Indoor Plantscaping (part 2)

Today, we are continuing our subject of New Year’s resolution which involves the introduction of plants within the building interior. The presence of plants within building interiors could be seen as a step forward, towards what’s better. The use of plants could be seen as small steps towards saving our own health and through that, saving our environment. That is undeniably important. 

There are many design options within interior plantscaping. If wanting to consider a large number of plants, it is worth hiring an experienced interior plantscaper, who will not only advise on the visual aesthetics but also have the knowledge of taking care of those plants as well as their effects on the microclimate of a building interior. Those are the facts you may want to consider before deciding on a large number of plants. Professional advice may be needed.

Your plantscaper, if you decide to hire one, will definitely discuss all the details with you. If you would like to use a small amount of plants and try this on your own, it is important to consider two facts. First, while introducing plants to an interior, it is important to consider the amount of light within the room. Most plants will benefit from large amounts of natural light, which means if you have large windows within your portable office your plants will be glowing. The second fact is regarding interior design. It is important to consider the color of the interior. Bright colored walls will highlight the presence of plants. Green plants will look great particularly within white walls and maybe with the addition of natural colors such as wood, pebbles or sand. Remember, there are many more possibilities to choose from. Read about particular plants prior to introducing those to an interior of your portable cabin. Have a look at Wolverton’s list of 50 plants that purify the air (link to the list can be found in the sources section below, or within part 1 of this article).

For many, New Year equals new hope and a new start. We often decide to undertake changes in our daily life and daily routine in order to improve on some aspects of our life. It usually involves new commitments. Change, if required, need to be made. This is how progress is being made. Air pollution, discussed in part 1 of this article, is a serious subject. If we focus on small steps and improve the air condition of our interiors, we will improve our health as well as the health of others. If more people decide to consider this change, we will work towards the greater good. The impact is on all of us.

Summarising, we put together a list of some of the most valid reasons of why plants could be seen as beneficial when used within the interior design of an office/hospital/shop or any other type of organization or business;

– The presence of plants within our surroundings benefits our psychological and emotional health, reducing stress, and relaxing us. This leads to increased productivity within the working staff.

– Plants are cleaning the air by getting rid of carbon dioxide and producing oxygen as well as getting rid of many other harmful air compounds (such as VOC’s, explained in part 1 of this article).

– By cleaning the air and influencing positively our emotional health, the presence of plants influences our general health. Again, resulting in a smaller number of days off within working staff.

– It has been proven patients’ recovery speeds up in hospitals while spending time around plants during recovery.

– Plants create a balanced microclimate keeping the air temperature down or up (warming or cooling the room) depending on the indoor conditions. This means the use of indoor plants could be seen as economical.

– Plants have noise reducing qualities.

– By including plants in interior design, the look of the room can transform remarkably. There are many possible ways to do that.

Finally let’s remember, when we use the approach of small steps, we have the biggest chances of success, and let’s consider introducing plants into our surroundings whether we make it our New Year’s resolution or not.

Sources;

NASA SPINOFF (2018), available at https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2007/ps_3.html (Accessed January 2018)

Wolverton Environmental Services (2012), available at http://www.wolvertonenvironmental.com/air.htm (Accessed January 2018)

Plant Air PURIFIER (2016), available at https://www.plantairpurifier.com/product_details_-_overview.html (Accessed January 2018)

Our House Plants (2018), available at https://www.ourhouseplants.com/guides/50-plants-that-clean-the-air (Accessed January 2018)