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How To Create Your Own Lush, Winter Blues Beating, 70s-style Indoor Jungle

Adrienne Breaux
Adrienne BreauxHouse Tour Director
Adrienne loves architecture, design, cats, science fiction, and watching "Star Trek." In the past 10 years she's called home: a van, a former downtown store in small town Texas, and a studio apartment rumored to have once been owned by Willie Nelson. She currently lives in her colorful, maximalist dream home in New Orleans, Louisiana, with her partner, a perfect dog, and a cute cat.
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updated Mar 11, 2020
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(Image credit: Lauren and Chad’s Vintage Comfort)

Never-ending winters need more powerful spirit-lifting tools like a loose, bohemian indoor jungle look with lots of plants. And a hip, styled explosion of green life in any room in any location is the sort of thing to bring cheer to a home all year long. We’ve got the steps to take, the plants to get and the ideas to help you carve out your own lush home retreat this weekend.

START WITH THESE 4 STEPS

1. Pick a good spot
Needs to be sunny, but try to pick a spot that can be viewed from your most used areas of your home — maximizing the pleasure you’ll get out of your plant corner. And many indoor plants like consistent temperatures, so try not to choose a place right next to a radiator.

2. Go with one or two tall plants first
Our favorite tall indoor plant is a fiddle leaf fig tree. But anything tall and green will do. Don’t have the budget or space for a tall living plant? Use a hefty hanging plant hung mid-height to recreate the feel. Consider having either two to define an area, or one to anchor a corner.

3. Pick a furniture piece to be a plant stand and fill in with smaller plants at differing heights to make the composition feel full
We like a long low bench right under a window. Or a fun side table. The idea is to create multiple height opportunities to place plants so your spot will feel fuller. Pick any of your favorite indoor plants to add, but consider plants with really wild and far-reaching leaves. See below for our ideas.

4. Add in some optional, 70s-style elements
Macrame is a good place to start. Consider adding a fluffy sheepskin or shag rug (find one on the cheap) to really add to that bohemian feel. Pick a chair or side table that has really strong raw wood details. Buy or DIY a lot of colorful pots and planters in different shapes and styles (just make sure your indoor plants have proper dishes for catching water so you don’t ruin floors and furniture).

10 GOOD PLANTS FOR THIS PROJECT

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Chosen for their look, their ability to grow great indoors and some even for their hard-to-kill properties:

1. Bromeliad
2. Sansevieria (Mother-in-Law’s tongue)
3. Crassula ovata (Jade plant or Money tree)
4. Ficus lyrata (Fiddle Leaf Fig tree)
5. Monstera deliciosa (Split-Leaf Philodendron)
6. Asplenium nidus (Bird’s Nest Fern)
7. Chamaedorea elegans (Parlor Palm)
8. Philodendron Cordatum (Sweetheart Vine)
9. Ficus elastica (Rubber Tree)
10. Nephrolepis exaltata ‘Bostoniensis’ (Boston Fern)

ON A BUDGET?
You’ll find great ideas on how to fill in your jungle corner in 5 Tips for Gardening on the Cheap.

KILL EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH?
Lean more toward the particularly hardy options in 5 Hard-to-Kill Houseplants.

HAVE A REALLY DARK HOME?
Check out these plant options: 5 Overlooked Plants That Can Survive The Dark (Almost).

*And please be sure to take precautions if you’ve got furry friends who love to nibble.

More plant posts to inspire and inform

  • Bringing In Green: 10 Best Plants for Apartments
  • Sansevieria: A Favorite Houseplant for Low Light
  • Great Indoor Plant: Begonias
  • Good questions: Low Light Plants?
  • 5 Fragrant Plants for a Small Space
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