A Little Nature In Your Home: Fresh Bedroom and Kitchen Ideas

Houseplants are great for softening corners and adding a different shading to a room. As there is such a wide range of houseplants to choose from, it's easy to find low maintenance plants to really revivify the atmosphere of your home. Many people find the idea of keeping houseplants a little daunting, both in knowing what to choose and how to care for it. So in this article we're going green with a short guide to selecting and caring for plants that'll really bring the outdoors inside.

Dracena (Dragon Tree): This is by far one of the most common houseplants, cultivated both for its slow-growing properties and its elegant, lance-like leaves. They prefer well-lit but not dazzling positions, yet they tend not to thrive in overly-humid atmospheres, for instance the bathroom. Variegated varieties (ones with contrasting flecks or stripes in the leaves) can have cream, yellow, and even pink striations.

Crassula (Jade Plant, Silver Dollar Plant): This is one of the easiest houseplants to care for, and seem to hold up well against neglect. As the common names suggest, the succulent leaves are coin-shaped and plump, and of a rich green, though there are variants in the genus (group of similar plants). They can be placed in a sunny position but do benefit from a period of lower light intensity. After many years the stem becomes woody and tough, at which point the jade plant is more like a miniature tree. Leave periods of dryness between watering for best results.

Monstera deliciosa (Swiss Cheese Plant): This plant is extremely versatile and also, living up to its name, can grow to incredible size. Its common name refers to the natural perforations in its leathery, heart-shaped leaves. They can tolerate gloomy bedroom corners and a increased humidity, and tend to adapt to their surroundings well when stationed in one place for any amount of time. A moss-stake provides support when growing, and gives the plant its natural growing scenario in which to thrive.

Sansevieria (Mother-in-law's tongue): This rather icily-named plant is also easier to care for than a mother-in-law. It has long, strap-shaped leaves which can be variegated in a range of tints. Apart from enjoying low humidity, this plant is perfect in all lights, from a sunny kitchen to the gloom of a bare office nook. This is one of those houseplants that tends to look after itself; indeed, overwatering is likely to cause damage, so it's best to be sparing with your attention to this one.

These are four of the most common and widely-available houseplants, and hopefully this will encourage the timid to have a steady knowledge base of care which can be applied quite generally. With foliage plants, clean the leaves and mist those in warm areas from spring until autumn. The most important thing is not to fret, and to just enjoy the natural development of these plants now that it is a part of your home life from your kitchen to your fitted bedroom.