Plant styling: interior design rules

Whether you have a space to decorate that doesn't yet have plants or you already have a nice collection, these tips can help you live with plants in a visually pleasing space.

Fluidity:

A living space must be visually fluid, adding plants in the corners of a room breaks up the angles. What is true for the corners of a room is also true for furniture sets. For maximum fluidity, adapt the size of your plants in relation to the nearest furniture, as a general rule make sure that the plant is taller than it, either by its natural size or by raising it with a pedestal.

Full view :

In order to create a complete aesthetic, and beyond by breaking the main angles, add height with hanging plants. The simplest way is to take advantage of the shelves, to bring a more global and homogeneous green presence on the volume of the room to be decorated.

Rule of three:

Combining three plants of different heights and similar growth styles creates a cohesion and non-linearity that will be very natural to the eye. Playing on the height of a plant is a major rule in plant styling. To group by three also try to play with shapes, colors or textures.

Plant corners:

When there is little space for plants to grow, we often tend to group everything together. To avoid a chaotic effect, playing on the height of the plants is a good solution. The rule of three can be extended to the plant corner by distributing its plants on three levels of height. In this configuration, prefer to place plants with round leaves on a low level, in the center. To have a perfectly ordered aesthetic, make sure that your large plants are exactly the same size.

Plants on stake:

For many of us collectors, the appeal of climbing plants is irresistible. But I think we can all agree that a stake is a huge aesthetic cost. To counteract this aesthetic cost, here is my advice: cover your stake. To do this, have several plants climb on the same stake so as to fill in the internodal spaces without leaf cover. This way the stake will be less visible, leaving room for a series of beautiful leaves.

Plant pots:

There will be several schools of thought on this point, those of you who prefer to highlight your plants, and others who prefer to integrate the plants into the design. Planter pots are a good way to express your personality. To highlight a plant, nothing beats a planter with colors that contrast with its foliage. If, on the contrary, you prefer to integrate the plant into your interior, choose sober planters in the colors of your interior.

Light :

Most plants orient their leaves towards the light, so keep this in mind when choosing a location for them.
For the darkest corners, choose plants that tolerate low light, or supplement with a horticultural lamp. The ideal solution is to install one just above the plants. The horticultural bulbs sold in the store are E27, meaning that they fit on an Ikea-type reading light, practical!

My Legendary Quartet for Beginners:

If you were to buy only four plants, here are the ones I would recommend:
- Strelitzia: also called bird of paradise, this plant provides superb verticality and is easily found in several sizes. It is your "statement plant", or major piece
- Anthurium Clarinervium: this is a plant that remains relatively small, with very graphic ace of spades leaves and which can be easily placed on a shelf, a counter or on a pedestal.
- Epipremnum marble queen: commonly called pothos, it is a climbing plant that can also be made to hang down, perfect for bringing another axis of verticality by placing it on a shelf.
- Sansevieria: also called mother-in-law's tongue, it is a plant that you can place on the ground or on a low pedestal, next to a larger plant or a decorative object on which you want to draw attention.

The constraints:

Talking about design without constraints would be misleading. Plants are living beings, they must remain so and stay in good shape for a visually pleasing result. Always find out about the light requirements of the varieties that interest you, but also about the growth styles (climbing / creeping / bushy, etc.) so that as they grow they do not obstruct the passage, etc. Also, when working with living things, do not hesitate to allow yourself periods of "work in progress", the time for your plants to grow and provide the desired visual effect. Conversely, when they become too big, do not hesitate to cut them.

At Studio Plantes I support you, whether you are an individual or a professional, in enhancing your interior with exceptional plants.