There are a few things that can take your home to the next decor level, whether you're an interior design master or still use the same furniture you shared with your college roomies. Certain varieties improve air quality and release a subtle, natural scent that beats any artificial air freshener. All of which can make your potential buyers or renters feel more comfortable and at home in your property. Here are five ways in which houseplants can improve your health, along with a selection of plants for every room of your home.

If you’re someone who loves nature, the outdoors, or just wants a little bit of ‘life’ inside your home, then the answer lies in decorating with plants. One of the biggest reasons most people avoid adding houseplants is that they believe they are tough to maintain. However, many houseplants require low maintenance, and in turn, provide a host of benefits. Houseplants are also very pretty and add to the aesthetics of your home.  

Perhaps the easiest way to upgrade your home decor vibe? Snag some indoor plants. Before you get nervous, you should know that you don't even have to be a plant expert to be able to flaunt some gorgeous greenery in your space. As a plant parent myself, I'm here to tell you that there are hundreds of options you can shop for online to find the house plants that are most compatible with your lifestyle and living space. But before you start your indoor plant search, consider a few factors. 

If you’re wondering how to choose the exterior color of a house or looking for tips for choosing the exterior color of a house, go with any neutral color that will complement your houseplants! 

Having plants in your home is the closest connection you can have with nature. Many offices and public places have plants that serve the great purpose of being a soothing element within the surroundings. And, the same goes for having plants in your home; it can be a remarkably satisfying experience. 

Benefits of Keeping Houseplants Inside Your Home 

Other than making for pretty corners, indoor plants provide many benefits. Here’s a look at these top benefits. 

1. Mood Improvement: 

Find some of the best indoor plants, not just to decorate your home but also to improve your mood! Indoor plants also double up as air plants and help purify the air, which helps keep one’s mood stable. Plants like the monstera, sansevieria, Chinese evergreen, and philodendron are easy to care for and great for boosting endorphins. There are benefits to keeping plants beyond them making your space look more appealing. Some of the more obvious ones are for health reasons: plants absorb pollutants, which can help improve any breathing problems you may have, and one study found that houseplants can reduce fatigue and headaches by 20-25%. They can also reduce blood pressure and can even increase pain tolerance (as reported by patients in hospital rooms). 

2. Reduce Fatigue & Stress: 

In addition to mood improvement, did you know that an indoor garden can help you reduce stress and fatigue? Find some stress-busting plants on Etsy or Amazon, and place them on the sill for best results. Aside from the pleasing visuals that can improve your mood, houseplants have other effects on people mentally, too. This goes beyond feeling inspired to be more productive and potentially increase the attention span. In one study, young adult men who completed both a computer task and transplanting a houseplant were more likely to feel soothed and comfortable when interacting with the plant. Being around plants can reduce stress and can provide a sense of calmness. 

It is not only your mental health that gets better as an advantage of having house plants, but your immune systems also get a much-needed boost. A fraction of it is still tied to your increased mental health; when you feel relaxed and calm, you get more sleep, which triggers a positive boost in your immune system. 

When you are less mentally stressed, you become more active physically, which again triggers a positive boost in your immune system. These chemicals that plants release into the air guard you from infesting germs and microbes that could potentially cause cold or other such diseases. 

3. Improve Focus & Performance: 

Plants like aloe vera, lemongrass, and rosemary are known to help people improve their focus. They can keep their surroundings healthy and fresh, and in turn, help people concentrate better. Several recent studies show that having easy access to plants and green spaces lowers the risk of mental distress. The easier it is to access plants, the more pronounced this effect seems to be. And houseplants are perfect for this. 

Exposure to plants can also help combat feelings of anxiety. The participants also suffered from fewer effects of mood disorders. 

4. Improve Aesthetics: 

The presence of green leaves in your home is enough to boost its overall aesthetic. Try keeping plants on your windowsill, or add to the greenery on your balcony by adding small houseplants like a rubber tree, prayer plant, a fiddle-leaf fig, fichus, or hoya. Indoor trees and indoor plants add to the overall bloom scape and give your home a beautiful, welcoming vibe. It’s no secret that our modern world is becoming more stressful than ever before. The constant pressure of deadlines, sales targets, and social expectations can quickly take its toll. Thankfully, it turns out that plants might be able to help. 

5. Boost Healing: 

Spider plants, aloe vera, and Ashwagandha are some plants that promote healing. If you’re looking for dual benefits of cleansing both your internal and external self, go for indoor plants with healing properties. Keeping a plant alive also requires effort, which can have its own set of benefits. Knowing that you’re doing a good job in taking care of a plant can improve your mood, and knowing that you’re the one responsible for the plant growing and thriving can bring joy as well. However, the benefits of keeping a plant are not exclusive to real ones – if you don’t have the time or feel pressured in taking care of something, artificial plants can provide similar, if not the same effects, so long as they look relatively real. 

6. Plants Can Complement Interior Design: 

We’ve all seen those interior design posts on Instagram – a stunning city apartment with pathos trailing along the walls. The truth is, that plants can be an incredibly unique way to make interior design changes. 

Houseplants can give any space a more natural feel by bringing the outside in. They’re also a more cost-effective way of sprucing up a space without breaking the bank for new furniture or furnishings. 

Plants can inject some much-needed greenery into an indoor space, which yields several mental and physical health benefits. You can also find houseplants that fit virtually any interior style, allowing you to customize your look constantly. 

Sprawling Boston ferns can transform bland bathrooms. Are you going for a minimalist vibe? A snake plant can add a bit of impact. 

7. Plants Filter Odors in the Home or Office: 

While purifying the air indoors and filtering out harmful chemicals, houseplants might also have another neat trick up their sleeves. As a by-product of removing impurities from the air, houseplants might also be able to remove unpleasant odors. 

In enclosed indoor spaces such as your home or office, odors can circulate quite easily. From the strong smell of cleaning products to the musty scent of the laundry basket, these smells can be a distraction. Many of these plants extracted chemicals such as formaldehyde from the air, but there was another benefit. Some plants were found to remove or reduce strong odors as well. 

Plants with a larger surface area in terms of foliage, such as Cast-Iron plants, were more effective. 

8. They Look Pretty Awesome 

So, plants do secretly work their magic in the house but there is absolutely no doubt that they look pretty amazing too. The beauty of plants not only makes your home or work area look fresher but makes the mind happy too, ultimately aiding in psychological benefit by uplifting the mood. They are affordable therapy that may benefit you in numerous ways. 

The benefits of plants are countless. They are easy to afford and easy to find. The only thing to be mindful of is that they do need attention and do need to be cared for as well. Once you have understood and fulfilled your plant’s needs, they will do nothing but benefit you. So, we recommend you go green and keep the house clean. 

Plants May Improve Indoor Air Quality 

One of the most famous studies on plant benefits was carried out by NASA in 1989. The study examined whether indoor plants could improve air quality and filter out impurities – a process called ‘phytoremediation’. While initially tested with the International Space Station in mind, this is certainly relevant for houseplants. 

Several follow-up studies were also conducted, with up to 50 species of plants tested in total. The data showed that several plants could filter harmful chemicals such as ammonia, benzene, and formaldehyde out of the air. In particular, nearly every species tested was able to remove formaldehyde, which is believed to exacerbate the risk of certain cancers. 

There is a caveat here – in reality, it would take a vast array of houseplants to achieve any tangible differences in air quality. That sounds like the perfect excuse to buy more plants! 

One way to get all the benefits that house plants offer is to make your plant a sanctuary. This can be your refuge from the outside world. It does not matter if you live in a large house or an apartment, if you have certain plants you will start to notice an improvement in your overall happiness and health. Choose plants such as snake plants or succulents to help you get a good night’s sleep. Other plants you can choose include ivy, the spider plant, and the Swill Cheese Plant. Make yourself a small area where you can put your plants. Working with them will give you a sense of purpose and make you feel happy.