The plant trend continues to take root

The enthusiasm for plants and herbs is not dying away: Plants have been declared the trend every year since at least 2016. And this comes as no surprise; after all, more and more people value sustainability, closeness to nature and a healthy indoor climate. The boundaries between indoors and outdoors seem to be gradually blurring. The home is turning into an urban jungle, and plants are being transformed into interior design objects. Numerous start-ups and designers are demonstrating how imaginatively interiors can be decorated with houseplants.

Founded in 2014, Pikaplant is known for its terrarium. The concept is as simple as it is ingenious: an upside-down Mason jar with an airtight seal in which the plant recycles water and nutrients again and again. Green fingers? None needed.

The Amsterdam company has not only picked up on the plant trend. It also uses natural materials, such as glass, steel and ceramic. All the products are handmade locally.

Tiny Gardens is similarly eco-friendly: Produced in Berlin, the bottle gardens are made from recycled glass, a cork lid and charcoal from sustainably managed forests. The plant in the mouth-blown glass needs watering just a few times a year. A stylish addition to any room, these indoor gardens make a sustainable statement.

Green Fortune launched on the market in 2004 as a pioneer in vertical gardens. The Swedish company has furnished numerous buildings, restaurants and offices with green walls, decorating entire surfaces with houseplants. The plants sit in evenly arranged containers filled with soil or coconut fibres. A frame holds the containers together, and a tank irrigates the plants.

The vertical arrangement makes green walls incredible space savers and stunning design elements. They can also be used as room dividers: There are both fixed versions and mobile options on castors. A real plant trend in open-plan offices and co-working spaces.

The beautiful can also be practical. The plant trend for vertical gardens that foster self-sufficiency is proving to be as big as it is exciting. Even without a balcony, herbs and lettuce can be grown on the kitchen wall, where they take up hardly any space.

Specially designed furniture with LED lighting is used in kitchen farming: for instance, the stylish Herbert wall shelf by Ponix or the Indoor Gardens by Rise Gardens, which even have additional storage space. Rise Gardens designed its modular system with a focus on simplicity. It includes a mobile app that monitors the water level and the plants’ growth, and reminds the user when and how much their plants need watering or fertilising.

It is a well-known fact that plants need light. Nui Studio has turned this need into a product with the Mygdal Plantlight . It combines the principle of a self-regulating ecosystem with intelligent technology: Users can even control the LED lamp from out and about via an app. Not only watering is a thing of the past; the need for daylight is overcome as well.

At least every bit as elegant is the standard lamp by Bloss . Two of the three spherical elements serve as planters, and the third as a lamp. The minimalist, harmonious design works beautifully in any arrangement: hanging alongside and above each other, diagonally along the wall or as a room divider.

Multifunctionality is increasingly becoming a guiding principle for the furniture industry. Contemporary living and working situations call for creative solutions from living spaces, whether these are large areas divided into different zones or studio apartments and small balconies. Multifunctional plant pots provide a natural element, give the space structure and serve as shelving or storage.

Take the Twist Box by müller möbelfabrikation, for instance. The understated piece of furniture is a side table, plant pot, storage solution and room divider in one. Danish interior design brand ferm living also follows the principle of room division: The timelessly designed Plant Box has space for several plants and can store items such as newspapers. Free-standing or alongside a wall, it catches everyone’s eye.

The urban jungle can also be combined with the enduring trend for minimalism : Individual palm leaves in simple vases conjure up a natural, exotic ambience without overpowering the room. At the other end of the spectrum is the cosy boho style or the art deco look , which calls for bright colours, organic patterns, wooden furniture and a multitude of plants. Even industrial-style apartments can be decorated with houseplants: Incorporating concrete plant pots or housing plants on powder-coated steel shelves are just two possibilities.

Perhaps it is plants’ quality as living beings that has given this trend such a long life. They fill a room with vitality and change it slightly every day – just like the people who live in it. All this bodes well for the natural trend .