The remarkable thing about plants is that they can go well with almost every style of interior design beyond just jungalow and bohemian. Plants can be the perfect addition to embellish your homes, from minimalist to industrial and maximalist to Scandinavian. We’re here with receipts to back up our claims, so here are 8 indoor plant ideas featuring real HDB homes in Singapore.
1. Use as accents on shelves
Image credit: @loveforcosy
Small potted plants make for interesting decorative features that will fit right in anywhere in the house. This is especially so on shelves that might otherwise be left bare. Interspersed among @loveforcosy’s regular household goods, such as a clock, picture frames, and some artfully placed books, their petite potted plants create a more homely feel.
Image credit: @greentisan, @myplantsaremymodels
Choosing various plants of differing heights, sizes, and shapes will create more contrast, thus visually enlivening the space.
Instagram user @greentisan, a popular gardening account on the platform, bemoans that their propagated plants are “invading [their] crystal shelves”. However, it seems to be a positive problem as the plants and crystals go perfectly well together, especially when paired with glass vases.
They say that crystals are healing, and so are plants. If that’s the case, @greentisan’s arrangement is like a powerhouse of therapeutic properties.
2. Add hanging planters
Image credit: @annie.olbe
Hanging plants create a unique look that is made all the more enthralling with their leaves and vines trailing downwards. It even hides cosmetic imperfections – where bare walls once reigned, an expansive display of greenery now attracts eyes away from otherwise blemished areas in the house.
You could take inspiration from @annie.olbe, who created a reading nook bathed in natural light, in a corner under hanging plants.
A little piece of advice for people who wish to keep hanging plants – while they may look quite charming near windows with natural lighting, you’ll need to regularly switch up the direction that they face so that they don’t grow towards the light and creep out of your windows.
Additionally, some plants do better in the shade, away from direct sunlight, so make sure to do your research beforehand.
Image credit: @ evertonenclave, @ evertonenclave
Another benefit of hanging houseplants is that they free up floor space for potted plants. Just look at @evertonenclave’s indoor garden, which is filled with potted plants like the Thai beauty caladium and Alocasia Hilo Beauty, in addition to numerous hanging plants.
Of course, taking care of houseplants isn’t a walk in the park, especially if you pick one that needs extra TLC. One main concern of homeowners who own hanging plants is that they’re often unable to tell if the plants have been watered enough. And if these plants are over-watered, it’d result in water dripping all over the place.
Thankfully, there’s an easy fix – simply make use of a watering indicator, which is a handy colour-changing device that tells you when to water your plants. These can easily be purchased on online shopping platforms such as Lazada or Shopee for just a few dollars.
3. Create an urban jungle corner
Image credit: @myplantsaremymodels, @pash_al
It’s always good to be in touch with nature, but sometimes, we just don’t feel like going out. With your own urban jungle corner, even extreme homebodies can interact with nature safely from the comfort of their own homes.
An urban jungle corner provides a tranquil environment for peace of mind. Many experts have asserted the benefits of indoor plants, such as improving air quality, boosting your mood, helping with stress, and increasing humidity levels.
And for the TikTokers and YouTubers out there who are trying to create a chio background for their storytime videos, an urban jungle corner filled with lush greenery might just do the trick.
4. Make your own terrarium
Image credit: @moreformeow, @biohubsg
A terrarium may look difficult to set up, but trust us when we say that it’s simpler than you’d think. For @moreformeow, all it took was a glass vase from IKEA, a selection of air plants from @thegreencapsule, and a handful of twigs picked up from the roadside.
With the right selection of plants, you can get your terrarium to be low-maintenance or even self-sustaining. This is because the plants can create their own ecosystem, and the terrarium can be left alone for anywhere between 4 months to 2 years.
For those interested in starting a self-sustaining terrarium, choose hardy plants that can thrive in humid environments and have slow growth rates. This will ensure that the plants won’t overtake the terrarium and grow out of control.
5. Create a cabinet greenhouse
Image credit: @secondcharmforfive
For @secondcharmforfive, transforming a corner of their house into a gorgeous nature-themed area was easy with the help of numerous YouTube tutorials. Through their Instagram posts, we were able to glean a few salient tips.
They turned their IKEA Rudsta cabinet into a mini greenhouse by incorporating tubed growth lights. The metal parts of the cabinets were protected using an anti-rust spray. Meanwhile, one of the glass panels was replaced with an acrylic pane sourced from Carousell. According to them, the change was to facilitate better ventilation.
Furthermore, they also recommended drilling a hole at the base of the cabinet so that you can run cables – such as those used for the lighting – below and conceal them for a neater look.
Another pointer was to make sure that humidity remains between 80% to 90%. Apart from ventilating the mini greenhouse, you can regulate humidity by using pebble humidity trays and water fountains, keeping semi-hydro plants, or placing a small humidifier in the cabinet.
Those with a bigger budget can consider splurging on an electronic humidity meter or hygrometer for accurate readings of humidity.
6. Make a statement with a green wall
Image credit: @ wife.4kids.fishes.9dogs.plants
At first glance, this green wall may look overwhelming in terms of maintenance. However, you’d be surprised to find out there’s a whole system behind the scenes ensuring that the plants are well-sustained without much input from you.
This particular green wall by @ wife.4kids.fishes.9dogs.plants consists of a variety of flora, including anthurium, philodendron, begonia, and aroids. A plant wall like this is grown by planting flora in plots of soil held up vertically by landscaping fabric, while an irrigation system consisting of a pump and piping supplies the plants with water.
Once installed, only the occasional check is needed. There is usually little to do on your part as the system allows for easy maintenance and recirculation.
Image credit: @1fish.2shrimp.3plants
Meanwhile, @1fish.2shrimp.3plants went a step further by building their own paludarium to house their cardinal tetras and past guppies. This was complemented by a drip wall consisting of wandering jew plants, pothos, moss, java ferns, nana plants, and episcia, behind one of the tanks to keep things interesting.
A paludarium is usually a self-sustaining tank where elements of both the aquatic and land are merged. This comprises plants, water, soil, and rocks, as well as aquatic or land animals including frogs, shrimp, fish, or turtles.
On the other hand, a simple drip wall consists of a waterproof board that holds up pots of plants while water drips and trickles down steadily.
7. Set up a smart indoor garden
Image credit: @greentisan
Even if you don’t have a green thumb, there’s still a way to ensure that plants thrive under your care – getting a smart garden.
@greentisan on Instagram uses the Click and Grow, a nifty gadget that has ensured the superb growth of their petunias and snapdragons. The appliance is perfect if you want to reap all the benefits of growing flora at home without the legwork. This is because it can regulate the amount of water, light, nutrients, and oxygen that the plants get.
It even has a companion application available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, which supplies users with care tips. Users can also control their Click and Grow appliance through the app and keep track of their plants’ growth easily.
8. Put together a wall niche balcony garden
Image credit: @authorsinstyle
Lucky Singaporeans blessed with balconies often turn them into miniature gardens – or at least that’s what the algorithm shows us. But space is often limited, and it’s hard to balance keeping a great deal of plants with making the area look as aesthetically pleasing as possible.
However, Authors Interior & Styling, an interior design consultancy, managed to turn the balcony of a Tampines apartment into a gorgeous home garden. By adding wall niches, they fully utilised the once-empty wall expanse on the side of the balcony.
Through these pockets of space, they were able to display additional plants without making it seem too overwhelming or messy.
Interesting indoor plant ideas
There’s no end to the benefits that indoor plants provide. Not only do they look pleasing to the eye and hide imperfections, but they can also benefit your health. To get started on your urban jungle journey, try out some of the pointers in our list of cool indoor plant ideas.
Once you’ve familiarised yourself with your plants, you can then further customise the plant displays to better suit your taste.
Read more of our articles here:
- HDB corridor jungles
- This self-designed 4-room resale HDB is a literal concrete jungle
- 7 landed homes in Singapore with cool landscape architecture
Cover image adapted from: @authorsinstyle, @secondcharmforfive
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