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Five tips to keep in mind when buying artificial plants

A display of lush indoor plants can really add character, style and atmosphere to a wide variety of corporate spaces and restaurant interiors. Artificial plants (faux plants) are so realistic these days that they really do look like the ‘real’ thing. They are so cleverly made that it can be very hard to differentiate them from live plants. Using artificial plants takes all the hard work and stress out of caring for plants and ensures that they always look in tip-top condition.

Those ‘in the know’ have a variety of tricks that they use to ensure that their artificial plant arrangements always look stunning….

1. Design the perfect arrangement

Before you buy a selection of artificial plants, think about where you are going to place the display and for what purpose. Beautiful artificial displays can add elegance, colour and a sense of luxury to a room, whereas carefully placed planters can have a practical use too as they can be used as room dividers and to help create intimacy between tables in restaurants and coffee shops.

2. Say it with flowers…

The style of your chosen plant arrangements can say a great deal about your company and really help with your branding and image. When a customer comes into the building a smart room with an eye-catching plant arrangement will speak volumes. This can have a very positive impact on your customers – making them keen to invest in your product or service. If your company logo/ branding features a particular colour such as red, it can be very effective to incorporate the colour with artificial flowers in a plant display.

Buying artificial plants Lily flowers

Lily Arrangement

3. Buy top quality plants

Choose really good quality artificial plants that look really realistic. The best have thin wires in their stems and branches that can be gently moved into place to make them look natural. The leaves on the plant should be in several different shades just like in nature – and in varying sizes with some tightly closed buds too. Make your arrangement look interesting using plants of various heights and incorporating different leaf shapes and colour.

4. True of faux?

The perfect way to ensure that your artificial plants look realistic is to plant them in soil! You can buy very realistic looking artificial moss too. Another popular trick is to make arrangements using a mixture of live and artificial plants. The live plants can be low maintenance easy growing plants, whilst the artificial ones can be replicas of more sensitive varieties as this minimises the chance of them failing to thrive! The most important point to remember is to regularly dust the artificial plants.

Cleaning Plants Florest

5. Consider the seasons

Carefully select your plants as seasonal varieties will look out of place if you have them on show at the wrong time of the year – and will be spotted by an eagle-eyed gardener! It can be fun to have an arrangement of plants that are available all year through with different seasonal plant/ flowers as the focus and these can be easily swapped throughout the year. A number of your regular customers will notice the changes and appreciate them.

The beauty of using artificial plants and flowers is that they can be cleaned and then carefully packed away to be brought out at the same time next year.

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Using Interior Design for Positive Mental Health

Mental health issues have long been the elephant in the room until recently when people and organisations around the world started to talk about the epidemic it has become. According to a survey by the NHS, 1 in 4 people in the UK is subject to a mental health problem annually. Pretty grim, we know… but what’s good is that, now, more people are open to dealing with the problem. 

From relaxation apps to forums and social media, there are now plenty of platforms sufferers can use to fight it. Did you know that one other good avenue is interior design? 

As for how you can optimise interior design to bring about positive benefits for the mind, you can begin with these steps.

Pay more attention to colour

Colour is a good place to start because there are hues that are, simply put, more calming than others. Blue and green, in particular, have been shown to ease most people’s anxieties. Who among us does not get relaxed by strolling through a park brimming with verdant greeneries or gazing at the immaculately azure ocean? 

The same applies to rooms as far as its dominating hues are concerned. Naturally, those that incorporate lighter colours will help in reducing stress and anxiety.  

paint scheme Floresy

Let the light in

Maximising on natural lighting has always been a preference. And, again, this really just hinges on the keyword “natural”. Anything that is associated with nature helps in human stress response and brings about positive feelings. It’s not for nothing why staying in a dark room has always reinforced depressive thoughts. 

So, if anything’s blocking out the light (from needless walls to dark, thick curtains), by all means, remove them all. You don’t really need to invest time in learning more interior design theory to see the almost immediate positive effects it will bring about. 

Minimise

Because once you do, you free up more space. And, for most people, more space readily translates to happiness. Wide, open spaces evoke feelings of freedom, after all, while enclosed spaces cause the exact opposite. And if there is one factor that eats up space it’s furniture. So even if the room has adequate space, it might still have that claustrophobia-inducing effect that not a lot of people can put up with. This underscores the need to opt for minimalisation. Include only what is necessary and what the person loves – which brings us to one last element. 

minimalism Floresy

Prioritise subjectivity

Designing interiors should never really depart from the owner’s subjective taste. Yes, most humans share elements that relax them or help them deal with stress better, as evidenced by the facts above. But, in the end, how the person feels about a room or space is what matters more. 

Some may find the presence of plants to be more relaxing, for example, but this is definitely not the case for everyone. How high should the ceilings be? What are the objects that give you meaning or happiness? What do you find beautiful? These are but some of the personal questions that should be asked to help figure out how to make interior design more beneficial to mental health. 

These factors, after all, directly affect one’s mood. And to surround oneself solely with them, minus those that don’t, is definitely one good step towards the right direction.