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Plant Power
Interior Stylist and Youtimer Michelle Hart shares how to bring the natural environment indoors to help replenish our life force energy, rejuvenate our bodies and reinvigorate our minds.
Published: March 2022
Origin: Australia
Connecting to the natural environment by engaging and immersing our senses can have a profound effect on our mental and physical wellbeing.
Using house plants as that connection to nature and incorporating greenery into your home will bring with it a number of calming and restorative benefits to enhance your quality of life.
Plants have been known to boost mood, productivity, concentration and creativity.
They can help to reduce stress and improve general health and wellbeing. They will naturally purify the air improving its quality by absorbing harmful toxins, whilst also adding life and beauty to your rooms.
Our way of life - many of us living in densely built up areas and spending so much time indoors, working and studying more from home - has caused a disconnect with nature.
It is therefore vital to create spaces that have both a direct and indirect connection to the natural environment - to help replenish our life force energy, rejuvenate our bodies and reinvigorate our minds.
Incorporating indoor plants into your home and styling them to create your own lush green oasis is one of the easiest ways to connect with nature.
House plants can be used to decorate your rooms in abundance and can be introduced in any area of the home. It is one of the quickest ways to fully transform a space.
From the kitchen to the bathroom, bedroom to the living room – they can be displayed on open shelves, placed on the floor, on top of sunny window sills or in empty corners. With all of their health benefits, the more the merrier when it comes to adding greenery!
The best way to display indoor plants is to layer them in size and to use different varieties as well as grouping them together to create a focal point within a room.
They do, however, need to be suitable to the indoor environment they are being placed in; the natural light, ventilation and size of space should be considered when selecting plants for your home.
Plant Power
The best indoor plants for healing and wellbeing
Bromeliad
Bromeliad is a brightly coloured, exotic tropical plant that survives simply by sucking in water through their foliage (as they have no roots).
Bromeliads are great for banishing unpleasant odours through absorbing VOC’s (volatile organic compounds), reducing noise because their foliage and stems absorb sound waves, and can also help boost productivity and reduce stress through their striking beauty.
Peace Lily
Peace Lily absorbs all nasties such as ammonia, benzene, xylene and formaldehyde throughout the home, improving your indoor air quality.
It also displays beautiful tall white flowers and can grow in low lit areas of your home.
English Ivy
English Ivy will purify airborne mould particles that can trigger allergies and respiratory conditions. It can therefore help with night time asthma helping you to breathe easier for a good night’s sleep.
Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera is a wonderful plant for improving the immune system, namely irritated, burnt or inflamed skin.
The gel substance found in the inner part of the leaf can be applied directly to the skin for its healing qualities.
Aloe Vera will thrive in a sunny position and doesn’t like being over watered.
Rosemary
Rosemary is a useful plant or herb for cooking and use in the kitchen but is also great for an office environment as the oil from the rosemary plant is wonderful for memory boosting and concentration.
Low maintenance, a rosemary plant will display a flourish of small purple flowers during Spring.
Rubber Plant
Rubber Plant is a large glossy leaves make it a beautiful addition to any room as well as its unfussy nature.
The Rubber Tree has natural anti-inflammatory properties and you can use fresh mashed up leaves on skin rashes to help bring relief to the affected area.
It is also a great plant for purifying and increasing the humidity of the air.
Dracena
Dracena are easy low maintenance indoor plants that thrive in natural light.
The Dracena plant can absorb VOC’s and air pollutants like lead emitted from furniture, paint, carpet and building materials. They can also increase humidity levels which helps with controlling colds and coughs.
Mother in Laws Tongue
Mother in Laws Tongue is one of the easiest plants to care for.
Also known as Snake Plant, it gets most of its hard work done during the night, converting carbon dioxide into oxygen as you sleep making it perfect for using in a bedroom.
Indoor Palm varieties
Palm varieties can effectively reduce carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide from the air and provide oxygen instead, making them great for purifying the air.
Plants with more foliage area tend to produce more oxygen and palm varieties are fantastic options for this.
Palms are also pet friendly and add so much lushness to any interior aesthetic with their height and long fronds.
There are so many positives to incorporating indoor plants into our home environments.
Not only are they beneficial to our physical and mental wellbeing, but they can elevate and soften our interior spaces and also bring us joy simply by nurturing and watching them flourish and grow.
But be warned - once you start your collection of indoor greenery, it can be a seriously addictive game!
Michelle Hart
Interior Stylist
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