Could your house use a little livening up? To increase your level of happiness in a home, it’s necessary to do some things to bring it to life. Keeping it clutter free and functional is at the forefront. But another easy and cost-effective way to do this is by adding some life: plants!
Plants in the Home
Being near other living things seems to be good for most of us. Our relationship with plants is extremely beneficial – especially when it comes to our respiration. Plants breathe in carbon dioxide and convert it to oxygen. Putting plants into an office space will help oxygenate the environment. Studies have even shown that common plants can absorb synthetic organic chemicals that can be harmful to humans.
This could be one of several reasons that plants have been attributed as beneficial to worker performance in studies. This is likely a combination of improved air quality in the form of reducing the quantity of pollutants and raising the percentage of fresh oxygen, and partly one of aesthetics. You can’t deny it - plants just look nice. Depending on the decor, a home may sometimes become a sterile or stale environment. Lighting, carpeting, and furniture can all add to a potentially oppressively unnatural environment that can mentally bog you down. Adding a few plants to your space will make it feel more alive, because plants are, after all, organic and living things.
Plants and Productivity
Research has been conducted to determine the effect of plants on productivity. While situations can depend, the results indicate plants in a workspace can result in a productivity boost of up to 15%. If you work from home, that can add up quickly!
Many studies attribute self-esteem, mood improvement and fewer symptoms of anxiety to exposure to plants. Whether this can be traced to physical reasons or they are primarily psychological remains to be seen.
Modern houses and apartments, especially those of more modern styling, can be fairly harsh places. Plants, with their natural shapes and colors, and even individual personalities, can help to soften the edges of these environments.
Nearly any room can benefit from the addition of living plants. Common areas like living rooms, bathrooms, and offices will become more welcoming environments when you add plants to them. Some (like Lucky Bamboo) have even been known to live in windowless commercial bathrooms, which aren’t exactly known for an inviting atmosphere with automatic faucets and stainless steel bathroom stalls. It’s easy to see that your home’s washroom will benefit even more from the addition of some greenery.
Creating the Right Environment
While the benefits of adding plants to your house are manyfold, with these benefits come some things to take into account. First, plants require light to photosynthesize energy. But not all plants have the same light appetite. Some of them thrive in bright, almost harsh direct sunlight. Others prefer indirect, diffuse light. Some are perfectly happy under artificial light, while others insist on the all-natural variety. Fortunately, it’s easier than it’s ever been to get your hands on exactly the variety of plant you’re looking for and match it to the right growing conditions.
What Plants Should I Choose?
Believe it or not, there are quite a few varieties suitable for indoor growing. However, each home presents it’s own individual challenges. The plants you choose will need to be able to deal with limited humidity and climate control systems that may keep temperatures low. Most of all, plants will need to survive off of limited natural light and maybe even a diet of artificial light.
Humidity levels are low, and temperature fluctuations are the norm, as the climate control systems will be scheduled to do less heating or cooling while the office is empty.
Aloe Vera – A succulent, the Aloe plant will need plenty of bright light and not much else. It needs water only on occasion which means you can place it on a windowsill and only check up on its soil once every couple of weeks or so. Everyone knows the gel inside aloe’s thick leaves has soothing, healing properties for the skin which makes it a great addition to bathrooms where one may find the need to nurse a cut or scrape.
African Violets – just the right size for a desk without adding too much clutter, the African Violet makes a great addition to most homes. It is easy to care for and will happily reward you with beautiful purple flowers.
Jade – Perfect for modern homes, succulents like the common Jade plant do well in warmer weather and are very resilient. Water them only when the soil has dried out completely. Place them where they will get some good lighting and you’ll find your Jade will grow quickly to a large size. At this point you can trim it and replant the cuttings. When your Jade outgrows your house, it makes a great addition for your garden.
Spider Plants – Spider Plants are common they’re attractive, modern and easy to take care of. Unlike Aloe and Jade, they aren’t particularly picky about the amount of light they get. Just make sure they are watered sufficiently.
Cacti – the king of low maintenance plants, Cactus is legendary for it’s indifference to extreme temperature changes and dehydration. Suited to sunny environments, most types of Cactus can take all the heat or cold your buildings climate control can throw at it so long as you place it in the light.
Testing
Just like your home, plants have their eccentricities. There are likely to be some failures along the way. Whether it turns out you placed a plant too close to the air conditioning duct or simply forgot to water for a couple of weeks (or months) too long, experimentation is all part of the process. If you occasionally check your plants for signs of withering or yellowing, you may catch it in time to prevent it from getting worse. But don’t beat yourself up if you can’t recover a plant. Just chalk it up as another experiment!
About the Author
Ryan Larson is a home improvement blogger. When he isn’t puttering around the garage or messing up his cabinet measurements, he can be found playing chess or enjoying the almost-perfect cup of coffee.
