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THE BEAUTY OF INDOOR PLANTS

Why have indoor plants?
Besides being beautiful, there are many reasons to fill your home with luscious plants
and fresh flowers. Green plants improve the quality of the air by removing pollutants
and putting oxygen back in. They do this through a process called photosynthesis.
During the days, plants use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide (a waste product we
expel through respiration) to make glucose that they use for energy and growth. A
byproduct of this process is oxygen, which they expel into the atmosphere. Have you
ever noticed how wonderful the air feels in a forest? This is why… you are in an
oxygen-rich environment. Humans and plants have a symbiotic relationship that is
expressed in many ways, but this is a main one.

Plants, especially flowers, smell amazing. Think of the experience of hiking through a
lush forest or lying in a field of clover. Remember, for a moment, how you felt as a child
walking barefoot on the grass. Can you recall the smell of fresh cut hay? All these
sensory enhancements help to lower our blood pressure and heart rate, decreasing our
stress and anxiety levels, and we feel better!

Styling your plants to your home’s vibe
If your home is a Mid-Century Modern design, you likely have a color palette of teal
blue, olive and mustard. Deep green plants, like a rubber plant or a Monstera with its
split leaves, go nicely with these colors. You’d want to stay away from pappas grass or
dried palms. However, these plants look great in a more Boho setting – think leather
couch, baskets, Navajo blankets and a macrame wall hanging.

If you are more of a minimalist, such as in a Scandinavian design home, you don’t want
anything too big. Create a light and airy look with your plants, with thin trees or a
Chinese money plant.

An Industrial-style home is often a big space, with a loft and very high ceilings. These
rooms can handle larger indoor trees, such as a Ficus.

Open shelves are the perfect spot to feature any number of smaller, cascading plants,
like ivy, pothos, eucalyptus, and some succulents, such as Burro’s tail or String of
Pearls. A big corner could hold a beautiful hanging plant like a large pothos, a spider
plant or a Boston fern.

As far as containers go, you can coordinate your pots to color and style, or if you prefer,
mix and match color, shape and style of container. Use a big basket to house a pot or
wrap up the pot in a colorful Navajo blanket. If you have a larger space where you have
many plants displayed, get creative, using orange crates or even a footstool to display
the plants at varying heights. Intersperse your collection with some decorative accent
pieces.

If you have pets, crawling babies or toddlers, be sure to check that none of the plants
are toxic to animals or children. You would also not want to have anything heavy that
could be pulled over on top of them.

Healthy indoor plants can add so much charm and beauty to your home. Like any other
endeavor worth doing, they require a certain amount of attention, work and care. They
need sunlight, water, nutrition, replanting every year or so with new soil, and occasional
cleaning of their leaves. Anyone who is a houseplant enthusiast will tell you living,
breathing indoor garden will bring you years of pleasure, well worth the effort!