Whether you want to jazz up a boring space at home or help create a more calming design aesthetic and improve air quality, house plants are a cost-effective and simple way to do the job. You might be surprised to learn that keeping plants inside your home truly is good for your health, cleaning harmful pollutants from the air, boosting mood, reducing stress and creating a sense of calm.
Scientific studies have shown that tending to and touching plants can actually stave off stress, create feelings of ease and happiness and help you breathe easier. If that wasn’t enough, adding plants to drab or dull spaces is a budget-friendly way to boost your design aesthetic and give your apartment pops of color and texture.
Here are 5 reasons to bring live plants into your apartment.
Cleaner Air
Plants are a powerful defense against pollutants that live undetected inside your home, including mold, asbestos, benzene and carbon monoxide. Plants filter these toxins from the air you breathe by absorbing them into their roots and leaves, which can help to reduce symptoms like asthma, headaches and dry eyes. Some plants even release moisture from their leaves, helping to humidify dry air indoors during winter.
Mood Booster
Bringing plants inside your home creates a soothing effect to your indoor environment, which in turn boosts feelings of ease and happiness. Studies have shown that even brief exposure to nature and live plants can produce a calming effect that can pave the way for a lift in mood and sense of well-being. Workplace studies have also shown that offices with plants inside them have happier, more productive workers.
Add Color and Texture to Empty Spaces
Plants do more than improve your air quality and mood, they also add lively color and texture to empty or drab spaces. Interior designers will tell you that adding a floor plant or hanging plant to a dull corner can instantly transform the feel of the space.
Reduce Stress
Active interaction with plants, including touching, watering and trimming, can reduce both psychological and physiological stress. Research shows that spending time around plants leads to positive changes in brain, heart and muscle activity.
Caring for Plants Cares for You
Believe it or not, tending to and caring for live plants is therapeutic and good for your mental health. Nurturing a live plant and watching it grow can inspire feelings of fulfillment and connection to nature and the natural world. Caring for plants is scientifically shown to suppress the sympathetic nervous system, and promote comfortable, relaxed and calm feelings.