How To Decorate A Small Living Room With Plants

The sculptural Fiddle Leaf Fig Bush is the perfect plant for small living rooms.

The sculptural Fiddle Leaf Fig Bush is the perfect plant for small living rooms.

Decorating a small living room can be a real challenge. From tight corners to limited lay-out options, every inch counts when it comes to small spaces. And unfortunately for many a city-dweller, more often than not we are dealing with less space than we’d hope for!

Luckily there are loads of resources to navigate decorating a small living room (thanks, Pinterest!), and just because you have limited space does not mean you can’t enjoy the beauty and benefits of indoor plants! Below are our plant stylist’s favorite picks for plants that work well for small living rooms, plus extra tips for making the most of them.

Go for height

And avoid bushiness, especially if you are looking at floor plants. If all goes well (and we hope it does!), your indoor plants will grow. Make sure you are prepared for that by opting for plants that remain relatively contained to the width of their pots — both you and your plant will appreciate the extra space.

Pro tip: The Snake Plant is one of the best indoor plants for tight spaces with its narrow, structural shape. And don’t be fooled by the word “bush” in its name — the Fiddle Leaf Fig Bush is also a great indoor plant that maintains its shape over time thanks to the support of discrete bamboo stakes that keep the plant centered and erect.

Grouping plants is a great way to decorate small living rooms with greenery, and plants like the Monstera Deliciosa and Lady Palm make a the perfect pair.

Create Groupings

Want a touch of jungle but afraid you don’t have the space? Much like you would designate a corner to a chair or other piece of furniture, create a small corner for a grouping of plants. This can have a big impact without making your space feel cluttered or claustrophobic. Start with something on the taller side, and then layer around it with smaller plants of differing foliage and shades of green. Use plant stands to elevate, always work in odd numbers (trust us — it works!), and tastefully create the perfect plant grouping.

Pro Tip: Just three plants is enough to make a simple yet eye-catching plant grouping. One of our favorite combinations is a Fiddle Leaf Fig, a Snake Plant, and a Jade Pothos — the perfect combination of varying colors and textures!

Make use of trailing foliage

If you’re decorating a small living room, odds are you’ve scoped out different shelving solutions. Make space on your shelves for a trailing plant like the Cascading Pothos — this plant grows very quickly and, if desired, will green up an entire shelving unit over time! You can place the growing vines around different areas of the shelf, or simply let it drape down from the shelf or a hanging planter.

Pro Tip: Want to decorate a wall with greenery? Use pins to prop up tendrils of a trailing plant against the wall.

The Fiddle Leaf Fig makes for the ultimate statement plant.

The Fiddle Leaf Fig makes for the ultimate statement plant.

Embrace the statement plant

Sometimes all it takes is one piece of furniture to really transform a space, and in this case, we’re talking about a potted plant. One of the biggest challenges of decorating a small living room is the fine line between cozy and cluttered, and one way to avoid this is by investing in fewer but bigger pieces. Just one large statement plant can truly pull a room together, and also give off the illusion the space is bigger, too.

Pro Tip: If you have the light (they need a lot!), consider a tall, structural beauty like the Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree. For dimmer spaces, the Dragon Tree is a true head-turner that also functions as a wonderful air-purifier.

How are you decorating your small living room with plants? Let us know in the comments, or tag us on Instagram to show off your space!


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