How to achieve the right balance of real and faux plants in your home?
Plants are a delightful addition to any home, bringing a touch of nature indoors while adding texture, color, and a sense of freshness. I prefer real indoor plants, however, some times they just aren’t a viable option.
So, a combination of using both real and faux plants in your home decor may help you create a vibrant and inviting space that is manageable.
The above plants add a pop of color and are real.
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The Beauty of Real Plants
- Natural Beauty: Real plants have an unmatched beauty with their living, breathing presence that adds life to your home.
- Air Purification: Many real plants act as natural air purifiers, improving indoor air quality by filtering out toxins and increasing oxygen levels.
- Therapeutic Benefits: Taking care of real plants can be a therapeutic and rewarding experience, reducing stress and promoting well-being.
The snake plants on the mantel are real but require little care. Real plants in terracotta pots on my friend’s table create a lovely centerpiece.
Considerations for Real Plants
- Maintenance: Real plants require regular watering, pruning, and care like fertilizing to thrive. Consider your lifestyle and commitment to plant care before choosing real plants.
- Light and Environment: Different plants have specific light and environmental requirements. Choose plants that suit your home’s lighting conditions and climate.
- Make sure your planters are water tight to avoid indoor water damage.
The palm tree in our son’s living room and the fiddle-leaf fig tree in our former dining room above like filtered afternoon light.
The Appeal of Faux Plants
- Low Maintenance: No green thumb needed. Faux plants are virtually maintenance-free, requiring occasional dusting or cleaning to maintain their appearance. And they don’t have bugs.
- Longevity: Faux plants retain their beauty indefinitely, making them a lasting investment for your home decor.
- Versatility: Faux plants can thrive in areas with low light, no sunlight or inconsistent temperatures where real plants may struggle.
We added a faux olive tree to this nursery and a fake eucalyptus tree in a basket (on sale) in a corner of our bedroom that gets little light. These are both good-looking trees from Pottery Barn. The moss at the base of the faux tree feels more organic.
The faux foliage branch above in the vintage crock is realistic as are the white flowers (sold out).
Considerations for Faux Plants In Interior Design
- Quality: Invest in high-quality faux greenery with realistic details and textures to avoid a cheap or fake plant appearance.
- Placement: Strategically place faux houseplants where they enhance your decor without looking out of place or overly artificial. They look nice on bookshelves with no worries about watering them.
- Mix with Real Plants: Combine faux plants with real ones to create balanced and dynamic green home décor that offers the best of both worlds.
Faux Foliage Sources
green branch • eucalyptus branches (we have these) • white flowered branches • boston fern • olive trees • eucalyptus tree (we have this too
Finding Balance
The key to incorporating both real and artificial plants lies in finding a balance that suits your lifestyle, aesthetic preferences, and home environment.
The fiddle-leaf fig tree above is real with a faux fern at the base.
- High-Traffic Or Hard to Water Areas: Use faux plants in high-traffic areas or spaces with limited natural light where real plants may struggle to thrive.
- Statement Pieces: Reserve real plants for statement pieces or focal points, such as large floor plants or in pots on your side or coffee table, to make a visual impact.
- Ratio of Real To Faux: to keep the feeling fresh try to keep the real to faux ratio about 3 to one. Meaning three real plants for every one faux.
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Summary
Whether you prefer the organic charm of real plants or the low-maintenance appeal of faux ones, both options offer unique benefits AND with the proper balance your home decor will feel fresh and inviting.
Diane Hafer says
Your articles are always so organized and inspiring. Can you share the names of the ‘real’ plants you shared in your photo? Thanks
Bess says
Darn it Mary Ann, I was hoping those beautiful fig leaf trees in your dining room were faux. Do you treat the leaves with anything to get that shine? You definitely have a green thumb. Off topic, any chance you still have a link for a large blue pattern scarf that you featured for one of your trips last summer? I’m pretty sure it was from
Amazon. Sorry if I’m being unrealistic but I thought I’d ask. I’m packing for a two week trip to Ireland and that scarf would bea perfect accessory for my denim jacket/jeans. Thank you!
Mary Ann Pickett says
I am racking my brain for that scarf…sorry I don’t remember it. Have fun!
Kelly says
If you had asked me the ratio of real to fake plants 2 years ago I would have said, zero fake plants! But now that we are out of town for a month or more at a time, it’s become obvious to us that keeping 20+ house plants doesn’t work. Also, when we moved to a new state recently, we found our plants didn’t love our water softener/purification system because it removed the minerals in the water. If we turn off the system to get water, the chloramines in the water are not good for the plants (or humans for that matter). So now I have to purchase spring water to water my plants. We’re down to 5 live houseplants – mostly larger plants/trees. I probably have another 15 fake plants around the house but people often think they are real. I miss all our beautiful houseplants but we have to work with the cards we’ve been dealt!
Mary Ann Pickett says
I know…me too. We travel a lot, too. Did you see how we use these watering stakes: https://rstyle.me/+0z6UYJ7JoPo9bkyK-auIyw
Kelly says
I hadn’t seen those before. Thanks!