Minimalism plus the flowing greenery of plants and flowers may not seem like a cohesive look. Thankfully, a “rules are meant to be broken” mentality is named as one of 2016’s top interior design trends by Vogue Magazine, as designer Jonathan Adler says the most important home design rule is to display aesthetics you love. Since plants can improve quality of life in a variety of ways, adding them to any type of home décor makes sense. The Journal of Environmental Psychology reported in a study that plants elevate attention capacity, making them a perfect feature in a home office. University of Nevada Cooperative Extension researchers found maintaining houseplants delivers short-term increases on happiness and makes a positive impact on long-term health.
An overwhelming mish-mash of elements without some thoughtful placement can cause spaces to look cluttered and overly complicated, though. Here are five ways for strategically infusing the Zen-like quality of living and breathing plants and flowers into minimalist design and still look cohesive.
Place a Plant on a Glass Table
Since glass reflects sky and clouds from nature, the shapes perfectly bathe seasonal flower and plant offerings from a provider such as FTD. Making the plant the star of a glass base allows it to stand out while keeping other design elements simple. Succulents or cacti, with basic geometric forms, add to minimalism.
Grow a Vertical Garden
A “green wall” vertical garden seamlessly fits with the rest of your house and becomes a subtle piece of living art. Since it only takes up a small amount of space on the wall without jutting multiple directions, a vertical garden allows you to improve the air quality of your house, reduce energy costs, and install something beautiful to look at without invading a space.
Strive for Balance
Let the shapes in a room dictate the shapes of the plants or flowers you’re thinking about adding. For a unified look, spaces with long, rectangular-shaped furniture would match well with orchids, for example, while circular tables play well off of rounded flowers like roses. You could also work to complement shapes by incorporating their opposites. Maintain a sleek and modern look by making sure all plants or flowers in a room look great together before spreading them throughout a room. Using different sizes or different colors of the same type of plant allows for some variety while also maintaining minimalism.
House Plants Terrarium-Style
Glass terrariums allow you to spotlight the greenery without distracting with patterned pots that seem bulky. Terrariums can hold small plants and allow them to thrive with little effort, allowing you to add dainty plant touches to any corner you want. You can also hang terrariums, making them a flexible option for adding plants to only the most perfect spaces in your minimalist interior.
Maximize Greenery with Mirrors
Mirrors take up little space but magnify floral elements in their reflections. Place flowers and plants near mirrors to create the illusion of extra life in a space, above mirrored tabletops or near mirrors on dressers to take full advantage. Keep colors in a room with mirrors neutral, and let plants and flowers be the color that stands out in the room.