As we mentioned in our “Primary Goal = Primary Suite” blogpost a couple of months ago, high on the home decor trends for 2024 is “Romance.” And one of the recurring patterns that emphasize that theme are “florals.” Now, we talked about bringing florals and greenery into primary suites via wallpaper, bed sheets, and linens, but what about bringing this romance into the home with actual houseplants, greenery, and flowers?
Before we get started on suggesting ways to bring the natural world into your home via plants and types of greenery, we want to issue an important caveat: some plants aren’t good for your furbabies. In fact, some plants could be downright deadly to your cats and dogs.
The ASPCA website has an excellent list of plants that are OK, toxic, or deadly for your pets. They say “be advised that the consumption of any plant material may cause vomiting and gastrointestinal upset for dogs and cats. Plants listed as either non-toxic, or potentially toxic with mild GI upset as their symptoms are not expected to be life-threatening to your pets.”
But we don’t want that, do we? Having to clean up pet vomit is one of the more odious chores for a pet parent, and we don’t want to subject our pets to stomach upset in the name of decor.
Some of the most wonderful plants that are not toxic to pets include daisies, violets, bananas, bamboo, begonias, Boston ferns, camellias, hibiscus, zinnias, most mosses, ivies and cacti (check with the ASPCA), magnolia, marigolds, impatiences, sunflowers, and believe it or not, the Venus fly-trap (which may not be all that beautiful, but are super-interesting, especially if you have kids who are intrigued about how they work).
Most palms are also safe for pets and are very popular houseplants. Palm-print wallpaper and linens are very on-trend for 2024. Bringing a large palm house-plant or tree into that space, would beautifully accentuate that pattern. Stay away from sago palms, though. They’re everywhere– even at big-box stores like Home Depot– but they’re toxic to pets. Paradise palms and feather palms are your best go-tos.
If you have florals in your decor patterns, consider live orchids as an amazing accent. They’re mostly safe for pets and gorgeous. They once earned a reputation for being hard to care for, with cultavists “babying” them and tending to them daily with gentle water mists and regular feedings. But modern orchids that you can purchase at your average garden store are much more hardy than they used to be. Many orchid-producing greenhouses say that the preferred method for caring for orchids is to put three ice cubes in their soil every week. This gives them the right amount of water without over-watering them and does not freeze them in any way.
If you have live plants in your house, you’re also going to want to think about lighting. All plants need natural or artificial lighting to thrive. Obviously, the preferred placement of plants is near an unobstructed natural light source like a window or a paned-glass door. But there are many sources of artificial lighting that are aesthetically pleasing and can cast a warm glow on any room. Gone are the days where “grow lights” for interior plant growing are a weird glowing blue or green.Visit your local hardware store’s lightbulb aisle for ideas.
Even if you haven’t incorporated the 2024-trendy “palms and greenery” or “floral” currents into your household decor, you can still incorporate houseplants, greenery, and florals into your design. A weekly bouquet from the grocery store can make a dining table-top feel so much more special. A small ficus or other houseplant tree in your mudroom or entryway can be adorned with various holiday regalia to welcome people to your home (my mom does this with a fake ficus– eggs for Easter, ghosts for Halloween, clovers for St. Patrick’s day etc…). Rooms with neutral patterns and colors can be brought alive by any flowers and plants that bring various hues and movement to a room.
Plants, flowers, and general greenery, whether potted or cut, can enhance your home’s decor and bring the outside in. Your home will vibrate with color and motion and will be so much more warm and welcoming. Decorate with living things this spring!