Plant Styling: Decorating with Houseplants
Transform your space with these interior design tips for displaying houseplants.
Design Principles
Use plants to add texture, color, and life to any room. Consider scale, placement, and container style.
Styling Ideas
- Create plant shelves for vertical interest
- Use trailing plants in hanging baskets
- Group plants of varying heights
- Match pots to your decor style
Room-by-Room Guide
Living Room
Large statement plants like fiddle leaf fig or monstera.
Bedroom
Air-purifying plants like snake plants for better sleep.
Bathroom
Humidity-loving ferns and tropical plants.
Kitchen
Herbs for cooking and small potted plants on windowsills.
Tools and supplies for this
Products we'd actually buy for this job. Linking to Amazon — if you buy through these links we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
- Weston Mill Pottery Terracotta plant pots, 175mm (pack of 10)
Mid-size workhorse terracotta — perfect step-up for plants outgrowing their nursery pots.
- Weston Mill Pottery Terracotta plant pots, 20cm (pack of 5)
Heavyweight 20cm clay for established plants — the porous walls help prevent the soggy roots aroids hate.
- Whitefurze G04012 7.5cm Garden Pot - Terracotta (Set of 10)
Cheap, cheerful plastic propagation pots — what we actually use for cuttings and small offsets.
- Whitefurze G04013 10cm Garden Pot - Terracotta (Set of 7)
Reliable mid-size nursery pots with proper drainage holes — the boring essential every plant parent runs out of.
Sophie Chen
Interior Designer
Passionate about helping plant parents succeed with expert tips and proven techniques.
Comments(8)
I love this topic! I've found that grouping plants by their water needs actually makes them look better together too—like when I clustered my Zamioculcas zamiifolia with other xeric types on a high shelf, it created this naturally cohesive display without feeling cluttered. Do you find styling works differently depending on whether you're going for a Mediterranean vibe versus something lusher, or does the design principle stay the same regardless of plant type?
I've learned the hard way that where you *place* a plant matters as much as what you plant! I killed my first tomato by tucking it into a dark corner for "aesthetic reasons"—now I make sure my veggie plants get their sun first, and *then* I style around that. My Mediterranean balcony setup has gotten so much better since I stopped fighting my plants' needs. Do you have any tips for styling plants in lower-light spaces without sacrificing their health?
I love this topic! I've found that grouping my herbs by height—taller rosemary in back, creeping thyme spilling forward—creates way more visual interest than scattering them around, plus it's easier to water them consistently since they're all in one spot. It's totally changed how I think about my little plant collection.
That grouping strategy definitely works, and I'd add that it matters even more with finicky plants like orchids—I keep my cold-tolerant ones clustered together so they actually get the consistent temps and humidity they need instead of being scattered where conditions vary room to room. I've got maybe five plants total, so arrangement isn't just about aesthetics for me, it's practical. I'd share a photo of my setup if I could, but the visual payoff from treating it like a microclimate rather than decoration has been real.
I've been trying to figure out how to arrange my little collection without it looking cluttered, so this is exactly what I needed! Right now I have my pothos and philodendron just... sitting on a shelf together, which feels kind of boring. Do you have suggestions for using plants at different heights, or is that something covered in the full post? I'm wondering if a plant stand would actually help or if I'm just overthinking it.
I'd add that plant styling works best when you actually *like* caring for what you choose—I spent two years forcing fussy tropical plants into corners before realizing my arid climate and honest watering habits meant I should lean into succulents and xerophytes instead. Now my *Euphorbia* and *Aloe* collection feels intentional rather than like I'm fighting against my own conditions, and paradoxically, they look more curated that way.
I've learned the hard way that the best styling happens when you stop fighting your plant's actual needs—my *Hedera helix* finally thrived once I stopped moving it for aesthetics and just let it live near the north-facing window where it wanted to be. Now I design around what each plant actually needs rather than the other way around, and somehow the spaces look better for it.
I've found that grouping plants by height works better than I expected—I arrange my basil, oregano, and thyme so the taller ones don't shade the shorter herbs. The trick is thinking about sight lines too; I keep my trailing varieties at eye level or higher so they actually draw attention rather than disappearing into a corner. It's made both the display and the plants themselves healthier since airflow improves when you're intentional about spacing.