How to Decorate with Artificial Plants

Fake plants and florals offer all the beauty without
the maintenance

There’s no denying that plants bring a wealth of benefits to your home. They add softness, color, texture, and an element of life to any space. Plus, they help freshen the air. Floral arrangements are great for displaying on a table as a centerpiece, as accents on a plant stand, in front of a window, or to add interest to an unused corner of a room.

Some people have a knack for growing plants and the efforts of their talent, patience, and interest in keeping real plants and flowers alive and well will be evident in their botanically enriched homes. If you don’t have the gift of a green thumb and plants seem to die in your presence, you lack the time, or have no inclination to tend to the care and propagation of live plants, artificial plants may just be the thing for you.

Artificial plants have come a long way in recent years and look more natural and lifelike than the cheap, fake plastic plants of the past. If you love the look of fresh greenery in your home, but would prefer less maintenance, try incorporating artificial plants and flowers into your décor. The design possibilities with these beauties are endless. Here’s some tips to help you add faux plants that will aesthetically harmonize with the look of any room and look amazing forever.

Put fake plants in a variety of pots and containers

Display your fake plants in different sized and types of containers. You can use baskets, pots, planters, vases, and other containers made of a variety of materials including glass, terracotta, ceramic, metal, and woven rattan. Choose a variety of plant types from small potted succulents to large artificial trees in containers. Keep the overall look cohesive by selecting containers that coordinate with each other by style, color, or design.

Make fake plants look more realistic

After putting your artificial plant in a container, there are a few things you can do to make it look a little less fake. Use a container or pot that could be used for a live plant, in other words, one that could hold water without leaking. If using a basket, add a plastic pot as a liner. Another trick is to fill the container with dirt, small pebbles, or moss. Some people even go as far as to insert a self-watering device in the pot to enhance its realism.

Mix artificial plants with real plants

You can make fake plants and artificial flowers look more realistic and natural by mixing real stems in with the artificial stems in one container. Adding fake stems will make a real plant or floral arrangement seem fuller, while putting a few natural stems in with a faux plant will make it appear more lifelike. Additionally, you can pair real arrangements or potted plants with fake ones in separate containers but in the same room. When you have a few live plants mixed in with pieces that don’t require watering, the blend of the two makes the artificial plants look more authentic.

Buy high-quality faux plants

Don’t skimp when it comes to buying artificial plants. The higher the quality, the more realistic and natural they will appear. Top-quality plants will have real-looking trunks and stems, imperfect leaves, and sometimes a pot filler that mimics dirt. Many are so natural looking that you have to examine them closely or feel their leaves to tell for sure. Don’t worry too much if you are not satisfied with the pot they come in, you can easily change it for a design you like better. The very best faux plants will go a long way to convincing everyone you have a green thumb and will last much longer than cheaper varieties.

Choose plant varieties that look more realistic

When selecting artificial plants and floral arrangements, remember that not all varieties of plants lend themselves to the faux treatment and will not look as realistic as others. For example, artificial succulents and plants such as Dracaena are hard to distinguish from their real counterparts. Many ferns look natural, as do some potted trees such as fiddle leaf, rubber trees, and some palms.

Make wreaths and centerpieces from artificial greenery and faux florals

As you add artificial greenery to your home, you don’t need to stick to house plants, topiaries, potted trees, or floral arrangements in vases or centerpieces. Use faux greenery and florals in decorative wreaths on walls or doors, swags on a mantel or over a door, garlands framing your entry or wrapped around a staircase banister, and in window boxes and planters to give your home a different look for each season or for the holidays. Change out your centerpiece arrangements on your dining room table, entry console, or living room coffee table for a quick style refresh or as part of your seasonal displays.

Put the artificial plants in locations where real plants would grow

Having a potted plant in a windowless room or dark space such as a basement is a dead giveaway that your plant is fake. No living plant would survive long without natural sunlight, so don’t place your artificial plants in a place where a real one would not grow. Having your faux plants and flowers near windows or in sunny spots in your home will help convince people that they might be real.

Keep them clean

While they don’t require watering like real plants, artificial plants still require some tending to stay in tip-top condition. Their leaves can collect dust just like their natural counterparts. Even though the faux leaves don’t need to breath, wiping them down about once a month with a microfiber or damp cloth will keep them looking nice, clean, and more natural and help them last longer.