Interior Designers Swear by These 5 Tricks to Layer Houseplants – For a Lush Indoor Jungle in Your Living Room
Discover expert tips for bringing different textures, shapes, and heights to your indoor garden
While there's no doubt adding some live plants to your home will bring joy, knowing how to arrange them is key to transforming interiors into an indoor garden. Just like curating a garden border, designers say you can layer houseplants for lush greenery that turns your home into an oasis.
It's one technique you can use to style houseplants that specifically focuses on bringing together varying heights, textures, and colors for an indoor botanical spectacle. The best part is you can personalize this for your desired outcome, from creating some screening for a quiet reading nook, to displaying houseplants as artwork.
Here, the experts share their favorite tips for taking your houseplant display to the next level.
1. Start With a Focal Plant
If you're feeling lost with how to layer houseplants, the experts recommend starting with a statement tall indoor plant to act as a focal point.
'Layering houseplants can be done the same way as furniture, really,' says Ann Marie Winkler, designer from Huron Interiors.
'You start with the bigger statement plant, a fiddle leaf fig, an olive tree, whatever has the desired presence, and you build the medium ones around that,' she describes.
Some of the best indoor trees work well for a focal plant, including this Fiddle Leaf Fig from The Sill or this Majesty Palm from Lowe's.
This provides some height and architectural structure for your display. Consider positioning them at the back of the arrangement, or to the sides, ensuring the shorter plants stay visible.
Ann Marie Winkler is co-founder and principal designer of Huron Interiors in Denver, which she runs with her sister. She is a former coast-to-coast traveling nurse (BSN, University of Michigan) turned interior designer (Heritage School of Interior Design).
2. Use Plant Stands
Don't underestimate the value of plant stands when layering houseplants. These handy tools can (literally) elevate the smallest houseplants.
'One mistake we often see is people placing plants at the same level. Everything ends up looking like one big mass,' says Adrian Aviles, houseplant expert and owner of Athletic Club Flower Shop.
'Putting plants at different heights usually looks better. You can use plant stands, shelves, and even simple risers to create layers and make the plants feel more natural,' he adds.
The great news is there are so many different plant stands available on the market to choose from.
You can opt for a tiered one, like this large tiered wooden plant stand from Amazon, to hold multiple plants at different levels. Or, use a singular plant stand (like this pretty white one from IKEA) to put your favorite plant on a pedestal.
Adrian Aviles is the owner of Athletic Club Flower Shop in Downtown Los Angeles, which has been around since 1916. Adrian's passion for flowers began when his late mother ran a floral design program, which he helped to source the flowers for. He then took over the historic Athletic Club Flower Shop in 2004 at the age of 24. The store's designer's create beautiful arrangements for all occasions.
3. Mix a Range of Leaf Shapes
One of the best things about collecting houseplants is the never-ending shapes and silhouettes to discover. From indoor ferns' feathery foliage, to statement succulents with unique curved shapes.
'Don't stick with all the same type of plant, it reads kind of flat,' says Ann Marie. 'You want different leaf shapes and different sizes for a more collected feel,' she describes.
You can also add in indoor variegated foliage for pops of color. 'Thai Constellation' Monstera (available at The Sill) is a popular choice, with cream-green patterned leaves.
You may also want to explore houseplants with heart-shaped leaves for a playful addition, like this Heartleaf Philodendron from Amazon.
4. Use Vertical Space
Creating a vertical indoor garden is a great way to add another dimension to your houseplant arrangement.
It might be that you opt for the best indoor hanging plants, like this String of Hearts from Lowe's, or houseplants you can mount, like this Staghorn Fern from Amazon.
'Another great option is to add hanging plants from the ceiling or place them on high shelves. This helps make use of the vertical space and allows plants like pothos or philodendrons to trail naturally, creating a fuller and more lush look,' says Natalia de Arteaga, interior designer at Planner 5D.
Using this trick also saves floor space, maximizing how many plants you can display in a single space.
Natalia is an architect and interior designer with experience in architectural design, interior design, 3D modeling, and visualization.
5. Group Plants Based on Needs
It's important not to neglect houseplant needs when curating your dream indoor garden. By pairing plants that have similar needs, regarding lighting, watering, and humidity, it's easier to avoid indoor plant mistakes.
'Plants are much easier to maintain when they have similar light and watering needs. A lush display is much easier to keep looking good when the plants want the same things,' says Adrian.
This includes positioning indoor tropical plants close together to boost humidity for indoor plants, as well as placing cacti that don't require frequent watering close together.
At the same time, there are houseplants to keep away from each other which have widely differing needs and won't work as a complementary pair.
'As a professional interiorscaper, I manage differing water requirements by keeping each plant in its own sub-irrigated liner pot concealed within the larger planter,' says interior plant designer, Shane Pliska.
'This allows me to combine a variety of plants without forcing them to share the same watering schedule,' he explains.
Self-watering planters (like this pack of four green ones on Amazon) are useful for this, or you can invest in an automated irrigation system (like this from Walmart) to take the guesswork out of watering.
Shane Pliska is the president and CEO of Planterra - a national leader in interior landscaping. Shane's team include Feng Shui specialists who use ancient principles to enhance interiors with living plants.
What to Shop
Use these pebble humidity trays to boost humidity levels for your moisture-loving houseplants.
These blue ceramic houseplant planters have drainage holes and saucers to remove excess water and aid moisture management.
This beautiful plant stand is constructed of bamboo with a white steel shelf. Ideal for displaying houseplants at different levels.
If you're keen to explore more inspiration, take a look at our indoor garden ideas. Our list of Feng Shui plants also has lots to discover, with different plants thought to bring positive energy to different rooms in your home.
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