Plants breathe life into a room. I’m pretty sure most of us already know that greenery adds style to any décor. 

Their natural good looks add believability and freshness to a room.

As a bonus to home stagers, living plants are natural mood elevators, a fact that home sellers can use to make buyers feel good when they are touring a home on the market.

Not only do houseplants make a room look and feel fresher, they actually clean the air because they take in carbon dioxide and process it into oxygen. Meanwhile, they absorb harmful, common air pollutants that outgas from synthetic finishes and cleaning products.

And yet, some of us are resistant to make houseplants part of our home staging package. With valid reason. You have to take care of them!

The good news is that there are plants that don’t ask much in the way of care. They are the goof-proof house plants that seem to thrive on neglect. Here is my list of favorites.

Snake plant tops the list

It's also known as mother-in-law's tongue, but technically it's called Sansevieria trifasciata, and that's a mouthful of Latin! 
You say you have a brown thumb?
Not a problem if you stage 
with a snake plant like this. 
The beauty of these plants is that, well, they are beautiful, with their strong upright structure and bands of dark greens.

The snake plant lets you get away with minimal watering. It doesn’t ask for much sunlight, so it can sit in a low-light corner and still be happy.

Add fluff with ferns

Ferns are one of my favorite plants, an opinion shared by many. They are graceful and versatile. Because they are tropical plants they want more water than a snake plant, so keep them where they will not damage any surface in case your container sweats or could leak. Ferns are happiest in bright or filtered or indirect sun.

Whatever your personal taste or decor style, you'll find a fern variety that fits the bill.

I like to give fern plants a cleaning in the shower to provide the humidity they prefer and to get any dust off the fronds. Let them soak up the water and then drain well before putting them back in place. Rotating a fern occasionally will keep the growth balanced for a better appearance.

Ferns are perfect space fillers for almost any room in the house – a home office, kitchen, bedroom, bath, or communal living areas. If kept watered, they will not shed, wither or discolor. When a home is staged to sell, a plant making a mess or looking unhealthy can hint that the home itself has not been cared for. Tidy wins the day.

My aglaonema plant grows slowly and never gets bugs or diseases. Perfect!

Chinese evergreen asks for almost nothing

I have an aglaonema plant, also called Chinese evergreen, that I admit to forgetting about for a couple weeks at a stretch. And it forgives me every time, bouncing back after a soak in the sink and a little pruning of any yellowed leaves.

This ability to live without much attention makes the Chinese evergreen plant a good one to place in an unoccupied, staged home.

Chinese evergreens are content with indirect light so they can sit in an unsunny room. One of the worst places you can put any plant is next to a window because light enters the window but light rays do not bend to reach sideways.

Don't sneer at philodendron

We've all seen these rangy plants in stores and offices, with their heart-shaped leaves spaced along dangling stems. However, a philodendron that is well cared for is compact and handsome. Its glossy leaves and tolerant manner make it one of the most common indoor plants, one that is currently enjoying a return to popularity.

Philodendron plants are at home in almost 
any setting and unlike some houseplants, 
don't mind if you move them 
from one place to another. 
There are many varieties of philodendrons. Some fruit or flower. Some vine and need a support and some are content to stay in their pot. Some have huge leaves and others appear less jungle-like. They all prefer medium light but will tolerate low light. You can't go wrong with a philodendron!

Dracaena looks architectural

Called the corn plant, this one could be the easiest one on our list to grow. Shown in the top photo, dracaena look like a small tree with sword-shaped dark green leaves accented with a creamy middle stripe. They prefer bright light but will tolerate low light.

The corn plant can add an upright form to a room that lacks architectural interest. They are good space-fillers useful for staging a home that doesn’t have quite enough furniture. Because they don’t require bright light, they could be the right plant for an entry or hall that doesn’t receive much natural light.
Big or small, alone or in groupings, prickly 
or smooth, cactus plants love you back.

When in doubt, grow cactus 

I’ve written before about how handy faux cacti and other succulents can be when you are staging a home. All the real ones ask for is bright light and dry conditions.

The easiest to tend -- if you can call it that -- are the desert cacti. An added bonus to these varieties is that they usually have interesting shapes and textures. They especially look good clustered in an interesting planter. Even in winter, while all cacti are dormant and require even less water and feeding, they still add some pizazz to the home staging environment.

Basic care for these fuss-free plants

All these easy-care plants benefit from a mild fertilizer in spring and summer and less water in the winter than the rest of the year. They need to be kept away from drafts and direct heat. Use a good potting soil that lets their roots spread out and that drains well.

None of the plants described here are expensive to buy or difficult to find. Big box home improvement centers stock them year-round. If you want to leave them in a plastic pot it’s easy to place that pot in a larger, more impressive container as long as the plastic one doesn’t show because that just looks amateurish. You can use sphagnum moss or rocks to cover the soil surface and disguise the gap between the two pots.

Make sure your plants are not root bound. Just press them or pop them out of their containers to check for signs that the roots are crowded.

Some houseplants are fussy. But the economical and forgiving ones I've described here are no-brainers. And they really liven up a room. Why not put their almost magical powers to use in your home staging?

Get the look, get the book

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