THE PLANT JOURNAL · STYLING
Five plants that finish a room (and where to put them)
A room with no plants in it feels unfinished. Here are five we recommend for it, and the light each one needs, because the wrong light kills a plant slowly.
01
Pothos
Where it goes: the top of a bookshelf or a floating shelf.
The easiest win in houseplants. Vines that trail four, six, ten feet over time and soften every hard edge in a room. Bright rooms, dim rooms, it copes with both; it just grows slower in the shade.
CARE Water when the top inch of soil is dry. Forgiving if you forget.
02
Snake plant
Where it goes: the bedroom, or that corner nothing else survives in.
Upright, architectural, and nearly indestructible. It reads like sculpture next to a dresser or in a dim hallway, and it tolerates the low light most plants sulk in.
CARE Water lightly every few weeks. The fastest way to kill one is loving it too much.
03
Monstera
Where it goes: the statement corner in the living room.
The big split leaves are the reason half of Instagram owns one. Give it a bright corner out of direct afternoon sun and it becomes the focal point of the room, no art required.
CARE Bright, indirect light. Water when the top two inches dry out. Wipe the leaves; they like it and it shows.
04
ZZ plant
Where it goes: the office, or anywhere the light is honest-to-goodness bad.
Glossy, deep green, and content in conditions that would starve almost anything else. If your room faces north or the blinds stay closed, this is the one.
CARE Water sparingly. It stores water in its rhizomes and would rather be ignored than fussed over.
05
Fiddle-leaf fig
Where it goes: beside the brightest window you own.
The designer favorite, and the one that earns its reputation both ways: spectacular when happy, dramatic when not. Park it by a big east or south window, then don't move it. It hates moving.
CARE Consistent light, consistent watering, no cold drafts. Worth the fuss when a wall needs one tall green exclamation point.
All five come down to one thing: buy for the light the room actually gets. Walk in at noon and look at how much light reaches the spot you have in mind. Then come see us. All five are usually on the shelves, and we will tell you which one that room can keep alive.