10 Things You Need To Know About Styling House Plants

There’s a reason that houseplant styling posts are few and far between.

Actually, there’s several.

A lot of plants clustered together quickly look messy ESPECIALLY if you drop the ball on care
Dust and debris accumulates around plants quickly. As does the odd splash of water. Congratulations, you now have a paste. Enjoy removing that. YEs, you will have to move every plant and make you regret your life choices.
Plants are weirdly specific about where you put them. Just because a plant would look good there doesn’t mean it will thrive, and nothing can look as pathetic as a sad plant. I can’t imagine that’s good feng shui.

The person that wrote this article (it me) has used no AI, is a terrible photographer, and bought a 50s house that 95% artex (walls shouldn’t be sharp! And yet!). They also have precious little money or time to spend on said house AND are…kinda used to how terrible it looks. I have a fulltime job, am studying for accountancy exams and I have this whole plant/website situation.

I’ve done my best with the little I have.

Let’s crack on:

1. Consider hanging plants VERY carefully.

They. Are. A. Pain.

If you’re a diligent plant parent with a lot of time then hang to your heart’s content.

However, if you tend to towards the neglecty end of the scale then I do NOT recommend hanging plants. Or indeed any plant that can’t be quickly watered with the dregs of your water glass.

If you just NEED a hanging plants then 100% go for a Hoya bella. They have succulent leaves that don’t need watering too often. Mine hangs in my north-facing kitchen window. It gets COLD in winter. And yet:

She’s in hanging pot and is probably too heavy for the curtain pole she’s hooked on.

Oops.

The issue I have with hanging plants is that you have to get them down, water them, wait until they stop dripping, and then put them back up.

I recommend setting you hanging plants in a bowl of water so they can bottom water whilst you’re watering your other plants. When you’ve finished, top water until the water runs through the drainage holes, then wait for the excess water to stop dripping, wipe the bottom, and out it back.

Some hanging planters have a little attached plate thing and the holes are to the side, so drips are caught but they’re quite pricy.

I have seen people hang plants from things like clothing rails, which could look really cool and is renter friendly.

2. Be wary of letting plants climb your walls

She says, whilst letting a plant climb her walls:

This is an experiment to see if my P. Golden Dragon can develop a less wild growth pattern (so far no).

The aerial roots can get into the plasterboard/drywall and, not to put too fine a point on it, fuck it up.

I can’t deny that a) it looks REALLY cool and b) it’s SO much easier than a freaking moss pole.

3. Plant stands are…fine

I just thought I’d like it better!

If you look closely, you can see that the four slats in the middle of each shlef are raised, and therefore higher than the two on either side. SO the shelves aren’t flat.

It’s fine if you want to do one shelf per plant but I have a LOT of plants and I honestly think I could cram more (or as many) on a long bench. I have my eye on this Ikea one.

It was cheap from Amazon though, and it does the job. Aesthetically, it’s just not the one though.

4. Bookstands are prime real estate…sometimes

I used to spend hours on Pinterest looking up bookshelf styling ideas but NONE OF THEM FEATURED BOOKS. I have a lot of books!

In the end, I settled for Billy bookcases with extra shelves, because it was the best way to get as many books on as possible without it looking messy.

It does mean than I cram as many plants on as I used to be able to, but it also can’t really get messy.

If you want to style your bookcases with plants PLEASE make sure they get enough light. Check out my resources section for grow lights that can be clipped onto shelves and grow bulbs that can fit into lamps.

Also bear in mind it’ll get dusty fast. I highly recommend dusting gloves.

5. Add structure with big houseplants

My main bedroom was previously two rooms so it’s vast. We split the room using shelving (obviously full of of plants) but my mahoossive ZZ plant ties the room together.

Ignore the black carpet and interesting wall colours – it’s waaaaay down the list of priorites house-wise. I got a plant designed for outdoor plants (cheaper!) and put three ZZs in together. Whilst ZZ plants don’t grow quickly, they are quite cheap so you could buy a few and pot them all up. I also made an awful frankenstein soil mix of leca, compost (only right at the bottom so it doesn’t smell) and coir becasue it was the cheapest way to fill the pot. Obvs the ZZ doesn’t care.

Big plants are expensive so buy something hardy, or that will grow quickly. i also like that ZZ plants are quite robust in structure, unlike, e.g Monstera that will grow any old how.

6. More plants = more pests

Just be wary of cramming too many plants together because it will making stopping the spread of pests harder. I keep little vignettes of plants around the house rather than having them all in one room. At least that way I don’t have to treat then all in one day.

I’m a big fan of these over-toilet units BUT you will hit your head if you lean back. You have been warned.

I know those Aglaonema and Syngonium look sad, but I promise, they look waay better than they did.

7. Trays are your friend

It makes it easier to make an area look intentional, like this little spot in my hall:

I know it needs work, but I don’t know what else to do with those glass bowls. One day inspiration will hit.

8. …As are terrariums

Or, tbh honest, any type of cloche. The gold one in the photo above is an Ikea job (the other big one was my greatest charity shop purchase ever – £5!)

Plants LOVE being in terrariums so they quickly look lush AND it can’t help but look intentional:

That begonia is going to burst out any day now. There’s also a Monstera obliqua in there that is THRIVING. I need a bigger one!

Those candlesticks are H&M and I love them. They are pleasing heavy whilst remaining whimsical.

9. Keep dramatic plants close

Specifically this bitch:

I have a whole video on how I got my maidenhair fern to be this lush:

But tbh the main thing was having her right in my eyeline every time I sat on the sofa .

10. Want a bushy plant? Propagate, propagate, propagate

I used to encourage people to not try to make climbing plants bushy, but actually, who cares? Whilst you can’t make, for example, pothos naturally bushy, you can take a load of cuttings, wait for them to root, and then pot them all up together. Is it natural? No! But then neither is anything else about the plant’s living situation. I keep my props near my kitchen sink so they don’t look *too* gross.

I know this looks like a lot of Le Creuset for a poor person, but me and my boyfriend always gift each other le creuset for birthdays/Christmas. It makes us feel fancy! look at me with a salt pig!

I am aware that this is not very aspirational, but as someone that spends an unhealthy amount of time on Pinterest, let me tell you that so much of the plant styling content is staged and would not work in real life. I have reached out to my newsletter readers for ideas from them so hopefully I can do a whole post on plant styling inspo.

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