Decorating with Plants

Decorating your home with plants ought to be fun and satisfying, not intimidating. The only “rules” you need to follow are the care guidelines of your chosen plant (see pages Caring for Your Plant). Other than that, experiment until you find a look that’s right for you! The information that follows offers some tips and tricks to help get you started.

Every plant you bring home has a personality all its own. The first step in deciding how best to style it in your space is to take some time to really look it over and get to know it. Here are a few important features to consider.

Though houseplants come in a wide range of sizes, from teeny-tiny succulents to towering palms, for the purposes of this book, I describe plants as either floor plants or tabletop plants. Floor plants are your statement makers. These bold specimens can single-handedly change the feel of a room. (For more on floor plants.) A tabletop plant, on the other hand, is just the thing for smaller spaces or to use as an accent piece or part of a more layered look.

Plants comprise many layers of shapes and structures. Each form communicates a certain feeling and mood. A tall, structural snake plant signals strength (think of an exclamation point), while a mounding ‘Ming Thing’ cactus evokes the softness of rolling hills. (For more on plant forms.) Things get even more interesting when multiple forms are combined. An asparagus fern will soften that tall snake plant, adding a sense of playfulness as it dances up its column.

When you envision a plant, you might conjure up just one shade: green. But plants are a colorful bunch! From silver to copper, canary yellow to sunset pink, plants come in colors across the spectrum, and even those that are all green tend to boast numerous verdant tones within.

Furry, glossy, polka-dotted, or rippled. Your plant’s textures and patterns are the features light will bounce off and the elements bound to turn heads. Humans are tactile creatures, after all. Think about all aspects of your plant—both sides of the leaves, and even its bark and trunk—and make sure you position it to show off your plant’s full outfit (see more on placement).

In the pages that follow, you’ll see many types of vessels, from classic terra-cotta pots to hip leather cachepots to repurposed canning jars turned terrariums. Traditional pots and vases made for planting are often the easiest options to find, and usually have predrilled drainage holes. But don’t be constrained by the notion that plants belong in these common containers. Look around the house—almost any vessel (or bag, or box) can be turned into a cachepot to conceal a plant’s original plastic grow pot.

Your goal is to pair plant and vessel in such a way that they will play off each other, elevating the whole look. Beyond the vessel’s size (which should be as large as or slightly wider and taller than the grow pot your plant came in), here are a few factors to consider. (To learn the basics of repotting your plant or staging it in a cachepot.)

The right color container can make your houseplant sing, while another hue will make it look subdued. For example, a pink earth star will pop if you place it in a contrasting white vase (see A Pop of Color), whereas its color would recede against a complementary pink one. And while the patterned leaves of a brightly colored croton plant would be highlighted by a simple, monochromatic planter, you can add a bit of whimsy and character to the scene by potting the croton in a vessel with its own wild pattern—just be sure to counterbalance this busyness by grounding the display with some neutral accessories or additional plants in solid-colored pots.

Equally impactful is the material your planter is made out of. The soft knitted plant cozy, for example, oozes comfort and softens a plant’s edges. Conversely, the concrete vessel on that same page adds a tough, industrial edge to the ZZ plant’s look. And the matte clay of a standard terra-cotta pot make the leaves of almost any plant radiate.

The shape of vessel you choose will depend on two factors: the architecture of the plant, and its intended placement in your house. The classic flowerpot shape (where the opening tapers down to a narrower base) is like the little black dress for plants: it makes almost any variety look good. A pot that is the same width from the opening to the base may make some plants look stocky or bottom heavy—use this shape only if your chosen greenery is tall or wide enough to balance it out. An hourglass-shape or pedestaled vase works particularly well for a draping specimen.

If you’re using a plant as a dining table centerpiece, you’ll want to stick to a low-profile bowl to ensure that your planting won’t impede conversation. Conversely, a narrow hallway might call for a tall, narrow vessel. Shape also communicates a mood—a square vessel telegraphs stability and firmness, while a round one will feel approachable and warm.

Finally, consider not only the plant’s personality but also yours. If your home has a natural, rustic feel, you might want to stick your fern in a log vase, but if you’re flashier, opt for a neon bowl. Whatever vessel speaks to you is a fabulous choice!

To highlight how impactful your choice of vessel can be, below I’ve staged one chenille plant in two different vessels (see more on staging). As discussed on the facing page, color, material, shape, and style all impact the overall appearance of a plant-vessel pairing. Here, I’ve focused on the power of shape, keeping the color and texture of both vases neutral. Just adjusting this one element makes a big difference!

The Height of Elegance

A tall vase is a fitting match for any plants that drape. After a riser and a pot liner were placed in this terra-cotta pot’s cavity, in went the plant in its original grow pot. The vase’s curved outline adds grace and femininity to the look, and its height emphasizes the dangling flowering stems as they delicately spill out of the vessel. The warm, natural tones of the terra-cotta lend the pairing a classic, garden-like feel.

A Just-So Sprawl

The clean white veneer and widemouthed opening of this salad bowl make the unexpected vessel a pleasingly minimalistic partner for this funky chenille plant. The lush vine-like stems gently drape over the bowl’s edge, just grazing the surface below, resulting in a naturalistic composition. (Be careful when pairing draping plants with low planters: if this bowl’s edges were much lower, the stems could have ended up looking floppy and lifeless.)

The pages that follow are filled with ideas and tips to get you in the groove when it comes to designing with plants, but below is an overview of a few key concepts.

To determine if your plant is properly to scale, you need to consider it in relation to three things:

1. Its vessel. As a general guideline, planters should be roughly one-third the height and/or width of your plant. For a more “Zen” design, try the opposite balance.

2. The furniture around it. A chunky, lived-in armchair will be able to stand up to denser planting better than a minimal bench seat. A big TV calls for an equally large plant or grouping of plants.

3. The rest of the room. Is the plant touching the ceiling or getting cramped in a corner? If so, it might be too big for the space. Conversely, is it too small and getting lost among the large statement pieces in the room? Maybe it needs a new home, or a few more plant friends to surround it and lend it visual mass.

Balance is the key to a pleasing design. In a basic sense, balance is the even distribution of weight. When you’re talking about this in terms of home design, the “weight” you are looking to distribute is the visual interest in the space. Generally speaking, you can do this one of two ways: by creating a symmetrical arrangement or by creating an asymmetrical one. Symmetry is easier to achieve—think of a matching pair of plants on either side of a fireplace—but asymmetry offers more flexibility to play with your design. See A Statement-Making Symmetrical Arrangement and An Eclectic Asymmetrical Arrangement for two living rooms that deconstruct these approaches.

There are many places to display your plant, whether hung from the ceiling, set on a pedestal, or resting on a shelf. The shape of both your plant and its vessel will determine much here: if it is a draping plant, let it drape—hang it or set it atop a pedestal; if it’s a climber, give it something to climb. Scale also plays a role. A huge pot set on a narrow shelf would look like a boulder waiting to fall on your head. Conversely, a tiny pot on the floor may look like it has been abandoned! And think about how you’ll interact with your plant, the amount of time you’ll be spending around it, and the distance you’ll be from it. You’ll be able to enjoy far more detail on a plant that shares your desk space than on one you walk by in the hallway.

Consider the view you’ll be gaining when situating your plant, too. Some plants are best seen from directly above—place these at lower heights to get the most bang for your buck. Others flaunt their stuff when viewed from below, so put these high up on shelves to enjoy their full potential.

Low windowsills are a great spot to highlight tiny plants with dazzling patterns or shapes, like this collection featuring (from top to bottom) a haworthia, ivy, spear sansevieria, ‘Red Ripple’ peperomia, and ZZ plant.