Plants are one of the most reliable ways to transform any old office into an atmospheric work zone that inspires productivity and creativity within anyone who walks through the door.
When you envision a plant-filled office, images of industrial-chic buildings with wide open spaces, soaring ceilings and jungle-like rows of plants probably come to mind. But the benefits of working amongst plants aren’t reserved for those with access to open plan offices. Small rooms offer a vast amount of potential for people looking to transform their workspace into a cosy, revitalising focus zone.
To help you make the most out of your limited space, here are some design ideas on how to decorate small office spaces with plants in order to add height, depth and fresh air.
How to display plants in small places within an office
No matter whether you’re working in a poky home office or your company’s stationery closet, there are interior design techniques that can help transform your workspace into something that speaks to your aesthetic tastes.
Embrace minimalism
Small rooms tend to feel cluttered, even if they don’t have an excess amount of furniture or knick knacks within them.
Plants are especially versatile when it comes to interior design and can appear in both minimalist and maximalist rooms. It all depends on how you arrange them and, perhaps most importantly, the planter that you set them within. Planters that are a singular colour with a simplistic design will contribute to the room’s visual purity and calmness.
Don’t be afraid to incorporate a large plant within your minimalist room. If set slightly away from the rest of the room’s furniture, a tall, free-standing plant will echo the quiet atmosphere of minimalist spaces. Some free-standing plants that work well as the green focal point in a minimalist room include the Bird of Paradise, Snake Plants and Monsteras.
Consider the room’s colour palette
Take a look around your current office and notice the colour schemes. What shade is the wall? Does it match the furniture within the room?
If you identify a common theme within your office, you might want to lean into complementary colours when choosing your plants and any other additional room decor. Sure, most plants might be green but many also contain hints of different colours like whites, reds, yellows and pinks. You can also match pot colours with the office’s walls and furniture.
Is your office filled with bright colours? Consider brighter or flowering indoor plants within your design, such as anthuriums, calatheas or Chinese evergreens. If your office has muted colours or a minimalist vibe, take into consideration solid-coloured or pale plants like the Zanzibar gem, weeping fig or the Madagascar dragon tree.
Experiment with maximalism
Maximalism is all about organised, purposeful chaos. Embracing maximalism provides a fantastic opportunity to put your creativity to good use and create something that is both fun and entirely unique.
There’s no one right way to design a small office with maximalism in mind. Mix and match patterns and colours that by all means shouldn’t go together, but somehow manage to complement each other in disharmonious harmony. Busy walls covered in photography or framed art, eclectic furniture, layered rugs and bold colours are all staples in the world of maximalism.
Plants are also as closely intertwined with maximalism, as they help to break space and repetitive patterns. They also make the room feel more personalised and homely, ensuring it doesn’t resemble a storage unit that’s been abandoned for 20 years.
When designing a maximalist office, choose plants of various shapes, colours and sizes. To help tie the room together, make full use of all surfaces when setting up your plants and try to set visually different plants directly beside each other.
Almost all indoor plants can complement a maximalist office. Consider putting indoor climbing plants like devil’s ivy or a heartleaf philodendron on your shelves to amplify maximalism at all levels of your office. Clutter your desk with succulents in bright pots or arrange a jumble of free-standing plants in your office corner. There’s no rule book when it comes to maximalism.
How to decorate small office spaces with plants
No room is too small for plants. Even if your desk barely fits your desktop let alone a plant, there are plenty of other places in your office to incorporate some greenery.
Hanging plants
Can’t see anywhere to put your plants in your office? Look up.
Hanging plants or indoor climbing plants can be attached to hooks on your ceiling or walls. Incorporating a vertical garden in office areas is great for filling empty spaces, adding a dash of colour to your room and increasing the perceived height of your ceiling.
English ivy makes one of the best hanging plants indoors. This charming plant thrives in brighter natural light but can also survive in lower light conditions. As the English ivy comes in a variety of leaf shapes and colours, you’re likely to find one that perfectly matches your office’s colour aesthetic.
Plant stands
If you don’t have any vacant space in your office, then you might have to make some. Luckily, plant stands make this a relatively easy process.
Snake plants are one of the most popular plants to use within a plant stand. With strikingly long foliage, the snake plant looks particularly grand when sitting in a wooden or metal plant stand. Snake plants require little watering and are resistant to both warmer and colder climates, making them a perfect choice for your office.
Incorporate your room’s corners
We often forget about the corners of our room, leaving them empty or using them to store piles of paperwork. But there’s a better purpose for them than just a makeshift storage facility.
Standing plants are ideal for sitting in the corner of a room. When set in a pot that mirrors your room’s design, fiddle leaf figs are a stylish ornamental plant that can help add visual height and depth to your small office. Fiddle leaf figs can even grow up to 10 feet tall but don’t let the size intimidate you. Having a fiddle leaf fig as the focal point of your office will draw the eye upwards and outwards, making the space feel more open.
Creative and modern indoor plant ideas
Regardless of whether you’re a maximalist or a minimalist at heart, there’s a place for nuanced creativity within your interior design. Here are some creative and modern indoor plant ideas for greening up your small office space, while also ensuring it showcases its own distinct flair.
Terrariums
Easy to care for, space saving and gorgeous to look at, terrariums can add an unmistakable distinctiveness to any workspace. Set a terrarium beside your desk or use one as a bookend for your shelf. If you feel like getting creative, add colourful stones or trinkets to your terrarium to give it a bit of spunk to its appearance.
Propagation Stations
While you might not typically think of propagated plants as decor, propagation stations are as stylish and intriguing as their name suggests. Create your own propagation station by lining up a series of small glass bottles filled with water and then popping in a single plant cutting within each one. In no time, you’ll be looking forward to arriving at your office each morning to check up on how your propagated plants are coming along.
Living wall installations
A living wall installation is a particularly unique design choice that combines the best of art with the natural ambience of plants. But living wall installations do more for your office than just acting as a spectacular and sustainable piece of art, they also actively freshen the air and draw out antioxidants.
The Plant Man provides outdoor and indoor plant hire in Sydney. Get in touch with our team to discover how our plant experts can help you transform any sized office into a tropical paradise with our office plant care maintenance services.
