Interior Design: Decorating With House Plants

Luisa Nygren- Interior Design Lead 

It’s right around this time of year in the Northern parts of the world, where we start to REALLY feel that winter has overstayed its welcome and we are longing for sunny days. The smell of plants and we are waking up on Saturday mornings revved and ready to go to our local nursery!

Plants are back in the interior decoration world in a huge way. This is not news to most of us, that have seen plants being incorporated in a big way for the last several years. Some may say we can thank the pandemic season and people working from home for some of that. We started wanting to nurture something and add something earthy and natural to our spaces. Another possible reason is that we are meant to live among nature – instinctively we have gravitated to bringing the outdoors in. Something to help us in those long winter months (in Canada) and something to see thrive under our care in the spring and summer. Whatever the reason we are fauna-ing (yes I did) over plants, we are here for it, we want it, we’re excited about it.

We reached one of our favourite local nurseries and had some very knowledgeable plant program creators come and answer some of our questions. Together we have all come up with some ideas for you!

Q: What’s In?

1. Large Statement Pieces

These are equivalent to living art for your room as they are jewelry that will draw the eyes immediately. These plants will require planning and some good knowledge on care.

They may not require a huge amount of care, but you will need to ensure you’ve created the right conditions for them (ie. light, space, watering schedule, fertilizer).
 

2. Green Foliage

Green foliage is a classic. Mix and match different shades and textures together! 

3. Colour

Q: What If We Don’t Have Space
For Statement Plants?

If you don’t have space for statement plants, we’ve got you. Select smaller plants in groupings of 2-3. They should have similar light requirements, but you can play with textures and colours in these groupings. Use simple pots with clean shapes and lines and let the plants have their spotlight moment. 

Q: When Is It Best To Get Fake?

No hesitation on this. If you live in a basement with very low light - go for it. 
If you know that you will never water them and don’t have time to really do your homework on how to care for it - go for it. 

No shame here, do what you need to do!

Plant Suggestions from the Experts
Categorized for You

Large Statement Plants:

• Large palms 
• Ficus (ie. Fiddle leaf, Audrey)
• Birds of Paradise

Colour:

• Kalanchoes
• Orchids
• Peace Lilies

Green Textures and Patterns:

• Alocasia
• Calatheas
• Ferns (ie. Asparagus, Boston, Bird’s Nest, Blue Star)

Easy & Low Maintenance:

• ZZ plants
• Snake plants