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These articles below can also be found in the 15 - 31 October 2009 issue of Square Foot magazine:
To view the Interactive Squarefoot eMagazine
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Plants make beautiful additions to a room, says Jane Drew. Follow our guide and bring the outdoors in
Decorating with plants is almost a must when you live, as so many of us in Hong Kong do, in the middle of a concrete jungle. There’s something about incorporating plants into an interior that brings calm and freshness to the space.
Your first consideration when choosing or placing house plants is scale and balance. A tiny plant will look ridiculous if you place it at the end of a long room; on the other hand you’ll want to avoid crowding a small space with an overly large palm or fern. Keep your house plants in proportion with the rest of the room – tall and dominating in large spaces; small and interesting in cramped ones.
There are an incredible variety of house plants to choose from but don’t let this overwhelm you. Your choice should however reflect your decor, so think about plants in the same way that you would any other accessory. For example, in a contemporary home, consider sleek, clean-lined plants with long slender forms, such as anthuriums, amaryllis or birds of paradise, and avoid anything with too much colour or pattern. In a traditional or country-style home, opt for ferns or the feminine frills of African violets or begonias; introduce them in complementary colours.
Choosing the container that will hold your plant is just as important as choosing the plant itself. In the same way that you chose the plant to match your decor, keep the look consistent with planters in a complementary style and colour. Just make sure that each planter allows for adequate drainage.
Potted plants look best in groups particularly when their heights are varied. If you want to group plants of the same species, consider raising one at the back for extra height. And when grouping plants in a corner, note that an odd number always looks best: one tall plant with two shorter plants bunched in the foreground, for example. Consider placing two identical plants one on either side of a smart console or on matching side tables.
Plants naturally draw the eye, so you can use them to block out a bad view. Pull heavy drapes and a room becomes dark and oppressive but with a well-positioned plant you’ll be able to enjoy the benefit of light pouring in. Plants also offer a unique way of dividing one living area from another. An ornamental plant stand can act as a low-level divider, while trailing plants on a high shelf soon extend downward to become a natural wall of foliage. This system can be used as a decorative fill-in between living areas – just remember that for plants to flourish you must place them close to a good source of natural light. If there is very limited natural light, shine plant-irradiating light sources on to them after dark to ensure they receive enough ultra-violet light.
There are a number of ways to light plants. If the plant pot is in the corner of a room place an uplighter or floor-mounted baby spot behind it and allow light to bounce off the wall and ceiling, diffusing back through the foliage to create interesting shadow patterns. Light a plant from above with a downlight to create a pleasant glow, or place a low-voltage tungsten halogen fitting on a spike in the soil for a fairy-light effect.
Avoid placing the light source too close to foliage or the leaves will burn. With spotlights use a wide-angle directional beam to fall on the whole plant; a narrow beam will light no more than a couple of leaves.
For those who like to keep in touch with nature and have difficulty settling for a window-box-sized garden, plants are a great addition to any room. Note that most tropical houseplants thrive in the bathroom where the warmth and humidity comes closest to their natural habitat. Leafy varieties soften up the hard-edged, clinical surfacing and you can pot them imaginatively. While old-fashioned chamber pots are big enough to hold and conceal several large plastic pots, small flowering plants look attractive in large teacups. If the plants are standing near the bath or basin, you can use similar containers, plastic or ceramic, to hold sponges, brushes, loose bath crystals and so on. These can stand among the plants on a shelf or countertop.
Not only can indoor plants soften the feel of your home, they are also good for you. They take in the carbon dioxide you exhale and in turn release oxygen into the air: a natural solution to breathing easier in our polluted city.
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