The Best Indoor Plants For Your Home

The Best Indoor Plants For Your Home

With more people than ever spending time indoors this last year, creating a relaxing environment inside your home has become more important than ever before. It’s become increasingly popular to repaint your bedroom walls and give your home that new spring of life.

However, often this can be very expensive and time consuming. As a result, we’ve come up with an alternative way to upgrade your home and bring some colour and a fresh, positive outlook to your day simply by adding some plants to your home! 

Proven to have both psychological and physical benefits, plants are a great way to boost your serotonin levels and help you to naturally reduce your stress levels. In one study, plants helped to reduce fatigue and headaches by twenty per cent! 
So, if you’re looking for ways to boost your health and feel happier be sure to invest in some plants. We’ve put together the best indoor plants for your home so that you can make the upgrade today and feel more at ease!

 

1) Chinese Money Plant

Known for their decorative pancake shaped leaves and easy propagation, chinese money plants are perfect for people new to gardening. Native to the Yunnan Province of China, the chinese money plants, also known as the lefse plant, missionary plant, or even the UFO plant is frequently called “pilea” for short.
These plants are relatively small and suited to container life. They usually grow to a height of eight to twelve inches and have a very distinctive appearance with each leaf forming an attractive coin-like shape.


Source - Instagram - @threelittleleavesco (<https://www.instagram.com/p/CPiOkRbg_Xr/>)


Chinese money plants are super easy to care for. They should be placed near a sunny window but just out of the way of direct sunlight.

Perfect for placing in your bedroom, enjoy adding some colour to your room with this beautiful plant which is really easy to maintain and look after.

 

2) Prayer Plant

Prayer plants have beautiful leaves which are so unique and will be certain to bring warmth and light into your home. With deep green, velvety leaves, the prayer plant is named after Bartolomeo Maranta, an Italian physician and botanist from the Sixteenth Century.
The prayer plant is native to Brazil and takes its name due to the fact that the leaves stay flat during the day and then fold up like praying hands at night. 
These plants are fairly common as houseplants and can be cared for indoors throughout the year. Thriving best when kept in greenhouse-like conditions, avoid the plants dying from plant rot or developing brown blotches for optimum leaves and a healthy plant!


Source - <https://www.threelittleleaves.co.uk/product-page/prayer-plant-maranta-leuconeura>

 

3) Satin Pothos Plant

This trailing plant grows beautiful, large, speckled leaves which can reach impressive heights. A relative of Epipremnum aureum, Satin Pothos is also known as Silver Vine, Silver Cloud, Silk Pothos and Silver Philodendron. Originally found growing in the rainforests, these plants are used to sitting underneath trees with limited exposure to light. 


Source - <https://www.threelittleleaves.co.uk/product-page/silvery-satin-pothos>


Despite being originally accustomed to hot, humid climates, the Satin Pothos plant adapts well to the British climate. Rather than climbing, the plant leaves hang or can be trained to grow along the edges of shelves and so make the perfect plant for indoors.

Although these plants are toxic to animals, by placing them on a high shelf, you can keep them out of the way of pets or young children. 

 

4) The Sill Peperomia Obtusifolia Plant

The Sill Peperomia Obtusifolia, otherwise known as the “baby rubber plant” is characterised by its thick, spoon-shaped, green leaves. With succulent leaves and small, white flowers, this plant is a beautiful addition to your home.

This plant usually grows the most during the summer time and will start to trail as it grows. Be sure to give this plant plenty of water and prune the ends if need be. 
The plant also grows best in hot, humid conditions and so is the perfect addition for near your window where there is moderate natural sunlight so that the plant’s leaves can grow vibrantly. Be careful not to place this plant in direct light however as this can scorch the plant’s leaves. 

 

5) Snake Plant 

Known as the “Mother-In-Law’s Tongue”, the snake plant is native to West Africa and suitable for low light conditions. Characterised by its long, thin leaves which have a unique appearance as it is interspersed with different gradients of green, these leaves are some of the toughest leaves for plants.
Suitable for beginner plant parents, these snake plants are known for their air purifying qualities and so are the perfect addition to your home. These plants store the oxygen throughout the day and then release it at night which means that they are great additions to your bedroom and will help clean and oxygenate the air; removing gases including ammonia and carbon monoxide.


Source - <https://www.threelittleleaves.co.uk/product-page/sansevieria-snake-plant>

The snake plant will thrive in almost any light condition and only needs watering every couple of weeks. Along with the obvious health benefits of plants, the snake plant is also a resilient succulent which is very forgiving and so super easy to care for!

 

6) ZZ (Zanzibar Gem) Plant 

The ZZ plant is a waxy, green-leafed gem which helps to purify the air in your home. Native to East Africa, these plants are tolerant to a wide range of lighting conditions.

This plant is pretty low maintenance and suitable for people who sometimes might forget to give their plants a water! ZZ plants can survive months without being watered, and so it’s actually better to underwater them than overwater.

Also, be sure to avoid putting this plant in direct sunlight as this can scorch the leaves. ZZ plants do not like to be in cold temperatures, but on the whole are pretty easy to care for. 

 

Along with our recommendations for plants in your home, we spoke to plant shop owner Kat Reynolds who created her own plant business over lockdown called Three Little Leaves.

This beautiful online shop delivers plants within Cheshire and the Manchester area (in the UK). Kat says, “I've always been a fan of plants but during lockdown, which was a period of uncertainty for many, I built up my houseplant collection and found they made a real difference to my stress levels.” 

Kat kindly offered her insight into what benefits plants have and why more people should invest in them...


 "Adding plants to your home can make a real difference - not only do they look lovely and strengthen that connection to the outdoors, they also have been shown to have a positive effect on stress levels and your mental wellbeing.

Some plants, such as the Snake Plant and ZZ Plant are also known for their air purifying qualities. When choosing plants for your house, we'd recommend considering the spaces you'd like to put them first - what type of light is there, is it close to a radiator, does the room tend to be cold or warm?

The majority of house plants are happiest in bright indirect light because direct sun can actually scorch their leaves. The only house plants that can sit in direct sun are Cacti, Banana Plants and Birds of Paradise. The rest tend to like being close to a light source, just not directly in front of it.
 
 In terms of watering, most houseplants like their soil to be kept moist - the best way to check is to literally stick your finger a few cm down into the soil, past the top soil to check for moisture.

If the soil is starting to dry out there, it's time to water. Give it a decent amount and allow it to drain through - then remove the excess water. If plants are left sitting in water they don't need, it can cause root rot and impact on the health of the plant. 
 
Our five favourite houseplants are:
 
- Monstera Deliciosa - a real showstopper which will give your room that jungle feel.
- Chinese Money Plant - has lots and lots of plant babies which you can take cuttings off and pass onto your friends.
- Philodendron White Measure - seriously impressive variegation and low maintenance.
- Calathea Orbifolia - beautiful leaves, bringing that taste of the tropical to your interiors.
- Begonia Maculata - also known as the Polka Dot Begonia, these plants are real head turners.”

 

We hope you have found this article useful and have been inspired to get some plants for your home! Be sure to check out Kat’s shop Three Little Leaves - here is a link to their website and Instagram. 


If you have any questions about our recommendations for plants in your home, please feel free to get in touch with us by email - katie@harmoni.design 



Sources

‘Chinese Money Plant Info: Learn How To Grow A Pilea Plant’ by Liz Baessler <https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/pilea-plants/pilea-chinese-money-plant-info.htm>

<https://www.threelittleleaves.co.uk/>
<https://www.instagram.com/threelittleleavesco/>
‘The 11 Best Indoor Plants of 2021’ by Theresa Holland <https://www.thespruce.com/best-indoor-plants-4158252>
‘ZZ Plant Profile’ by Cori Sears <https://www.thespruce.com/zz-zanzibar-gem-plant-profile-4796783>
<https://www.thesill.com/products/peperomia-green?variant=30411949736041>
<https://www.patchplants.com/gb/en/plants/snake-plant-22/>
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