Tips for choosing houseplants that will thrive and look great in your home
Indoor plants are great for bringing a touch of nature indoors.
Not only do they look beautiful, houseplants help to remove indoor toxins from furniture, carpet, paint, fragrances and other chemicals.
Indoor plants have different needs and requirements so it’s important to choose houseplants that are suited to your home.
Here are some important things to keep in mind when choosing indoor plants.
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Lighting
Many people make the mistake of choosing indoor plants without considering how much light the room receives.
Before you bring home a new indoor plant, take notice of how much sunlight comes into your home.
If you have an area in your home that receives plenty of sunlight (at least 4 to 6 hours per day), then you could have a beautiful Rubber Plant, Jade Plant or Dracena.
Plants with brightly colored foliage like Croton
It’s best to place your plants close to the window so that they receive filtered light instead of direct sunlight which can burn the leaves of the plant.
If you don’t get much natural light inside your home, plants like Peace Lily, Cast Iron Plant and Snake Plant will do well in rooms with low light.
Temperature
What temperature is it inside your home?
Does the temperature fluctuate a lot between daytime and night time?
Temperatures below 50°F (10°C) or rapid temperature fluctuations are unfavorable for some plants.
Most indoor plants prefer temperatures between 60 to 75°F (15 to 24°).
There are a few houseplants that are tolerant to a wide variety of temperatures including Pothos, also known as Devil’s ivy and Spider plant, so they’re a good choice if you live in an area with large fluctuations in temperature.
It’s best to keep houseplants away from cold drafts, heaters, air conditioners and hot air vents.
Humidity
Many popular indoor plants are actually tropical plants that come from naturally humid areas like rainforests.
If you live in an area with low humidity, you can still have humidity loving plants like Bromeliads and Air Plants in your home, they’ll just need regular misting.[1]
You can also put them in the bathroom where it’s a bit more humid than the rest of the house.
Available Space
In a small home or apartment, you won’t have the space for a big Rubber Plant or Fiddle Leaf Fig, but there are many other small indoor plants to choose from.
African violets are compact indoor plants that produce colorful flowers and they’re easy to maintain.
Some other popular small houseplants include Air plants, Peperomia, Polka Dot plant and succulents.
RELATED: 10 Beautiful Small Indoor Plants
There are many creative ways to display your indoor plants when you haven’t got a lot of space:
- Wall planters
- Hanging planters
- In a terrarium
- On a vertical planter
- On top of bookcases or shelves
- On a desk or kitchen bench
- On top of the refrigerator
- In the bathtub (if you don’t use it often)
- On your bedside table
Choosing the right pots
It’s best to avoid planting your indoor plants in terracotta or ceramic pots as they get quite cold in winter.
Terracotta pots also dry out quickly if they’re not sealed.
If you find a decorative planter that you like, you can place the plastic pot inside the planter to dress it up.
Pots in neutral colors like white, beige, gray and black are good options because they go well with most other colors and if you update your furniture or paint, you don’t need to buy new pots.
RELATED: 15 Space Saving Garden Planters
Ongoing Maintenance
Some indoor plants require more ongoing maintenance than others.
If you travel a lot or work long hours, a low maintenance succulent or cactus would be perfect for you.
Aloe vera, String of Pearls, Zebra plant and many other types of succulents are easy to care for houseplants that only need to be watered every week to two weeks.
Don’t forget to feed your plants with a slow release fertilizer
RELATED: 10 Easy Care Indoor Plants
So there are my tips for choosing the right indoor plant for your home.
I hope that this guide has given you the knowledge to select houseplants that will be healthy and happy in your home.
How do you choose your indoor plants? Let me know in the comments below.
Are you on Pinterest? I have boards dedicated to Indoor Plants and Houseplant Care that you may enjoy. You can also find me on Facebook.
Don’t forget to pin this post so you can come back to it when you’re ready to choose your houseplants.
As I sit in my office reading this and looking around I’m taking note of all the indoor plants I have in here. I have a couple of spider plants on my large window sill as well as a philodendron. These have always seemed to do well for me and as a matter of fact this spider plant has been with me for like 20 years. We’ve actually split it a few times as well.
Apart from bringing a touch of nature indoors these plants are also good for health. Before choosing a indoor plant, think about the amount of time you can actually dedicate to the plant. If you work long hours or travel frequently then I think you must choose a low maintenance indoor plant.
I love having houseplants. It’s like bringing outdoors in. We have a few in our house. We’ve had a shamrock plant since we got married 27 years ago. My other favourite is an aloe vera plant in my kitchen. A useful plant to have in case of burns.
Great advice! House plants are in big demand now. People love them more and more!
So you got sick of my whining about not having a garden, huh? 🙂 Love this list! Great tips on selecting plants that’ll live well under different circumstances. I have an added challenge: my cat’s a plant muncher, which means most plants are out (seems that 98% of houseplants are toxic to pets). But I love her, so she wins.
You’ve got some great factors to consider here. I have long accepted that plants in my house don’t survive – not because of my inability to keep them alive but because my cat is a jerk. However, it never crossed my mind to pick up something that hangs like in one of your photos…. I see a houseplant in my office in the near future!
This was a very good and informative post. I found myself trying to figure out what would work for my home. In the winter, we have a ton of light because we always have the blinds and curtains open. But I’m afraid in the summer it’s pretty dreary inside because we keep the windows covered in order to help keep the house cool. We live in Florida and it gets quite hot, I’m afraid. So I’m not sure what would work.
I’m also trying to imagine how it would look to have plants in your bathtub. It seems like an odd place for plant because they are somewhat hidden. I also don’t know bathrooms with a lot of light but that’s not to say that they don’t exist.
I tried my hands at keeping indoor plants at my home when I used to stay alone in a different city from where I currently stay. It took me some time to figure out which plants to keep, lighting, temperature etc. as you mention. By then unfortunately I lost many plants. You post helps me further on the dos and don’ts.
I don’t have any indoor plants in my home yet so this article was really helpful. I probably should get some soon.
That was such an interesting article to read. Informative on all the aspects of indoor plants. There are many nuances involved in decorating your home with indoor plants.