Ready to incorporate plants into your décor?

You don’t just have to throw a plant by a window or toss a fern on a table. There are other, very cool ways to use plants in your home. Here are expert tips on how to up your plant décor game – and feel all the better for it.

1. Treat plants as large furnishings

“I love the saying ‘go big or go home,’ especially when it comes to styling with plants,” says plant and interior stylist Hilton Carter, author of five books about biophilic design – including his most recent, Living Wild: How to Plant Style Your Home & Cultivate Happiness. “Think of a large plant as a piece of furniture. It can add the perfect touch to a room as a statement piece.”

Statement pieces can be especially effective in vacant corners, suggests certified garden designer Mike Lansing, co-founder and managing editor at Planter’s Digest, an online publication for amateur gardeners. “Use a large or tall plant, such as a bird of paradise,” he says. “The plant fills the space and softens the edge, giving the impression of a soft corner.”

2. Think outside the pot

Using upcycled containers instead of traditional planters can expand your horizons. “Vintage suitcases, watering cans and even teacups can become charming plant homes,” says interior designer Mohammad Ahmed, founder of The Home Guidance, a site dedicated to home design tips and reviews.

Terrariums are another idea. You can even incorporate them into coffee tables, suggests interior designer Robin Burrill, CEO and principal designer at Signature Home Services,  an interior design, renovation and home concierge services company in Keller, Texas. “Talk about a centerpiece,” she says. “This elegant addition doesn’t jump out at people until they fully immerse in the space and sit down — but then they can’t stop admiring it.”

3. Divide and conquer

Feeling like your open floor plan is a little too open? “Use large, lush plants to delineate spaces within a room. This not only adds a decorative touch, but also provides a sense of privacy and definition to different areas,” says Zahid Adnan, founder of The Plant Bible, a gardening website offering plant information and advice.

Plants can be used anywhere you might wish to carve large areas into smaller, more functional spaces, like adding a home office to a living room, or maybe a home gym or reading nook in a den. “Using plants in [open] shelving or set on top of pony walls can provide a greater sense of division between spaces without totally closing things up,” Burrill says.

4. Embrace vertical space

Hanging plants don’t have to be just for the outdoors. “Explore the vertical dimension by incorporating hanging planters, wall-mounted shelves or trellises,” Adnan says. “This not only saves floor space, but also adds a captivating visual element.”

Echoes Ahmed, “Group cascading pothos or philodendrons in macrame hangers for a bohemian vibe. Stagger sleek geometric terrariums with air plants for a modern touch. Or, suspend a mini jungle with a DIY kokedama moss ball chandelier.”