What are the benefits of indoor houseplants?
Everyone decides to own indoor houseplants for their own reasons, but I want to summarize a few of the most important benefits of indoor plants as you may not be aware of them all.
Contents of this Houseplant Guide
Plants are visually appealing
Plants improve wellbeing
Plants are easy to care for
Here is a summary of those three of the most important houseplant benefits.
Plants are visually appealing
One of the best reasons to purchase an indoor houseplant or office plant is that they are beautiful! They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, textures, and colors so you can easily find one that fits with your personal aesthetic.
Being beautiful is a survival mechanism for plants. Just like flowers have gorgeous petals to attract pollinators, each plant species also evolved to have specific characteristics that would increase the likelihood of survival in nature.
Some of these characteristics include aesthetic features such as lush and colorful leaves or the ability to flower. For many, this evolutionary process has been so successful that they now have a relatively easy life — in the homes of their human friends.
Definitely keep in mind you personal indoor plant aesthetic as you choose the houseplant or office plant that’s right for you. Here are a few recommendations for common styles of plants.
Colorful — If you love color then consider a plant that has lovely patterned leaves such as the Prayer Plant (Maranta).
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Minimal — If you have a more subtle style, then consider an Air Plant (Tillandsia) that come in a variety of small but still interesting shapes.
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Dramatic — If you want drama then turn to a tree plant that grows tall such as the Rubber Plant (Ficus Elastica).
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Plants improve wellbeing
You will quickly notice that there’s a wonderful calming effect that you experience when you bring a bit of the outdoors inside. This is the main reason why I went from having an aversion to plants to dozens of them in just a few years.
Several studies, such as summarized in Healthline and, have shown that being in the vicinity of plants reduces stress, alleviates illness related to being indoors for long periods, and improves concentration.
The scientific rationale for these health benefits is that plants reduce carbon dioxide and air pollutants, release oxygen, regulate room temperatures, help rid spaces of airborne dust and particles, and even reduce background noise.
One of the most significant and well known studies around the health benefits of indoor houseplants is the NASA air purifying plant study. In this study NASA identified a list of common indoor plants will also clean your air and subsequently improve your health.
Plants are easy to care for
Indoor houseplants are skilled survivors and know how to adapt. As a result, there are many types of houseplants that are able to thrive indoors if the right conditions are met.
True, some indoor plants are fussy and not all of them are suitable for beginners. However, if you choose the right plant you’ll find that a hands off approach is actually the best strategy.
The ideal plants for beginners and brown thumbs are those with built-in mechanisms that allow them to self-sustain with only the essentials of light, water, and air.
I’ve curated 11 of the best indoor house plants for beginners and brown thumbs to make it easy for you to choose an easy-care indoor plant if you are just getting started. We also found a great resource from Momentum Property Solutions that discusses the benefits of indoor plants with recommendation and care instructions.
To wrap it all up, indoor plants are beautiful, promote health, and are easy to care for. So there's no excuse not to bring one into your home or office.