The Easy Living Room Upgrade That Instantly Elevates Your Home Decor

Your living room design has been fleshed out with rugs, throw pillows, and accent furniture. It should be complete and your job finished. Yet, when you're in the room, you find yourself dissatisfied. Something is missing — houseplants.

Nothing elevates home decor more than indoor plants and flowers. In your living room, they add color that can balance out a design and bring a touch of the tranquil outdoors to soften harsh lines and improve your mood. Thanks to nature's variety, there are numerous options of plants for you to choose from, so you have the freedom to be picky about what best suits your style and the size and layout of the room. A trio of succulents or a small bouquet could be the perfect finish to a decorated shelf or coffee table, while a prominent fiddle-leaf fig can create a dramatic accent in the corner where the sofa meets the loveseat. Those without green thumbs always have the option to decorate with fake plants, but there are also plenty of low-maintenance live plants that won't die on you after one forgotten watering.

To get the most out of your living room, embrace biophilic design, or the intentional incorporation of plants into decorating. Biophilic design seeks to capture the restorative aspects of nature and bring them into your home, which can assist in stress reduction and encourage a positive mood. It creates the perfect setting for cozying up with a good book or spending time with the family. While houseplants won't purify the air in your home, they will help clean out the cobwebs in your mind, allowing you to relax after a long day.

Like art, plants and flowers improve interior design by adding color and intriguing organic forms while giving the eye a place to settle on. If you have a large living room, plants can unify the space's design through repetition, either of the plant type, their color, or the containers, and lead your attention away from undesirable elements such as wall thermostats or dated fixtures you've yet to replace. In the design language of Feng Shui, plants contribute to a space's energy and aesthetics. They could be used to balance a room, create a vibrant focal point, fill empty pockets, or ground a floating piece of furniture like a sofa or armchair. Starting with easy-to-manage options like spider plants or a cast iron plant will immediately benefit your decor, so don't be afraid to bring in greenery even if you're a gardening novice.

When it comes to bringing in greenery, there's a perfect indoor plant for every room in your house, including your living room, but you'll still find tons of opportunities to play with your design. You have the plants themselves, of course, which add greenery, but you also have their pots. For a cohesive look, use similarly colored or shaped pots. You can also mix and match color and texture, adding in an eclectic selection that fits with your design. For instance, distressed metal urns and enamel pitchers may hold seasonal blooms among vintage decor. Wicker baskets and clay pots will work well within a rustic interior, while simple white or light wood cylinders for your plants could enhance a Scandi scheme.

When choosing plants for your space, it's important to consider the plant's light requirements. For darker living rooms, opt for indoor plants that don't need much sun to survive, like ZZ plants and philodendrons. Brighter rooms might play host to succulents, ficus, and palms. To style your leafy friends, consider clustering plants of differing heights and sizes, setting aside especially large plants as statement pieces. Don't forget your ceiling, as hanging pots will add dimension to your space and are suited to the needs of climbing plants like pothos and ivy. By dispersing plants and flowers around your living room, you can elevate the aesthetic while making it a more positive place to spend your time.