoting healthy air in the room.
Our Favorites:
Image: Amazon
Image: Etsy
Aloe Vera
This plant is famous for its burn-soothing properties. It also can be consumed for better gut health, relieve heart burn, and overall, act as a miracle fruit. Aloe vera’s potential is never-ending. Display it in your kitchen as decor and for easy access to the gel within.
Image: Amazon
Aloe Vera
Costa farms
Easy Care Plants
The kitchen can get hectic, so the last thing you may be thinking about when in it is how much you need to water your plants. Get a plant that’s low-maintenance, such as a snake plant. This way, you receive the benefits of decoration without the hassle of maintaining the plant.
Bedroom
Plants in the bedroom should be used to create a calming atmosphere that aids in relaxation and perhaps a bit of sensuality.
Brightly Colored Plants
Add a pop of color to your room with an orchid. This brightly colored flower is perfect for the bedroom. Just looking at it in the morning may brighten your spirits and help you start the day on a good note.
Sleep-Enhancing Plants
What better place to put a plant that helps you get to sleep than your bedroom? Lavender is a great plant to choose because of its relaxation benefits. Even the light purple color elicits a feeling of calm. Place one right on your bedside table.
Purifying Plants
Plants that help clean the air are great for every room in your house. For the bedroom, try placing a rubber plant (yes that’s its actual name) in the corner of your room. This plant helps absorb airborne chemicals, keeping bad particles away from you and your bed.
Image: Etsy
Anxiety-Relieving Plants
To make your bedroom a space you can go to escape the anxiety of your daily life, showcase a plant that helps calm down your nerves. Gardenia is an excellent plant that’s been proven to reduce anxiety and help you achieve better sleep. The gardenia plant also blooms beautiful blossoms that emit a calming smell.
Image: Amazon
Bathroom
Plants in the bathroom are essential. From eliminating odor to purifying the air, plants can make your time on the porcelain throne a much more enjoyable experience.
Odor Eliminating Plant
Let’s face it—the bathroom can smell. It’s only natural, but there’s no need to keep it there. Cut down on gross bathroom smells with a plant that aids in odor control. The golden pothos is the perfect bathroom plant because it helps rid spaces of odor.
High-Humidity Plants
If you’re someone who takes hot showers that steam up the bathroom mirror, you need a plant that can hang in this high humidity spot. An asparagus fern is a great (and unique!) high-humidity plant to add to the bathroom.
Our Favorites:
Image: Etsy
Image: Etsy
Low-Light Plants
Many bathrooms don’t have windows or may only let in a small amount of light. To combat this problem, showcase a plant that doesn’t need too much direct sunlight. A great option is the Chinese Evergreen. This plant also does well in both dry and humid environments, making it perfect for a main or guest bathroom.
Our Favorites:
Image: Etsy
Image: Amazon
Chinese Evergreen
Nature’s Way Farms
Temperature Fluctuating Plants
The bathroom can range drastically in temperature, especially if it’s not well ventilated. During the cold winter months, the bathroom may be the coldest part of your house. Meanwhile, after a hot shower you may never want to leave the warm embrace of your bathroom. Ferns are great adaptable plants. They can survive in a wide range of climates, including high humidity!
Office/Basement/Low-Light Rooms
You may have a room in your house without windows or just a particularly dark corner that you want to liven up with a plant. Here are some plants that can survive even the darkest spots in your home.
Easy Care Plants
Plants like succulents are great for basements, offices, and rooms with less light because there are many species that can survive with lower levels of sunlight and water. These plants can live in conditions that may not be ideal for other plant varieties, making them ideal for the corners of your home that receive less than optimal sunlight. (Note: This does not apply to all succulents. Remember, in nature, these are drought-tolerant plants that often receive high amounts of sunlight. Not only will they grow much slower when they do not adequate levels of light, but you may also notice that your plants etiolate, or grow “leggy,” as they reach towards brighter spots.
Our Favorites:
Image: Etsy
Image: Etsy
Image: Amazon
Zebra Plant
Hirt’s Gardens
Colorful Plants
In a room with little light, bring joy into your space with a pretty colored plant. The Rex Begonia plant is a great option to accomplish this decorating act. Not only does it have a striking purple-pink color in the center of its leaves, it also is fairly easy to care for and doesn’t require a ton of light.
Fake Plants Or Flowers
In today’s modern age you can find fake plants that look pretty genuine. There’s no need to go through the hassle of keeping a plant alive in these hard-to-grow corners of the house. You’ll still get the same happy feeling when you walk by your fake plant and all you have to do to maintain it is dust it every now and then.
Our Favorites:
Image: Amazon
Artificial Hanging Ivy
Amazon
Image: Amazon
Image: Amazon
Smart Gardens
Smart indoor gardens use UV light to grow plants of your choosing. Plus, they’re insanely easy to care for. Herbs can be the easiest to grow and each smart garden company has their own set of herbs you can buy, plant, and enjoy in any environment.
Our Favorites:
Image: Nordstrom