Everyone loves the look of houseplants, but not everyone has a green thumb. Luckily there are houseplant options for everyone, including these 20 great ideas to spark your next leafy love-affair!

Five low-ish maintenance plants that like bright light:

1. Jade Plants! These love a sunny window and are great at purifying the air!
2. Tradescantia Zebrina! This pretty little plant is full of color and is lovely in a hanging basket. As with all variegated plants, bright light will be key to keeping that variegation alive.
3. Umbrella Tree! This glossy beauty will fill a corner, and won’t get mad at all if you let it dry out between waterings.
4. Fiddle Leaf Fig! This darling of Instagram has gorgeous glossy leaves that just can’t be beat!
5. Colorful Crotons! To keep these colorful plants as bright as possible, given them plenty of bright light. They’ll reward you with showy leaves of yellow, green, orange and red, and purify the air at the same time!

Five low maintenance plants that do well in dim light:

1. Snake Plants! Not only are these striking in a modern home, NASA research shows that they can remove a number of different toxins from an indoor environment!
2. Peace Lilys! These are my favorite plants because *I* can’t kill them! They are happy in low light, have bright white flowers and rich, glossy leaves, and recover quickly if you forget to water them before they wilt.
3. Air Plants! Air plants absorb moisture from the air through their leaves, so they typically grow best in humid environments. Why not hang a few on the wall in your bathroom?
4. Monstera aka Swiss Cheese Plant! I haven’t tried these myself, but I’m told it thrives in bright, indirect light and fluorescent lighting. Plus, it’s tolerant of missed waterings, so it’s ideal for any grower.
5. Pothos! These are a classic low-light houseplant with luscious heart-shaped leaves. 💕

Five “alternative” plants that do more than look pretty:

1. Something aquatic! It turns out, not all aquariums are for fish! This miniature water garden can provide a small tranquil space in your home.
2. Fresh herbs save you money! Grocery-bought herbs always seem to go bad before you can use them all. Grow a set in your window and you’ll only have to pick what you need!
3. Keep away the pests! A Venus fly trap tucked into a glass terrarium looks pretty and helps eliminate those tiny annoying flies – yea!
4. Soothe with home-grown aloe! Grow this lovely succulent and have a handy home-remedy next time you spend a few too many hours in the sunshine.
5. Try a kitchen garden! Level up your herb garden with a hydroponic, self-lit system making it easy to add foliage to your place and your plate!

Five zero-maintenance “plants” that look outstanding:

Travel a lot? Actually have a death-thumb instead of a green thumb? Sometimes our lifestyles just aren’t suited for keeping plants alive. In that case consider non-plant options that provide some of the energy and spark of real plants. The key is to choose plants that look fake even when they are real:

1. Orchids! They look fake even when they’re real! 
2. Fiddle Leaf Figs! These are the darling of Instagram, but figs can be finicky. How about a faux-fig?
3. String of Pearls! Why not dress up a boho-bathroom with a bit of lacy foliage hanging from your favorite macrame?
4. Sweet Succulents! Cacti and succulents look like they belong in a sci-fi movie, but they can be surprisingly tough to keep alive. Stick with faux for a fabulous centerpiece or long-lasting centerpiece.
5. Amazing Agave! Faux agave, like real agave, has waxy, thick leaves that are fabulous when faux!

The trick to “keeping it real” with fake plants is to plant them in pots that are as large as a *real* plant would need, and to occasionally dust the plants to keep them looking fresh. So sure, maybe they aren’t zero maintenance, but at least they won’t need watering!

Wondering which indoor plants are dangerous to pets? The ASPCA has a detailed list of toxic plants. Remember, any plant that is ingested by your pet could potentially cause harm, so it is best to keep your plants out of pets’ reach.

If plants are key to making your home happy, I hope this gives you some great ideas to feed that foliage fetish! Need some help figuring out just where to start with making your home happy? That’s what our Design Helpline is for! You can have 60 or 90 minutes with a design pro to start getting some momentum behind your home projects! And remember, if you really, really can’t add plants to your space, a great photo of a beautiful plant, or a mural of trees, can bring a bit of life to your home, too!

MAY YOUR HOME ALWAYS BE HAPPY!