The Perfect Houseplant For Beginners

June 03, 2014


Now that we are settling in to the apartment –we actually hung a painting the other night and the chair I want to reupholster is a perfect fit for our living room – the living room is in desperate need of a plant. One of the things that drew me to our apartment when we were looking were the floor to ceiling windows in every room. They bring in an intense amount of sun light that I love, and that’s perfect for some of my favorite house plants. 

The fiddle leaf fig is an extremely popular houseplant at the moment and one I’ve wanted to get for the living room for a while. Every time I go to The Home Depot or Pike’s there just hasn't been the right one – either it’s too big (these plants can get up to 8 ft tall!) or the leaves are already browned from lack of sunlight. 

Now, before I sound like a plant expert, let me just say I am one of those I kill every plant I have kind of people. I decided to try a snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciat) that's known for being really easy to take care of.


I liked it’s look at the garden center and love that it grows up so it doesn't take up a lot of room. Luckily, this plant is also known for being able to handle low to high levels of light and can be watered infrequently (AKA, if you are a new houseplant owner, it should be pretty hard to mess this up). Since watering plants is one of the top ways to kill them, I like that this plant is easy to tell when it should be water. You are supposed to water the plant and let the top soil dry to the touch before you water again. It's estimated to need watering 1 time per week.

One thing I love most about this plant is that it was found to be one of the best plants for improving indoor air quality by passively absorbing toxins such as nitrogen oxides and formaldehyde in a study conducted by NASA.

I potted the plant on our balcony and it's now living next to our TV stand in the living room under the new painting we hung of Charleston, SC!



4 comments:

  1. My fiddle leaf fig is currently struggling so I don't blame you for buying a plant that is a little less high maintenance! Now come over to my apartment and help fill up all the empty pots on my balcony :)

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    1. The fiddle leaf fig was showing up on lists of easy houseplants - no idea how that's possible, those guys are tough! Hopefully I can keep this snake plant alive. You should plant herbs on your balcony like basil so you can cook with them.

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  2. Yes! I have a few of those snake plants - so far so good! Another easy one to grow is pothos ( they are hanging) and pretty inexpensive too. I've found that IKEA has a pretty decent selection of healthy plants!

    Sarah | Everyday with Sarah
    www.everydaywithsarah.com

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    1. My snake plant is going a little too crazy - might have to replant it now. I'm looking for a new plant for our bedroom and am dying for a split leaf philodendron but they have been hard to find. I'll have to check out the pothos.

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