I love my houseplants so much! Most of my decor is in the form of a plant. There are two main important things to consider when bringing a new plant into your home, will it get proper sun and what will be the best way to water this plant? Each week I will add a new room in our home to this post and share what plants are in the room, what direction the room is facing, and any detail I think would be helpful!
If you missed it I shared my Top Plant Tips HERE, from watering your plants, sun and more.
Every time I water my plants I add Plant Food (code nesting10 for 10% off) to the water. I get asked if I fertilize my plants, no, I just use Plant Food, which accomplishes the same goal. Fertilizer is often an artificial substance that contains chemical elements to improve growth and productiveness of plants. Plant Food has essential macro and micro nutrients that are all your houseplant could ever want.
Plant therapy has been around for centuries. Studies have shown that indoor gardening relieves stress, and boosts creativity. Even some therapists use gardening as one way to help with well being. Plants can lift our mood, especially plants that bloom. There is joy in watching something Grow.
Plants in Primary Bedroom-
Our primary bedroom gets a lot of sunlight! With a large window that faces the east and then two windows that face the south, we get light from morning until late afternoon!
I like the height of this bust on the mantle. In it is a Hoya Obovata Variated. Easy to care for, water when soil is dry! They like sunlight, but do fine with in-direct sun.
I love this Pothos Jade on my mantle! She is so full and has grown so much. They like indirect sunlight. If they get too long and stringy, with leaves missing on areas, I wrap the long strands back up over the top!
With lots of light in my room, this Pothos gets indirect light but all hours of the day. I water weekly and make sure she is well saturated. Great plant for a beginner.
In front of this East facing window is my Benjamin Ficus, such a gorgeous tree! He gets bright direct light in the mornings and it is doing well! They do fine with low light also. Allow to dry out between waterings.
A rare type of hoya, the “Fishtail” Hoya ( Hoya Polyneura) is a favorite! Like basically every Hoya, these like bright but not direct mid-day sunlight. Mine lives in a south facing window that has a little roof overhang, so it has strong light but not the scorching sun. I water her every week! I got this bust at my local nursery.
There are a lot of types of Lipstick Plants. The curlier they are, the more they prefer bright light.This plant has grown a ton in the last year and a half. Loving its spot in front of this window. Some of my Lipstick plants have bloomed red flowers, these ones are a pretty purple and red. Such a fun plant!
We just moved that tall fig into my bathroom, replaced it with this gorgeous bush version of an Audrey Ficus, they prefer bright, indirect light. Place the bush near a bright window that gets plenty of light but is not exposed to direct sunlight. I placed on a stool to get that height I wanted!
Keep reading for more plants in our home! And get details on our Primary Bedroom HERE.
Plants in Office-
Our home office is East facing and gets direct sun in this window in the morning, but then indirect light for majority of the day.
My plants that need the most sun are right by the window, and really are the biggest plants that need to be on the floor.
Maybe this should be called the Rubber Tree room! In the office we have our biggest Ruby Rubber Tree to my smallest rubber tree plants. The rubber trees are cousin to one of today’s most popular houseplants: the Fiddle-leaf fig! They like to be deep watered, I pour a lot of water in until I see it dribble out into the drainage tray, then I stop watering.
All my rubber plants are easy to care for, including this Ficus Burgundy Rubber Tree. Wipe down its leaves often to remove dust build-up, which prevents it from soaking in as much sunlight as possible. Once they start to grow taller it helps to add a stick and attach the plant to train it to go upward. Mine grow the best near a window. The taller one is outgrowing this space! Getting so tall! Planning on moving to our outdoor gym when it’s finished!
I do have plants mixed in our bookcase, they have all been in there awhile and are doing great. That being said if they got more sun they would grow quicker, but they have stayed alive 1-2 years with low light.
My small rubber tree plant, look at those cute new leaves! I planted it right in that pot (I got it at Christmas for 75% off) it does not have a drainage hole and has done fine for a year. I am careful to not overwater it, so the roots aren’t sitting in a lot of water.
As I mentioned, my bookcase plants don’t get a lot of sun, mainly indirect light. I have a lot of Hoya plants around the house, they are easy to care for, water when soil is dry! They like sunlight, but do fine with in-direct sun. This Hoya Krinkle (bottom shelf in bust) is simple, sweet and slow growing. I planted it right tin the bust, no drainage hole.
Some of my funnest plants make the best hair for my grecian bust planters. I love this Ric Rac Cactus, it is a type of cactus, they don’t like to sit in water. I saturate the soil when watering but also let it dry out between watering. This plant does fine without sunlight, it just doesn’t get new growth and you can see the smaller leaves aren’t as big as the mature leaves.
Just added this new cutie, the hurricane cactus, or Lepismium cruciforme. The stems have 3 sides, and can grow long, like 20” inches or more!
Placed her in my bookcases because they do not like direct sunlight. Water weekly!
I haven’t been able to keep any fern alive beside this Asparagus Fern! They don’t like to dry out, so I check the soil and sometimes water twice a week. This plant has grown so much, I could tell it was time to repot because the tips of the leaves were looking a little yellow, not bright green like they normally are. Just potted her in this scallop planter, with a built-in drainage tray.
I have all my Pothos Jades on shelves and ledges because of how full these plants are and that their leaves trail down long and grow quickly. These plants are so easy to care for. That’s probably why they are the most popular houseplant! Prefers bright, indirect light, but is really easy going and can thrive in offices with fluorescent lighting. I water weekly, the worst thing is to over water, make sure it never sits in standing water. If you’re unsure when to water, look out for the leaves starting to droop.
Keep reading for more plants in our home! And get details on our home office HERE.
Plants in the Kitchen-
Our kitchen is connected to the family room, still West Facing. By our back patio doors we have this Sansevieria Lancia, a relative to the Snake Plant, and really easy to keep alive. Doesn’t require a ton of water or a ton of sun. The large terracotta planter I got local at Cactus & Tropicals, the brand is Campania, Potero Planter in Terra Rose. (Watering it once every two weeks during the growing season in spring and summer is typically sufficient.) The easiest way to kill it is to overwater it. Here is a small, sweet little baby one.
A recent addition, because I couldn’t pass up this Hoya Carnosa Tricolor, the cute colors of pink, green and white looks so bright and happy. Plus it’s an easy-going trailing plant with thick, waxy leaves (often called “wax plants”). Possible little pink flowers can pop! Great for hanging baskets or anywhere with space for the vines to trail. Likes the sun, but not direct sun. Water when soil is dry, every week or even a little longer. I always just feel the soil on my watering days.
I’ve had this Hoya Carnosa Krinkle for a couple years, very easy to care for. They are slower growing, but do grow quicker in bright direct light. I water her once a week or every other week. Get’s indirect sun, and is just happy! Slow growing, but so pretty. This planter was older, but I love this white scalloped one with saucer.
The Boxwood Topiaries are the same ones I got end of season last year, great time to check nurseries for discounts! I brought them inside because I wanted to make sure they would survive the winter.
An easy and popular plant is the Heart Leaf Philodendron , fairly slow-growing but long-living plant. Loves bright, but indirect sunlight, too much direct sunlight will scorch the leaves. Also, err on more water. An easy touch of the soil will let you know if she needs more water. Her leaves will show you if she’s thirsty, they will look sad and droopy.
This spot needed a little splash of color. Found these rare Black Raven ZZ Plant’s at our local nursery Cactus and Tropical(I was drawn to their color!). Potted 2 in this giant terra cotta planter, fun because it pulls out the wallpaper by the back door. It will never get direct sunlight here,so it won’t grow super fast.
You do not need to water often, unless in direct sunlight. Signs that it is thirsty include wilting, wrinkled leaves, and dry potting mix, while wet mix or yellowing and mushy leaves signal overwatering and root rot. Allow soil to dry between watering. New leaves are a vivid bright green but will darken to a purple-black color as it matures.
Plants in Family Room-
Currently we have five plants in our family room. Our family room is West Facing. We do have large windows in this room, but there is a covered patio, and we recently added more shade coverage, so it doesn’t get as much sun as it used to, but it still get’s quite a bit of sun. (PS- get resources to our home, paint to products, HERE).
Have I said every plant is my favorite?? Well this Audrey Ficus, is one I would pick if I could only take one plant with me. Thrives in bright light, it needs to be right by a window if you want to see any new growth! I got it in spring of 2022, we repotted it in the summer of 2023, because it had outgrown the nursery pot. We potted it in that tall terra cotta pot (we found at a local nursery, Cactus & Tropicals). The pot is 31″ H, I found a similar one HERE. The planter did not come with a drainage tray, I found a drainage tray HERE, and put THESE felt pads under the tray so I can slide it out if I need to and it doesn’t damage the wood floor.
I will say after we added more shade coverage to our backyard it did block some of the light that hits the Audrey Ficus, so I sadly haven’t seen as much new growth, and the leaves curl in more than normal. Trying to figure out the best situation, because she is my favorite! I saturate the soil about once a week, until I see water dribble into the drainage tray.
We had the boxwood topiaries outside on our patio, and I brought them in for the winter. Really love them inside! But in the spring I will take them back outside so they can thrive. Boxwoods have been easy to take care of, and can handle more water than less, so I error on the side of overwater (they have a drainage hole, so they can’t be overwatered).
This ZZ Plant has grown so much in this bright room! I used to have it in our kitchen window, but it got too big so I moved it in here. ZZ plants do grow a lot with a lot of sun, BUT they do well with low light too. It is really easy to take care for. Does fine if you miss a week of watering. I have multiple ZZ plants, some are in full sun, and some get indirect sunlight and all do well. (Again, I got that large planter local at Cactus & Tropicals).
Lastly is the Ficus Moclame. This guy has gone through some trauma, but adapted. It used to be in our dining room, then I moved him to the basement last Christmas and it lost a lot of leaves. Wish I never moved him, but he is coming back! I make sure to deep water so the water gets to the roots, it has a drainage tray so I can water him right there.
Come back next Friday when I share another room, the drink room! PS- you can shop our home HERE.
If you missed it I shared my Top Plant Tips HERE, from watering your plants, sun and more
Shop our home HERE