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How I became a plant lady
Considering what is going on in the world today, I’ve taken great enjoyment from caring for my house plants. It’s soothing for me to water and take care of them. I thought this might be a great task for you if you are feeling anxious or stressed. Styling your home with plants can really be a great destresser. It works wonders for me.
I’m a newbie to the plant lady thing. Of course, you could never tell that now. I got plants everywhere….. AND I LOVE THEM!!!
For years my mom, who loves plants, has tried to get me on board. I had tried a couple of house plants in the years before, but I always ended up killing them. Oh, my outside plants would grow, or at least my husband made sure they did. But once I brought it over the threshold of my house, it would wither and die. I guess I just needed to want them enough to take care of them. What I figured out is styling your home with plants can bring your home to life.
See about three years ago I started noticing the clean and simple image of modern farmhouse design on Pinterest. Up until that point I had been a tried and true cottage person. I even owned a store called Cottage on Main. But these images called to me. The simplicity and the peacefulness of it and at the same time, there was life. I noticed is that there were plants in every photo. They looked amazing. There was such a bright shining light to each room that had plants I’m guessing I was ready for some of that amazing life-giving peacefulness in my life and so it spoke to me.
Getting started with Plants
I started trying to make some changes to my current house. The first thing I did was buy a house plant. Not just any plant either. A fiddle-leaf fig tree. Don’t laugh. (ok you can laugh, it was pretty funny) I had read up on them, done the research, and I knew that it would be no small task to keep this thing alive. But I’ve always had a hard head and so I went for the hardest house plant to grow. I figured that if I could keep this thing alive I could grow anything.
Somehow the addition of my first house plant started something. This big green giant was my baby. It took better care of it than I did my kids. Just kidding. But I did, I do love that thing. It makes me smile.
I loved my little cottage house, you can take a tour of it here, but when my husband mentioned moving I jumped at the chance to find the house that spoke to this new stage I was in.
After moving in to our 1970’s tri-level house, I settled my fiddle leaf fig in her new spot and got to adopting her some new friends. I would get on line and find something I wanted and then head to my local Lowes to get it. And that is the story of my becoming an official crazy plant lady. Now to tell you how to style them in your own home.
Here are some great plants to get your started. I have ordered some of the harder to find plants from Amazon and they have been delivered in great shape. Just click on the photo to order.
White Oak Farmhouse is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Plant Shopping
ZZ Zamioculcas zamiifolia, Indoor Plant
Snake Laurentii Live Plant
Peace Lily
Styling Your Home With Plants
I have managed to put plants in almost every room in my house. There is just something so beautiful to me about the life that it gives a room. One of the first places I started with is the big open corners of my den and dining room. If you use a tree or taller plant you can give height to a corner without using a large piece of furniture.
1. Filling your open corners
The fiddle leaf fig, while it takes a bit of research to master, can be a beautiful addition to a corner. Here you see my biggest FLF in all her glory in the corner of my dining room. She loves this corner and has done very well here. Having her here gives this corner of the room the height it needs to balance out the large china cabinet on the other side of the room.
Below you can see other examples of how I’ve used larger plants to fill big corners of a room. Our living room is a large room. Because of that, I floated most of the furniture in the center of the room. This left two of the corners blank. These plants are the perfect filler and give great vibrance and life to this room.
In the first picture, I have a group of plants together and I’m using a plant stand to give one of the plants some height. Grouping three plants together fill this corner where the one plant on its own would not I also like to use different materials when grouping plants like this. I have the fiddle leaf fig in the boho basket and the rubber tree plant in the brass plant stand. All the textures combine to make this corner much more interesting yet cohesive.
2. Adding interest to a bookcase
Another way I love to use plants is to add interest and texture to a bookcase. Here you can use smaller plants like succulents and snake plants that don’t need a huge amount of sunlight to survive. Add a trailing plant to the top shelf of a bookcase and letting it hang down is a great look. I’ve used a pothos to one of my bookcases and it looks so beautiful hanging down over the white shelves. Using some succulents in different places throughout the bookcases adds interest and texture. You can also add some faux plants along with the real ones when real plants will struggle. My string of pearls in the top left bookcase in a faux succulent. I’m using it now till I can find a real one but everyone thinks it’s real. haha.
White Oak Farmhouse is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Artificial Succulents set of 3
Macrame Plant Hangers Set of 4
Cotton Rope Plant Basket
3. Add Plants to unexpected places
A fun way to style with plants is to put them in unexpected places. Like on the back of the toilet in the bathroom. Or hanging from a macrame hanger in the shower.
If your sink is in front of a window add a plant to the side of your sink or add a herb garden to the window sill.
4. Add to Bedroom to clean the air
Not only do plants make your home look amazing and stylish but they clean the air in your home so you can breath healthier. For that reason, I always try to add at least one plant into my bedroom and the rooms of my girls. A great one is a peace lily. It doesn’t require a lot of light and its deep green foliage is beautiful.
6. Add them to offices, mudrooms, and tabletops.
If you love the look of plants in your home but have never really felt confident in executing the look, you now have this great idea guide to help you make sure home full of life and fresh air.
Blessings!
Christy
