Whether you have a green thumb or you’re just starting your plant journey, discover creative ideas, practical tips, and inspiration to transform your living room into a lush, vibrant sanctuary.
Read also our articles about Houseplants To Remove Toxins And Enhance Air Quality.
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How to decorate your living room with plants?
You can decorate your living room with indoor plants to liven it up and make it unique. Depending on your room size and decorating style, you have various options.
1. Install Shelves
For a living room decoration with plants, wall shelves are the easiest solution to implement.
- Choose an area with sufficient natural light. Plants need light to thrive, so consider the lighting conditions when deciding where to install your shelves. Make sure your plants are easy to access for watering and maintenance.
- Select shelves that complement your living room’s overall style. Floating shelves, wall-mounted units, or even ladder-style shelves can all work well, depending on your room’s aesthetics.
- Mix and match different types of plants to create an interesting display. Consider tall plants like snake plants or fiddle leaf figs for height, trailing plants like pothos for a cascading effect, and smaller succulents for variety.
- Opt for stylish pots or planters that complement your room’s decor. You can choose from a wide range of materials, including ceramic, terracotta, or decorative plant baskets.
- Enhance the visual appeal by incorporating decorative elements such as artwork, framed botanical prints, or decorative plant-themed items like plant-themed cushions or rugs.
2. Create a Living Plant Wall
The simplest way is to put a trellis on one of your walls and let some plants climb on it. The final result will take months and even years to fully reveal itself, so choose a practical but also decorative support!
- Select a suitable wall in your living room to transform into a living plant wall. It should receive enough natural light to support the plant selection you have in mind.
- Decide on the structure of your living plant wall. You can choose between modular systems that allow for easy rearrangement of plants or a more fixed setup if you have a specific design in mind.
- Pick a diverse range of plants for your living plant wall. Consider different sizes, shapes, and colors to create a visually engaging display. Varieties like ferns, succulents, pothos, and air plants work well for vertical gardens.
- Implement an irrigation system, such as a drip system or a self-watering system, to ensure your plants receive consistent moisture. Be mindful of overwatering, as excess water can lead to mold or root rot.
- Regularly inspect your living plant wall for any signs of pests, diseases, or nutrient deficiencies. Prune and trim your plants as needed to maintain their appearance.
- Enhance the aesthetics of your living plant wall by adding decorative elements like small sculptures, wall-mounted artwork, or hanging planters to complement the greenery.
3. Opt for a Plant Frame
Incorporating a plant frame into your living room decor is a unique and stylish way to showcase your favorite plants. Less imposing than a wall, it gives you more flexibility to distribute your living room plants throughout the room. You can find many models in stores. Succulents are particularly suited to this indoor plant decor idea.
- Select a prominent and well-lit area in your living room where you can hang or mount your plant frame. Adequate natural light is crucial for your plants’ health and vibrancy.
- Decide on the type of plant frame you want. There are various options available, including shadow boxes, picture frames, or specially designed vertical plant frames with built-in planters. Choose one that complements your room’s style.
- Select plants that fit well within the frame and complement each other in terms of color, size, and texture. Consider low-maintenance indoor plants such as succulents, air plants, or trailing ivy for an attractive and manageable display.
- Before planting, plan the layout of your plant frame. Consider the arrangement of plants, making sure they are evenly spaced and don’t overcrowd each other. You can create a symmetrical or asymmetrical design, depending on your preference. Use a suitable potting mix and ensure proper drainage to prevent overwatering.
- Securely mount or hang the plant frame on the chosen wall. Ensure it is level and firmly attached to prevent accidents. Consider using wall anchors or brackets for added stability.
4. Consider Hanging Plants
After the walls, it’s time for the ceiling! For original interior decoration with indoor plants in the living room, add nets and suspension systems to your room. Then install plants with hanging foliage to create a vegetated ceiling.
- Decide how you want to hang your plants. You can use decorative macramé plant hangers, ceiling hooks, wall-mounted brackets, or even repurpose existing fixtures like curtain rods or hooks. Ensure they are securely installed to support the weight of the plants.
- Opt for plants that thrive when suspended. Hanging plants are often chosen for their trailing or cascading growth patterns. Some popular options include pothos, spider plants, string of pearls, and ferns. Make sure these plants are well-suited to the lighting conditions in your living room.
- Determine where you want to hang your plants. Consider the layout of your living room and how the hanging plants will interact with other elements in the space. You can hang them near windows, in corners, or as a focal point.
- Ensure your hanging plants receive the right amount of sunlight and water. Be mindful not to overwater, as excess moisture can lead to root rot. Use a well-draining potting mix to promote healthy growth.
- Create visual interest by hanging plants at different heights. Mix long and short-hanging plants to add depth and dimension to your living room. Adjust the length of your hangers accordingly.
- Consider grouping several hanging plants together to create a lush and cohesive display. You can use a single hanging fixture with multiple plants or arrange several hangers in close proximity.
5. Extend Your Green Decor To The Balcony
- Begin by evaluating the available space on your balcony. Consider factors such as sunlight exposure, the size of your balcony, and any specific regulations or restrictions for outdoor plantings in your building or neighborhood.
- If you have enough space, create a dedicated vegetable bed for growing herbs. Raised beds or large containers work well for this purpose. Plant herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, and thyme, which not only add flavor to your cooking but also contribute to your green decor.
- Geotextile bags or strawberry planters are excellent choices for growing strawberries on your balcony. These bags save space and make it easy to care for your strawberry plants. Enjoy the pleasure of picking fresh, homegrown strawberries.
- Besides herbs and strawberries, consider incorporating ornamental plants and flowers into your balcony garden. Add some green foliage plants like ferns, snake plants, or palms to create a lush atmosphere.
- If space is limited, consider vertical gardening options like wall-mounted planters or a trellis for climbing plants. These can make the most of your vertical space while adding greenery to your balcony.
What Kind of Plants to Put in a Living Room?
Plants allow you to truly personalize the decoration of a room. You will quickly discover that there is not just one shade of green but an infinite variety to suit all preferences.
You can even find plants with purple foliage! The shape of the leaves, their texture, and their orientation are all details to consider when making your choice. For your living room decoration with plants, you can opt for:
1. Cacti and succulents
These plants require very little maintenance. If you want an artificial plant for your living room, these species have very convincing imitations. They come in various sizes to fit all surfaces. Some beautiful varieties include:
- Snake Laurentii, can tolerate drought and lower light
- ZZ plant, drought-tolerant plant that can go weeks without water
- Cacti, for a small windowsill or sunny space
- Crassulaceae, perfect for a small windowsill or sunny space
2. Large plants
To scatter around your living room for a wow effect, consider:
- Fiddle leaf fig, thrive in an environment with stable temps and bright light
- Money tree, known for its resilience and ease of growth
- Bird of paradise plant, thrives in warmer conditions with plenty of sunlight
- Swiss cheese plant (Monstera), thrives in bright indirect to medium light
3. Tabletop plants
On a piece of furniture or a shelf, these make the living room plant decor highly modular:
- Boston fern, pet friendly – it is tolerant of low light and appreciative of high humidity
- Ficus Tineke, thrives in bright indirect light
- Peperomia obtusifolia, it does not need much to thrive
- Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, thrives in bright direct light
4. Trailing plants
Placed on top of your furniture, wall shelves, or suspended from the ceiling, they add movement to your living room decoration:
- Scindapsus, low-maintenance houseplant – perfect as a hanging plant but can be trained vertically since it’s an evergreen climber
- Hoya, great for hanging baskets or anywhere with space for the vines to trail.
- Spider plant, gets its name from the baby plants that dangle down from a mature mother plant like spiders on a web
Which Indoor Plants Can Be Placed Together?
As long as the plants do not share the same soil, there is no disagreement between species. It’s your tastes that determine which plants go together.
For mixed pots, make sure your species are compatible, as well as their needs. For example, while a Boston fern can share soil with a cactus, it prefers shade and humidity, whereas its companion thrives in direct sunlight.
Nothing prevents you from grouping your most beautiful succulents in a large pot. Plant your cacti in a separate container: they also like dry air and sunlight but need a colder winter to grow.
