There are no hard rules when it comes to styling the real-deals with the faux, only a million possibilities.
We are all about the cohabitation of real plants and their faux counterparts. Mixing the two is an easy way to keep things fresh, playful and unexpected. We are just as much pro-faux as we are big believers in the benefits of living with real plants. Real plants have been proven to increase happiness and creativity, reduce stress and illness, and cleanse the air by absorbing toxins and replacing them with fresh oxygen; artificial plants provide ease and simplicity and allow you to reap all the same visual benefits of a real plant but without the maintenance. A marriage of the two feels like one written in the stars. You can’t go wrong with using as many of each as you desire (anything goes!) but here are some guidelines about how to make the most of blending organic and artificial greens in your own home.
Consider selecting faux plants for hard-to-reach corners of a room, and real plants for areas that are more accessible. Since our faux plants require virtually no care aside from a quick wipe-down, they’re good contenders for tall shelves and distant surfaces. Line the top of your kitchen cabinets with our Faux Pothos Plant and save your green thumb for that real Weeping Ficus Tree that lives on the floor of your breakfast nook. (Too busy to cook breakfast *and* water plants? Opt for our faux version instead.)
If you like to change things up on the regular, invest in larger faux plants, like our Faux Calathea Orbifolia or Faux Bird of Paradise and go au natural with your smaller potted plants, which are less expensive and easier to change out. This way you’ll always have the larger substantial pieces to anchor your space and still have the flexibility (and the extra cash) to play around with tabletop plants when you feel like mixing it up.
Elevate any plant — real or faux — by dropping it into a ceramic planter. Not only does it give your plant instant polish and personality, but for your faux numbers, it increases its likelihood of appearing nature-grown. If you give your artificial plants the same love you do your real ones (in terms of presentation), they’ll aesthetically harmonize and keep guests guessing which one originally started as a seed.
Believe in the power of numbers. We promise you that our faux flora could fool even the most seasoned plant-lover, but should you still feel skeptical, take a more-is-more approach and style your space with lots and lots of plants (real and faux). Mix and style with abandon, and don’t be afraid to let your living plants dwell amongst your artificial ones. Strike whatever balance feels right for you and let their coexistence be an art unto itself.
Empowering all people to be plant people—a collection of articles from The Sill's team of plant experts across a variety of plant care topics to inspire confidence in the next generation of plant parents. Welcome to Plant Parenthood™.
