Most Popular House Plants For The Living Room

The Health Benefits Of House Plants

Houseplants are a great addition to any living room. They add beauty and color to your decor and allow you to bring a little touch of nature into your home. But, houseplants can also provide you with some significant health benefits. In fact, research has proven that some houseplants can make your home a much healthier place to live. Here are just a few of the best plants to go in your living room.

Peace Lily

With their dark green foilage and contrasting white flowers. Peace Lilies  add a dramatic effect to your home. Studies have shown that these beautiful flowers can reduce the presence of mold spores in your homes air by as much as 60 percent. They also absorb toxic vapors in the air and help reduce the symptoms of allergies. Peace Lilies need medium levels of sunlight, water when the soil is moderately dry and mist the leaves to increase growth and blooms.

Boston Fern

Boston Ferns are the perfect solution for dry air. Indoor ventilation systems remove moisture from the air resulting in itchy, dry skin. Boston Ferns literally provide the benefits of a humidifier by restoring moisture back to your homes air. The sword like fronds drape gracefully over the sides of the pot and the apple green color adds a touch of spring year round. This plant needs bright, but indirect light and thrives if the soil is kept slightly moist at all times.

Spider Plant

The Spider Plant is one of the most powerful anti air pollution plants that there is. Within two short days, plants can remove almost 90 percent of the toxins from the air in your home. This plant works to absorb mold spores, formaldehyde and carbon monoxide. The Spider Plant has long pointy green foilage that comes in several color variations. With a little light watering about every two weeks and indirect sunlight, the Spider Plant will thrive and soon produce babies on the end of long stems that protrude from the mother plant.

English Ivy

English Ivy is another great plant for the living room. This beautiful vine can be trained on a small trellis, or allowed to hang freely from a hanging basket. Referred to as a "solution to allergies" this plant can remove around 60 percent of the mold in the area within six hours after it's placed in the room. English Ivy can be grown in areas of bright indirect light or low light and they like an evenly moist soil.

Heart Leaf Philodendron

A study conducted by N.A.S.A. revealed that the Heart Leaf Philodendron is one of the best plants to eliminate formaldehyde from the air. Often called the "Sweetheart Plant" because of the heart shaped leaves, this vine is very easy to grow. It can adapt to almost any lighting conditions and simply requires the soil to be kept constantly moist. Be careful not to over water, too much water and the roots will quickly rot.

Mother In-Law's Tongue (Snake Plant)

The Mother In-Law's Tongue is an excellent choice for anyone that doesn't have a green thumb. This plant can survive neglect and still keep growing larger and larger. It's very adept at purifying the air in your home by removing a large majority of toxins. This plant features sturdy sword shaped leaves that shoot up from the soil. It can be placed in a variety of lighting conditions and just need a thorough watering about once a week.

Ways To Decorate With Houseplants

One of the great things about houseplants is that they look good any where you place them. However, you need to consider the plants lighting needs before you choose the ideal location. Houseplants can be placed on a coffee table, end table or sofa table. If you choose a vine, make sure you place it in a area where it has lots of room to grow, or hang it from the ceiling in a hanging planter.