Home Staging with Plants

I love adding plants to rooms when I stage them! They add a natural colour and an extra layer of beauty to the room. It can make a room feel more tropical, like a bathroom, or soften the look of a room.

Many times, I had to decide on whether to put a real or fake one into the home. The fake ones are the easiest for us because we do not have to water them or worry that the water could leak out onto a hardwood floor, which would make us responsible for the damages.

Fake plants tend to be more expensive than real ones. In the last 10 years, it is amazing how real the artificial ones look. Online, you would not be able to tell the difference. As a stager, we can reuse them after the property sells. Storing real plants would be a logistical nightmare because we would need to keep them alive or lose our investment.

Real plants have to be maintained. When we are working in an occupied property, there are often dead leaves or most of the plant looks like it is dying. In those cases, we ask the customer to find a friend or family member to take the plants out of the house.

When we bring artificial plants into a home, we make sure the containers they are in match the décor. In an occupied home, we often give the customer suggestions as to where to buy inexpensive containers to group the plants they have visually. There are a number of really great places to buy artificial plants. The trick is to find ones which don’t look fake. Haven’t you ever touched a plant and wondered if it was real?

Plants, whether artificial or real, can work with any style of décor. Even in traditional homes, plants can look great. You just have to watch out and check whether the size of your plant is so large that it is overwhelming the space or blocking light. There is a saying: “Plants are like children — when they grow up they need to move out!” So no matter what kind of style your home is, plants, if used correctly, can be a wonderful way to add life to a room!

When we stage a cool-coloured room — meaning light grey and white tones — we might try to incorporate the colour of the green plant into our décor. This could mean adding a couple of green cushions onto a sofa or adding a few green accessories like a vase, or staging books with green covers.

So, don’t be afraid to use plants. Try to have similar leaf colours, as in home staging, the more consistent the look, the better the photos look online.