Plantscaping: How to Bring the Outdoors into Your Interior Design

Yes, you can decorate with plants as the cornerstone of your design theme!


Forget what you know about cookie-cutter landscaping, trimming the hedges, or planting tulips outside your front entryway, only to walk into a stale and monochrome interior. Instead, interior landscape design, or plantscaping, brings the outdoors straight to you.


We utilize outdoor and indoor plants to introduce vibrant colors, invite a sense of tranquility, and ultimately blur the lines between what is outdoors and what is traditionally interior.

Plantscaping is inherently strategic because the resulting design of each room guides you where to look. Indoor plant designers (like ourselves!) utilize thoughtful placement to either highlight or redirect attention from features in your home or office. Need a sneaky way to control the echo in a large atrium? You got it. Want to highlight how tall the ceilings are or make your cozy living room feel much larger? All are possible with plants.


This is all in addition to the physical and mental health benefits of being surrounded by indoor plants. It is well known that plants in workspaces lead to lower stress levels and higher satisfaction, absorb airborne pollutants, and can even increase our lifespan! So why not take advantage of interior design that supports your physical and mental health?


Examples of Indoor Plant Design

Here are some of our favorite examples to bring indoor plant design into your future green space.

  • Plant Shelfies. If this sounds familiar (or a little crazy), you have probably spent plenty of time on Plant Instagram. The so-called shelfie started as a popular way for collectors to showcase their houseplants. What is even better is how plant shelves do not compromise floor space. Anyone who has lived in a college dorm knows the importance of utilizing vertical space in tiny rooms. As a bonus, storing plants up high on a shelf keeps plants out of reach from pets and small children. If you follow us on Instagram, you'll know a few of our pots and plants have become the victim of one particular kitty!

  • Moss or Plant Walls. Yes, this is a living, breathing wall. By acting as a natural divider or an alternative to picture frames, moss walls and vertical gardens offer ultimate versatility. In addition, a small moss frame can be assembled for less than $50, so this design concept fits any budget.

  • Statement Plants. Organize your space around a large-and-in-charge houseplant! Our favorites are a sizeable bird of paradise, kentia palm, or the high-maintenance fiddle leaf fig. Statement plants are advantageous in indoor plant design because they can fill an empty space and cannot figure out what to put there to bring the room together. If you wish to add more compact houseplants around it, opt for wooden plant stands to change up the levels.


Getting Started

If we have successfully gotten you hooked on the idea of plantscaping, here are some of our best pro tips before getting started.

  • Use pots with drainage holes. Overwatering is the most common way that indoor plants are killed. Unfortunately, at least 75% of decorative flower pots do not have drainage holes, so the excess water cannot drain away from the roots. To prolong the life of your greenery, purchase pots with drainage holes or carefully drill holes through ceramic pots to maximize their lifespan.

  • Know your skill level before starting. If you are a beginner, be honest and realistic with yourself. For example, if you do not have bright lighting, opt for low-light plants instead. There are plenty of options for every situation. If you have never owned a calathea or ficus before, start with simpler plants before going all-in on an expensive and high-maintenance purchase. Set yourself up for success, and do not purchase houseplants you are not prepared to care for properly.


Design with PlanterSam

Finding a perfect place for every houseplant has multiple moving parts. Ultimately, plants will only thrive where THEY want to grow, not the other way around.


That's where we come in!


No need to do all the heavy lifting yourself. Tell us the look you're going for, and we handle the rest. We take away the stress, so you don't have to worry about:

  • Whether your space has south-facing or east-facing windows

  • Which plants need to be closest to the windows while also fitting the design plan

  • Standing on a stepstool and attempting to hang up a shelf or ceiling anchor

  • Shopping for all the plants, pots, and materials you want – we bring them to you!

  • Watering, fertilizing, cleaning, repotting – we are happy to maintain the greenery as well!


We offer a completely done-for-you interior plant service to turn your next design blueprint into reality. Let us take care of your next plant design project in San Diego. Whether it's for your home, office, or business, leave your next interior landscape design project to the experts.

Learn more about our Interior Plant Service