10 Pretty Ways to Use Green Plants in Your Home Decor

There’s something about a room with living green in it that just feels right. A trailing pothos on a bookshelf, a tall plant softening a corner, a little pot of ivy tucked into a blue and white cachepot. If you’ve been wondering how to bring more green into your home, here are ten pretty ways to use green plants in your home decor, from styling tips to easy-care favorites for every room.

I love them because they’re so easy to work with. They go with every color palette, fit every style, and never need to be packed away when the holidays are over. And green plants work in every season, from spring to summer, fall, and even in winter. Swap the container and a plant can look cottage casual one month and polished and elegant the next.

Just to be clear, most of these green plants are live plants. You have to water and nurture live plants. (Thank goodness Sweet Shark is in charge of that job.) Sometimes a faux green plant works better for the space where you need one.

My job is to make sure our home is brightened with beautiful green plants that bring color, life, and interest throughout. Green plants make a space feel fresh, finished, and lived in, no matter the season.

While the changing seasons dictate the color of flowers outside, green plants will always work inside. You can do this too with just a few ideas for inspiration. These ideas for using green plants will show you where and how to bring nature into your home.

These pretty ways to use green plants in your home cover different types of plants, different sizes, different shapes and textures, and different containers – all for different areas of your home.

I’ll also share why having green plants in our homes benefits us in ways unrelated to decorating.

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Our Greenery and Garden Inspiration

We can find inspiration for using green plants inside in multiple places:

• garden stores
• garden and shelter magazines
• Pinterest
• Instagram
• gardening books
• Google

This setting, using a light and airy green plant and an orchid in stone planters from Maison de Cinq, is the perfect example of how easy it is to use green plants in our home decor.

Green plants are one of the easiest ways to make a room feel fresh and finished, even in the dead of winter. Group a few in varying heights on a mantel or shelf, set one tall plant in a corner to soften hard lines, and tuck a small pot into a bookshelf or on a coffee tray. The container matters as much as the plant. A plain nursery pot dropped into a pretty basket, or a blue-and-white cachepot, instantly looks more styled.

How to Use Green Plants in Your Home

First, I like to think of green plants as accessories. Like art, books, or decorative items, green plants add color, texture, and interest. They fill an empty space.

The containers that hold plants also add color, texture, and pattern.

Plants provide a living, organic presence in our environment. Living green plants make us feel good – a part of nature inside our homes.

Research suggests that indoor plants not only purify the air, but have calming effects on your mood, stress levels and blood pressure.

Keep in mind that every home’s plant requirements will be different, based on :

• how much natural light
• where the light is coming from
• how much light the area gets a day; whether it is morning or afternoon sun
• is your environment mostly sunny or shady

Green Plants for the Fall Season

Can certain green plants do better in certain seasons? Yes, based on their coloring and requirements, some green plants seem better suited to the color palette and cooler temperatures of fall. Here are five plants that suit fall decor.

ZZ House Plant tolerates very low light levels, which is good as the colors of fall dim in our homes.

Autumn Brilliance Fern is primarily an outdoor perennial, but will adapt to indoor situations. The color of its new fronds unfurls in striking shades of orange-red to copper-pink – perfect for fall decor – before eventually maturing to glossy deep green by summer and often back to orange-red after the first fall frost. 

Schefflera is a well-known houseplant with delicate leaves. We’ve had several over the years. Easy to grow, especially in well-lit bedrooms, because at night the houseplant efficiently filters indoor air pollution from the room.

Crotons are one of the most dramatic indoor plants for the fall. Their large variegated leaves bring in the traditional colors of the season – bright golden yellow, warm orange, and rich red – making them ideal fall accents.

Bella Palm is one you will definitely recognize as a staple in garden stores and nurseries. It does well in indirect low light, making it perfect for homes where natural sunlight may be limited during shorter fall and winter days,

Live or Faux

There is no shame in a good faux plant. High-quality faux greenery has come a long way, and it’s perfect for low-light spots or hard-to-reach shelves. My rule is simple: keep faux plants dust-free and mix in one or two real ones nearby so the whole grouping reads as fresh.

Easy-Care Green Plants for Every Room

If you want the look without the fuss, start with pothos, snake plant, or a ZZ plant. All three forgive low light and a missed watering. For a living room, a fiddle leaf fig or a bird of paradise makes a beautiful floor statement. In a bright kitchen or bath, a trailing pothos on a high shelf softens the whole space.

1 – Green Plants in the Entry

Let’s start with your entry. Most of us have a table, console, or dresser in our entry hall. This is a great place to include a green plant.

The size of your green plant depends on the furniture’s size and shape. The type of green plant depends on the amount of light in your entry.

In our entry, we have an antique commode – think of a chest of drawers. (It holds our china, silver trays, napkin rings, and other tabletop accessories.) If the commode is not decorated for a holiday, it looks like just a pretty green plant.

Since the commode is stained and topped with a grey-green piece of marble, a green plant provides color, texture, and pattern.

TIP: If possible, find a plant that complements the furniture in size and shade to create a harmonious setting.

Usually, I have the commode decorated for the current season or a holiday. Otherwise, Sweet Shark keeps one of his favorite bonsai or orchid plants here. This is about as easy as it gets for using one large green plant.

This one is a Schefflera, which has pretty bright green leaves. Trained as a bonsai, it definitely has an interesting shape. Since the mirror always reflects the back of whatever is placed in front of it, it’s nice that the plant looks good from all sides.

Although our front door is partially glass and there is a large Palladian window above it, the light in the entry (which faces west) can range from dark on a cloudy morning to very bright on a sunny afternoon. It also depends on the time of year.

The bonsai seems to adapt to the changing light. Sweet Shark babies his bonsais and knows where they will do best. This one seems happy here.

Extensive research by NASA has revealed that houseplants can remove up to 87 per cent of air toxin in 24 hours. Studies have also proven that indoor plants improve concentration and productivity (by up to 15 percent!), reduce stress levels and boost your mood — making them perfect for not just your home but your work space, too.

2 – Greenery in the Dining Room

If you peek into our dining room, you will see a mid-size Dracaena Janet Craig plant in the corner.

When I was redoing our dining room in the spring of 2018, I knew it needed something tall in this corner, and that a green plant would be the best option. Since the wall color in the room is barely grey and white, the color comes from art and this green plant.

I asked Sweet Shark to select a plant that was 3 – 4 feet tall and on the slim side. The dining room gets a lot of afternoon sun, so we needed to consider that light. I didn’t want anything big or bushy, but I wanted smooth, shiny leaves.

He found the perfect green plant. This 4-foot-tall Janet Craig Dracaena plant fits the tall, skinny, shiny, and smooth requirements.

• It would take the bright sun, but be fine in the morning when the light is low.
• It provides a great pop of natural green color.
• It fills up that corner of the dining room quite nicely.

The container originally was an ugly green plastic one that I spray-painted gold. I later decided to replace it with a simple white pot.

The plant grew so big that Sweet Shark cut off the top and rooted it. This is how it looks today. A corn plant sits next to it. The corn plant sits in a greenish ceramic planter that we’ve had for years.

The dining room gets lots of light, so it needs plants that thrive in the light.

3 – Plants in the Living Room

Our living room has several places for live green plants and I bet yours does too. With coffee tables, end tables, bookshelves, and mantels, plenty of places provide a landing spot for a pretty green plant. And, just like in our dining room, you can have large plants that sit on the floor.

On each side of our bookcase, two Sansevierias, or snake plants, balance it, add an interesting shape, stay compact, and grow slowly.

I found the bright blue containers at Lowe’s. I love the burst of color they provide.

My mom always called them “mother-in-law’s tongue”, but I know they also go by snake plants. Their tall, slim leaves make them a great plant for narrow spaces.

The Sansevieria adds height and softens the bookcase’s hard lines. With the white bookcase and pale blue walls, the green and yellow leaves add contrast and interest.

From Better Today: “As well as enhancing your mood and creating a living space that is soothing to be in, plants can also help with loneliness and depression: caring for a living thing gives us a purpose and is rewarding — especially when you see that living thing bloom and thrive.

4- The Mantel

On the mantel, simple mason jars are filled with a variety of green stems

5 – Coffee Table and Side Tables

Coffee tables are prime real estate in any living room. Besides books, trays, candles, and pictures, green plants are at the top of my list for coffee table must-haves.

I often have seasonal or holiday arrangements on the coffee table. In between, I use trays, baskets, or stacks of large coffee table books (rectangular). A green plant is always appropriate.

Since our coffee table is made of glass and metal, I like to use containers in solid, natural and organic materials. Changing the containers occasionally keeps the look interesting.

This rustic vase with an interesting shape and texture perfectly held simple greenery on the coffee table. Set on wooden cutting boards, the vignette works in any season.

A 2007 study showed that people with more plants in their workspace took fewer sick days and were more productive on the job.

6 – Side Tables

A maidenhead fern sits on one of the side tables next to our sofa. I love how the bright green color works with the blues in the lamp, container, and the pillow on the sofa.

These ferns are a little finicky. You have to spray them with water often.

On the other side table, another blue container holds a green plant – but this one is faux!

Sometimes you need a plant to fill a space. Next to our back door, by an end table, was just a big blank space. A green plant would be the ideal filler.

To fill in the space next to the side table, we have had a Dracaena which provides lots of pretty green leaves. I think this is the top that Sweet Shark cut off the top of the one in the dining room.

Right now, we are using a Spathiphyllum and a pot of pothos. One is faux. Can you tell which one?

7 – Using Plants in the Kitchen

Since we spend so much time in our kitchens, this is another great place to add greenery. I can’t think of a better choice than herbs – especially if they come straight from your garden.

In our backyard, we used to grow all our herbs in pots. Then we created a small herb garden that housed our herbs in-ground. Last summer, we purchased a raised garden bed. Although several herbs, such as basil, cilantro, and dill are seasonal, Mexican mint marigold (tarragon), thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage, and mint are perennial.

I made some really cute containers to hold herbs to the kitchen counter. We’ll move these outside when the whether gets warmer.

We always have pots of rosemary, thyme, lavender, chives, and parsley that come back every year – unless we get a really hard freeze.

I love to cook with herbs and like to bring cuttings into the kitchen. It’s nice to have them ready for cooking, and to add a natural, green, organic presence to the kitchen.

The Le Parfait mason jars that I found in Atlanta and shipped home a few years ago are perfect for holding herbs. I really like using them as kitchen accessories.

Here are some rosemary, chives, and lavender that I cut from our garden. I didn’t wash the herbs – that is done just before I snip some off for cooking. They get a good shake before I bring them in the house so little critters won’t stick around.

The fragrance of rosemary and lavender when I brush my hand across them is one of my favorite things.

8 – Plants in the Sitting Room

To fill this niche between the kitchen and the sitting room, a faux tree provides greenery, texture, and interest. What do you think of the pothos plant on the floor?

The pothos plant is a $5.00 garage sale find. I don’t have to place it in a plastic tray under the plant on our hardwood floors.

Sweet Shark has been nursing this bonsai plant for years. It was a few inches tall when he bought it.

9 -Greenery in the Master Bedroom

Since most of us have nightstands and sometimes a table by a chair – a little reading nook – bedrooms can also be great places for green plants.

We have a table between the two chairs in our bedroom, in front of a bay window that gets morning light.

It’s the perfect place for some greenery.

I decided that this spot could use more greenery.

Out in our garage, I have a collection of planters that I recycle and reuse. I found a small blue container that would fit nicely on a stack of books.

Then I looked for a plant with an interesting shape and texture at Lowe’s and found just the thing – a small variegated Schefflera that fit perfectly in my container. Green moss tucked on top finishes the arrangement.

Since we can control the light coming into our bedroom with the shutters, we don’t need to be so concerned about the light requirements of the plant, just the size, color, and texture.

10 – Master Bathroom Gets a Pop of Green

Finally, we come to the master bathroom.

With a vanity to set a plant on and higher humidity, bathrooms are great places for plants.

We usually have an orchid here (one of Sweet Shark’s passions), but they are just beginning to bloom right now. This small corn plant was in the laundry room (That’s where the orchids stay when they are dormant and waiting to bloom) and is now in this spot.

The mercury glass planter is a favorite, and I like the metallic contrast with the green leaves. The planter also reflects the frame’s metallic finish.

Our bathroom has a very large window on the north side of our home. It can be very bright or very dark, depending on the season, weather, and time of day. The corn plant is doing well so far. I’ll move it somewhere else as soon as one of the orchids comes to life again.

Best Houseplants for Stress and Anxiety

Here is a list of favorite in-home plants for anxiety, stress, and overall well-being. The plants were selected based on their calming scent, ability to boost mood, and anti-anxiety effects.

• Aloe Vera
• Jasmine
• Lavender
• Peppermint
• Gerbera
• Snake Plant (Sansevieria)
• Rosemary
• Chrysanthemum
• Chamomile
• English Ivy Plant

Well, that’s my 10 pretty ways to use green plants in your home decor: places, types, light, and containers.

Green Plant Questions Answered

Here are a few more ideas for using green in your home:

• Green and White Rustic Winter Decor
• 5 Favorite Ways to Use Green in Home Decor

I hope that you enjoyed my little plant tour and learned something that you can use in your home. If you like and want to save for reference, please PIN it.

Let’s make the world a prettier place by using green plants in our homes.