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Bringing in Spring

Jacy Meyer · Mar 25, 2014

shutterstock_135614615Spring is coming, whether it feels that way in your part of the country or not. You can give your apartment the fresh feeling of spring year-round by strategically decorating with plants, flowers and other natural elements.

If you have a distinctive brown thumb, don’t think you can’t breathe life into your rooms. Make a visit to your local nursery and ask for some help. Tell the staff you are looking for a low maintenance house plant and they’ll make some suggestions. Check out your rooms ahead of time and identify some prime plant space. Tell the nursery employee if your space is shady, sunny or gets a mix of light, as well as if it’s close to any heating elements. Finding the right plant for the space goes a long way to keeping it alive. Don’t just think about a potted plant on a shelf. Fig trees are lush, easy to care for and can make a great statement in the corner of a room, or as a bit of a separator. As a final last resort, you can look for a nice-looking artificial plant, but remember, one of the purposes of including plants in your décor is to add a little life to your apartment.

Flowers add an additional pop of color to your room, but unless you have the time and patience to care for them, you might want to stick with simple plants. If you really can’t keep anything alive, a nice vase with a regular fresh bouquet will be a wonderful room addition and gives you the flexibility to showcase whatever flowers are in season. Also think about small pots of herbs, especially if you like to cook. Besides being able to fit on window sills and in other tight spaces, their fresh smell adds a new layer of life to the kitchen, or whatever sunny spot you find for them.

Nearly as important as picking the right plant for the right spot, is putting said plant in the right pot. Here’s your chance to stretch your decorating branches so to speak; have fun in the pot aisle. Look for pots in contrasting colors compared to the room. If you have space to do a small grouping of plants, mix and match the pots when it comes to size, style and color – making sure they look good sitting next to each other. If you are grouping, groups of odd numbered items work best. You can also forget the pot entirely and put the plants in wicker baskets – wicker is another lovely outdoor element. If floor and shelf space is at a premium, think about hanging baskets of plants – ferns look beautiful this way. The pot can make as much of a statement as the plant it’s in; much like what a good frame does to a piece of art.

What about non-living reminders of nature? Natural wood and driftwood especially are very vogue right now; more people are choosing to bring a pure element indoors. A grouping of smooth rocks on a shelf, a large piece of driftwood next to the couch, natural knotty wood furnishings, a tabletop waterfall – these are all options to bring nature a bit closer to home. Also consider nature prints such as screen-printed pillows with leafy trees.

Plants also have the added bonus of being able to be easily moved from room to room and repotted for a cheap and easy redecorating moment. Going green in your apartment has just taken on a whole new meaning.

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