20 Plant Decorating Ideas to Elevate Your Space

Whether you're a beginner plant parent or a jungle-living expert, plants can help define your home's style and create a brighter environment. The key to creating a great space is adding the houseplants as part of your decor, not just around your decor.

When shopping for a new houseplant, think about where in your home the plant will fit best. Take into consideration necessities such as whether the plant is low-light friendly or needs a certain number of hours of direct sunlight? How large will it grow? And does it prefers dry air like a cactus or humidity like a prayer plant? Also, make sure you have enough time to take care of your plants. If you travel a lot, opt for a plant that doesn't need frequent watering or misting. If you don't have time to care for plants, artificial plants are not a faux pas; they will still make your space stylish and vibrant, just without the dirt.

Check out our best styling tips and plant shelf ideas to elevate your space and breathe fresh air into your home.

Use a large or tall plant, like this bird of paradise, to fill an empty corner and add color. Instead of seeing a sharp corner the plant fills the area and softens the space. If the plant is close to a window, this also allows for an extension of the outdoors into the interior.

To create a layered look with your plants, use houseplants of varying sizes and pedestals or plant stands to play with height. Get creative and try a cascading effect or boost a smaller plant up to create the illusion of a larger plant. Try pairing one tall upright plant with one trailing plant to make your arrangement appear fuller.

If the minimalistic aesthetic is calling your name, use just a single plant on a bookshelf or coffee table. However, if lush greenery is your go-to, try pairing plants together in groups of three for a fuller look. Here, a pair of upright snake plants and a single vining pothos fill the space with minimal effort. Both these plants are great for low-light and low-maintenance scenarios.

A trailing plant — like pothos — atop a bookcase adds color and a bit of a 3-D effect. A climbing or vining plant will also connect the shelves and help draw the eye to each individual shelf.

Many tropical houseplants such as an anthurium plant come in vibrant hues, perfect for adding color to your space. Don't let all that green stop you from adding shades of the rainbow to coordinate with styles and patterns you already own.

One way to incorporate your houseplants into your design style is to find planters that fit your style and coordinate with your accessories. Looking for a vintage or boho style? Visit your favorite flea market, thrift store or antique mall for an eclectic and often budget-friendly assortment of planters. For DIY lovers, planters can be inexpensively crafted with simple materials.

Bringing plants into your workspace or home office helps create a sense of nature indoors, something that we often need during the workday. Research has shown that shades of green can help people feel relaxed and improve overall well-being. Plus, plants will help purify the air and remove pollutants.

If your home or apartment has a nasty hole from a failed DIY project or an eyesore of an electrical panel, use long trailing plants to make those not-so-nice issues disappear. Your guests will love the greenery and you'll enjoy the peace of mind. Try easy-maintenance plants like English ivy, pothos or heart-shaped philodendron.

If your window faces a less-than-picturesque wall or alley, create a more pleasing view by hanging your plants in front of your window. Kim Purvis from the Made in a Day blog took advantage of her direct natural light and added a clear hanging acrylic window shelf made for houseplants. Also, displaying your plants in a vertical fashion is a great way to save on space.

As long as you pull up the window blinds every morning, the bedroom can be a great place to add plants. Here, a hanging plant fills the corner over the hamper while a pair of plants anchor the dresser and frame the mirror. For a twist, try trailing the vines of a long plant around a mirror to add shape with plants.

Your coffee table is the perfect place for greenery and accessories to effortlessly come together. Use trays or books underneath your plant to play with varying heights. For a subtle look, choose a vessel or container that pairs well with the color of the surrounding furniture, or go bold with a vase or flowerpot in a contrasting color.

To really make a piece of furniture pop, consider adding some greenery for contrast. Here, the blue velvet sofa is the clear focal point of the room and the large palm helps accent it. In addition, this pretty palm adds height to the space.

Why not turn your bathroom into the tropical paradise you dream about? Adding plants in your bathroom instantly elevates the space and helps give your home a cohesive feel by creating continuity of plants throughout the house. Humidity-loving plants like sub-tropical aroids (philodendron, dumb cane and Chinese evergreen to name a few) will enjoy the bathroom and whether in the shower like this mini monstera (Rhaphidophora tetrasperma) or even on the counter.

A towering plant such as a fiddle leaf fig can help make a room feel taller and less enclosed. This is a great trick for low ceilings to create a sense of height. Tip: make sure your fiddle leaf fig has plenty of light wherever it ends up being featured in your home, like in this cozy space next to a bright window. If great lighting isn't an option, opt for an artificial plant.

Bare walls begone! Create a backdrop for any room that encourages your plants to grow and will keep your space feeling cozy and earthy. This look was created by using Ikea's Sosdala memo boards and trailing the plants through the wires. A similar look could be achieved with small inexpensive invisible hooks attached to the wall.

Everyone should have a space to relax; so why not de-stress with nature around you? We love the boho style of this sitting area that incorporates tall palms and terra-cotta hues to help shrink your worries away. Fill the space where you relax with some greenery, natural materials and earthy hues to make it your peaceful spot.

Bring life into your kitchen by incorporating popular and useful herbs such as rosemary, thyme and cilantro. Creating an indoor herb garden is great for cooking and bringing a touch of the outside indoors. Plus, it'll make the room smell great even when you're not cooking.

If you're a crafter, a frequent traveler or someone without a green thumb, paper plants may be just what you're looking for. There's no worry about a watering schedule with a plant you built yourself, like this pretty pilea.

Change up your wall decor with living art by creating a vertical garden. This is a great way to add greenery if your floor space is limited. Plus, keeping plants on the wall can ensure a safe distance from kids and pets.