Learn how to arrange indoor plants creatively to bring plants into your home this winter.
As temperatures drop and leaves fall from the trees, adding greenery inside can help ease the winter blues. Here are places where indoor plants can bring style and good cheer to your home.
Above the sink
As with most things in decorating, there is a minimalist and a maximalist approach to decking your halls with holly and houseplants. On the minimalist end of the spectrum is hanging a few small pails across a tension rod in your kitchen as a makeshift herb garden. The mounting hardware can be had on the cheap from your local hardware store, and all you need are a few grocery store seedlings and a sunny window to freshen your kitchen with the scent of aromatic herbs.
Around the home office
All the necessary electronics of our working lives can make for a dismal office space. One solution is to fill the room with plants. Hanging them means you can retain more of your desk space for productivity.
Hanging from the ceiling
In a white room with warm wood, a few strategically placed plants provide all the personality and color that’s needed. The way the hanging plant and the outstretched branch extend into the blank wall space precludes the need for any extra art or adornment on the wall. Indeed, plants offer an easy design solution that also promotes interaction with natural life via watering and plant tending.
Above a potting station
Don’t forget that an indoor or outdoor potting shed can be kept verdant even when there is no potting being done. My favorite idea for dressing a potting area for year-round use is to bring in a space heater and chair and make it double as a retreat for reading or napping. Without plants, though, it will just be a plain, cold room, so keep that green thumb working.
Where you dine
Plants have long been a staple of bohemian-style decorating. The budget-conscious adherents to this design philosophy appreciate the remarkable ability of plants to transform a space all on their own, and for relatively little money. When paired with elegant, traditional details such as a high-quality antique table, a sparse, white interior populated by hanging plants can feel downright upscale.
Along a hallway
Loading up on hanging plants is one of the most visually impactful ways to decorate a long hallway. In this project by LandStudio, exotic orchids native to south Florida’s tropical climate are hung at roughly eye level to give passers-by something to look at as they circulate through this stunning Miami residence. The low-water varietals planted in the pebbles continue the thriving indoor landscape.
Above the tub
As I prepared to put my house on the market, I struggled with how to address an awkward corner of our small, generic bathroom to give it some life and add interest in a way that would be neutral enough for potential buyers. The solution: two brimming plants hanging from the ceiling. If you’re fortunate enough to have a free-standing tub, you might use a hanging plant in a similar manner.
Attached to a trellis
A vine-covered trellis is as delightful indoors as out. Some vines can thrive in any light and with minimal watering, making them a great option for indoor use. Find a place to secure a potted vine to a wall or suspend the plant in a hanging basket with a trellis to cling to, and once you’ve trained and pruned it into position, it’ll only need minimal care to fill out the space.
Around a stairwell
This photo is almost an optical illusion: The orientation of the floor, ceiling and walls isn’t immediately obvious, camouflaged by mounted planter boxes along the vertical walls of the stairway. If you want to achieve this look, work with a landscape expert or botanist to select low-maintenance plants since their height and placement may make them difficult to tend on your own.
