Are Artificial Plants Right for You? Top Reasons You May Want to Consider Artificial Plants for Home Decor

Decorating your own home can be an anxiety inducing activity for even the design talented individual. Finding a way to marry current styles with your own unique taste can be challenging enough before you take into consideration other requirements such as the quality, durability, safety, and cost of pieces for your space. Speaking of pieces for your space, it is rare to find a home without a green element now days as almost every architectural style includes plants in some way to some degree.

When addressing how to bring the comforting and simultaneously uplifting element of greenery into your home, you first have to decide whether you’re going to choose real or artificial plants, or a combination of the two. This decision will be based on plant style and location, who calls your space home, and your lifestyle.

Record of artificial plants for indoor use dates back to the Ancient Egyptians. Artificial plants as you know them today, however, really took hold in the design world around the mid-1900s. Since then, modern applications and improvements to appearance have taken their use to an all time high. Now days, designers and homeowners alike can create virtually any style that could be completed with live plants, and many that couldn’t, with artificial greens. Olive trees that are always the perfect height, moss walls that don’t require intricate watering solutions, and safe to touch cacti are just some of the popular new trends now available.

Opting for artificial solutions to your home decor goals will save you time instantly and money in the long run. While some species of houseplants are capable of living for multiple decades, most live two to five years under best conditions. That lifespan estimate is shortened to under a year in the majority of cases due to artificial growing environments and a lack of care and expertise on the homeowners end.

When you invest one time by purchasing artificial plants on the other hand, you’re buying a lifetime product that is “un-killable”, can be neglected on the day to day and during vacations, and boasts the same appearance year after year. While faux foliage is not the only solution for every spot and every life style, there are many reasons, that you may want to consider faux over live for the next decor project in your home. In the rest of this article we are going to break down seven of the most common reasons we see our clients transition their homes over to artificial plants.

1. For Those with Pets

Imagine the iconic movie scene where the dog is digging the dirt out of a potted plant, or the cat who thinks everywhere is their litter box. We love our furry friends, but sometimes they make our homes appear more “lived in” than we would like, and enjoying vulnerable decor such as live plants can be especially tough. Even the most well behaved four legged friend can be a hindrance as many popular species of houseplants are poisonous to cats, dogs, or both. For homeowners who have exceptionally rowdy or curious pets, plants have either been off the table or only allowed in out of reach areas, traditionally.

That has changed with the introduction of artificial plants. Many styles are available in a dirt free option and to prevent digging further, toppers such as bark and rock can be securely glued to reduce removal by your pets. Homeowners can now use any species in any location without having to worry about their pets’ health.

2. For Those who Travel Frequently

Whether for business or leisure, if you are out of town often, you are limited as far as which species of houseplants can survive your lifestyle. A plant’s tolerance to going without water does vary by species. Tropicals generally require more frequent watering than cacti and ferns can require misting and other special care, for example. When traveling for fun, the entire household is likely to be gone, leaving your live plants to fend for themselves until you return at which point you will have to take stock of the survivors and consider replacing any who didn’t make it. House sitters are an option but they can be pricey and their cost is usually only justifiable when pets are being watched as well.

If the majority of your traveling is for work and you are leaving family members at home while you’re away, you should evaluate the likelihood of the kids actually remembering to “feed the dog, water the plants, take out the trash,…”. It can be easy for your loved ones to forget chores that aren’t typically prescribed to them when you’re in town. If your family members are already busy and you want to ensure your plants are looking their best when you return, artificial options might be a better fit for your household.

3. For Those with Kids

Just like our previously discussed pets, children can be just as messy and more. Broken pots and soil stained clothes and carpet are unfortunately not uncommon. While it is wonderful for children to explore and make messes along the way, it can be expected and prepared for when kids go outside to play. When your children are indoors, however, many parents would like to feel as if they could relax and let their little one play in the white carpeted living room or wear their hard-to-clean holiday dress around the house without fearing dirt. Furthermore, broken pots can also create sharp edges which can be dangerous to little hands.

Parents of little children who still try to eat everything as a means of discovering the world must be extra cautious as many species of plants can be poisonous if consumed and little bodies are especially vulnerable. Even placing plants “out of reach” is a risky option for most parents as children have a way of climbing everywhere within their house.

Silk options can be “spill proofed” for children just as they can be for pets. Plus, the list of container options is much longer for artificial plants so parents can choose break-proof options so little ones won’t risk being cut if a plant does tip over in the house. And of course, there is no concern of ingestion with artificial plants, allowing parents to enjoy their home as a family while simultaneously having a space that looks as good as it feels.

4. For Those Looking to Decorate a Second Home

Whether your family owns a vacation home, second home, winter cabin, or Southern retreat for the winter, the common thread is that you’re not there year round. Another likely commonality is that you would like the home to be warm, inviting, and give off a sense of tranquility so you can fully enjoy your vacation from the moment you arrive. Even second properties that are managed while owners are away are often surveyed remotely and in-person only periodically with plant care extending so far as exterior landscaping. Many indoor plants require more frequent watering and care than property management services can provide and for those that do, their costs can add up quickly when you consider that it is an almost year-round service.

Time away from your daily routine of work and responsibilities should present you with the most ease of living as possible. Artificial plants can be left for six months, or longer, and look the exact same when you arrive next season. You don’t have to worry about replacing living plants when you arrive for the current vacation, and there is zero upkeep during your stay so you can focus on spending your time the way you want to spend it. When you’re hitting the slopes for a few weeks in the winter, forgetting your troubles on the beach, or simply enjoying better weather for part of the year, you can vacation your way while also knowing you have a stylish, resort-like space to return to so your family can truly unwind.

5. For Those with a Busy Life Style

In the modern world more than ever, we are all too often overwhelmed with to-do lists and never ending responsibilities. Between work, taking care of the kids, covering cooking and trying to squeeze in time for your own mental and physical health, watering plants throughout the house can be tough to fit in on a good day and absolutely forgotten during the most hectic times. Eventually, the plants begin to die and then you’re forced to purchase replacements after defeatedly tossing your failures.

When you do have time to care for plants, many individuals prefer to focus their valuable time towards the most productive plants such as an indoor herb garden or a veggie garden in the backyard. Regardless of the reason, we are all busy now days and utilizing artificial plans over live counterparts for decorative purposes throughout your house is an absolute step towards zero maintenance and you’re guaranteed to have an effortlessly perfect looking space the next time you entertain.

6. For Hard to Reach, Water, and Light Places

Sometimes, the exact place where you want to add a house plant is one of the hardest to access for routine watering. Higher shelves in living room bookcases, the tops of kitchen cabinets, and floating corner shelves in bathrooms can all be a challenge to reach on a weekly basis. Luckily, the very same looks can be accomplished with artificial grasses and greens without you having to ever get the ladder out again once they’re in place.

Other times a plant can be accessible but also be in a very hydrophobic place. Even when water saucers are used under pots, spills can happen, they can accidentally overflow, and sometimes the saucers themselves can deteriorate and damage sensitive surfaces as well. Offices are especially risky areas as well as antique furniture and sensitive surfaces.

Even when a space is water-safe and easy to reach, light exposure must be considered too. While there are wonderful low light living houseplant options that you can use on main floors of your home, very dark areas such as rarely visited guest bedrooms and any basement room might be better off being decorated with artificial plants. One side note, any rarely visited room, on any floor, is a good candidate for artificial plants as out of sight living plants rarely survive past a couple of months.

7. When Your Home’s Style Doesn’t Agree with Your Environment

Sometimes, the indoor atmosphere of a home and the outdoor environment don’t exactly line up. Modern homes and the tropicals they call for are popular nationwide, but tropical houseplants do not thrive equally across the country. For those wanting to decorate their Florida home with succulents and cacti or Arizona residents in love with the Boston Fern, think again. Succulents and cacti are easily waterlogged, leading to rot, in humid conditions and Boston Ferns are notorious for curling and dying without enough moisture in the air. The bottom line, plants flourish and live long term only when their  specific humidity, sunlight, and temperature levels are met. If your house’s decorative style and your living environment line up, then you’re in luck and live plants may be a good option for you.

If there is some conflict between the needs of the species of plants you want to host and your region’s environmental conditions, artificial plants allow you to create any look for your home virtually anywhere in the world. Plus, you don’t have to worry about misting, moving your pots away from windowsills in cold winters, or constantly trying to fight nature by creating an indoor environment that just isn’t meant to be.

In closing, there are benefits to living plants in your home. There are also benefits of artificial and some benefits which you receive with either option. The bottom line is that you no longer have to choose decor completely void of plants and life. Whether you decide to incorporate artificial plants in part for hard to reach or high traffic areas and for those specific species which cannot handle your environment, or transition to faux entirely to bring your daily life to a new level of ease, artificial plants open a whole world of stress free and safe design possibilities for every living environment.