This low profile rock planting tray in the Eames House is a truly beautiful and doable indoor garden inspiration. No worries if the scale is too large for small spaces — it's easy to dial down the planter's size and footprint by using a smaller tray of rocks like a boot tray or a classic wagon (photos 2 and 3).
For even smaller spaces, planting an indoor garden on a wall using floating ledges or shelves (photos 4 and 5) allows plants to be out of your way and away from pets and children. The Eames House shows us that indoor gardens add a dynamic presence to the home.
In addition to adding beauty to your home, a notable benefit of indoor plants is that they actively green your home by cleaning the air, lowering your home's indoor air pollution. The EPA says the indoor air quality in the average American home is many times more toxic than the air immediately outside of it.
Shown above from left to right:
1. Inspiration photo of Eames House Case Study #8, from LACMA
2. Smith and Hawken Metal Boot Tray, $24.99 from Target
3. Radio Flyer Classic Red Wagon, $89.89 from Amazon
4. Plant pods, $(contact for pricing) from Domenic Fiorello
5. Inspiration photo of an over-the-window planter shelf, from Better Homes and Gardens
MORE INDOOR GARDENING ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
• Indoor Tree! The Easiest Ever: Pachira Aquatica
• The Urban Gardener: Indoor Window Gardens
(Images: As credited above)






Shaw's Original Fir...
AT, do a post on the theme of monstera leaves! I can't get enough of that motif. In decor terms, the plant itself seems to be most closely linked to midcentury modern (as witnessed by this Eames room), but it is a perennial, so to speak. English ivy might be more elegant and more popular in wallpapers etc. but is there any natural foliage that is more distinctive, more playful, more happy than monstera?
Lol, Brian, I was reading your comment about monstera being playful and happy, and thinking that in the wild it basically strangles the trees it grows around! But I do love a monstera; there is a huge one named Seymour growing beside me right now. I found a small coffee table with a beat up top - sanded it down and painted a pair of monstera leaf sillouettes on top. Makes me happy, too. :)
Oh yeah, also, those rock trays, any size, are really good for increasing the humidity around your plants if you fill them about halfway with water.
I love the metal window shelf in picture #5. I want this! Where can I purchase it?
@MADAMHUMMINGBIRD that's the grundtal wall shelf from Ikea.
I folded a sheet of copper into a custom tray to fit on top of a library card catalog that I'd stuck on wheels. It houses my orchids. I love having plants all over the house; it makes it feel more lived in. I've got a ton of low-light lovers in my office, too.
Fabulous gardening idea. You have presented really gardening inspiration here. I am also a lover of gardening but you are massive. Thanks for information, I will also try this and share soon.
And from you hope to get such wonderful ideas always....
inspiration for sure, I have a houseful, but this arrangement is unique. hoping the wall pods used for succulents are not too outrageous in price. will let you know. have started back on macrame to create tier style hangers, as my green roomies are multiplying. just wanted to say hello to fellow green thumbs!