30 tips and tricks for bathroom plants

Live your greenest life by filling your bathroom with plants! They beautify this often sterile-looking space, adding life and personality. But they also have a whole host of health benefits to offer. For example, adding fresh oxygen, removing toxins in the air, boosting your mood and reducing stress. Gee, what’s not to love?

Bathroom plants are such a simple and affordable way to update your bathroom. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a single trailing plant on the windowsill or a full green plant wall.

In thinking about the best plants for bathrooms, consider species that thrive in a humid, warm environment. And there are many to choose from. You will need plants that enjoy indirect light, can handle varying temperatures, are virtually impossible to kill and are low maintenance (I mean, who needs another bathroom chore?).

And of course, go for those plants that look lush and create a sense of serenity for those all-important spa vibes.

The most suitable plants for bathrooms

Let’s start with a quick list of the best plants for bathrooms. My top picks are:

• Sansevieria
• Pothos
• Peace Lily
• Spider plants
• Heart-leaf Philodendron
• Monstera
• Staghorn ferns
• Boston ferns
• Aloe Vera
• Bamboo
• Calathea
• Orchids
• Azaleas
• Succulents and cacti
• Airplants

But there are plenty of options for plants that are perfect for bathrooms, and these are just a starting point. Your best bet is to speak to the experts at your local nursery or gardening centre. They’ll know exactly what to recommend and they’ll have the healthiest specimens for you to buy.

Now let’s dive into our top tips for a gorgeous green bathroom!

1. Embrace trailing plants

Trailing plants are so popular in bathrooms thanks to how they combine function and aesthetic impact. They look beautiful cascading gently over the edges of hanging baskets. And their form provides texture and softens up any hard edges of your bathroom.

2. Have a feature plant

Enhance your bathroom by using materials inspired by nature (like timber stools) and adding a feature plant. Pick a strongly architectural plant such as the Rubber Leaf Plant. Its glossy, dark green foliage is perfect for contrasting with bathroom whites.

3. Choose dramatic single plants

We all love the Fiddle Leaf Fig but consider it as an alternative to the Monstera plant. It makes just as much impact but is a little less common than the good old Fiddle Leaf Fig. Look out for the rarer Variegated Monstera too. Its white and green foliage provides even more interest.

4. Add a touch of life

Every bathroom should really have something organic in it—even just a tiny little burst. Here, a gorgeous modern bathroom with some serious tiling going on gets an injection of greenery in the form of a tiny cascading plant.

Love tiles? Check out more bathroom tiling ideas and hire an expert tiler when you’re ready.

5. Liven up a plain colour scheme

Although I love an all-white bathroom, it can lapse into looking clinical if you’re not careful. But plants automatically bring colour in and avoid that overly hospital-white feeling.

6. Use plants as visual tricks

Diverting attention from the ‘uglier’ aspects of your bathroom is a job that bathroom plants do exceptionally well. The eye is immediately drawn to the plants hanging above a toilet and away from the cistern itself.

7. Create some bathtime zen

Add hanging plants from the ceiling to resemble organic chandeliers. Bushy plants like Spider plants and ferns always make a striking contrast to white bathroom tile.

8. Enjoy air purification from succulents

Add some succulents and cacti to your green bathroom mix and take advantage of their superior air-purifying abilities. They’re typically easy to care for and love bright light, so place them on your windowsill.

9. Fill up a neglected space

Do you have any “dead space” or unused floor space that doesn’t seem to fit anything? Fill it with an oversized floor plant such as a rampant fern, and now you have an instant focal point.

10. Hang baskets from the ceiling

Rather than use up valuable floor space, use the ceiling to hang baskets of plants, whether upright kinds or trailing plants.

11. Use your corners

The corners of your bathtub are ideal for placing little potted plants. Make sure you choose a plant that doesn’t mind low light if your tub corner isn’t in a well-lit position. Your tub plant should also love humidity and water as it will get the odd spray. Plants like Pothos or Sansevieria (snakeplants) work especially well. And, bonus, they’re great beginner indoor plants.

12. Take advantage of sunny windows

Most plants prefer bright indirect to direct light, so your choices are greater when your space has access to sunlight. If you have a windowsill that’s flooded with sunlight, line up a bunch of sun-loving indoor plants on it. Sansevieria (snakeplants) and Chinese Money trees will reward you by thriving here.

13. Make use of mirrors

When placing your bathroom plants, take advantage of how a bathroom mirror’s reflection can double up the amount of greenery you see. Here, a tall, slim Variegated Schefflera (umbrella) plant is the perfect shape for a narrow bathroom.

14. Gather them in baskets

Planters in natural, organic materials, such as cane baskets, look gorgeous with bathroom plants. Place a plastic tray under your plant’s container in the bottom of your basket, so you won’t have to remove the plant to water it.

15. Invite plants into your shower

The stark lines of this modern bathroom are tempered by the soft, rounded shapes created by these in-shower plants. The result is a more serene space for you to shower. Having plants in the shower area improves the air quality, helps get rid of bacteria and absorbs excess moisture in the air.

16. Go with a botanical theme

If you love the look of plants in the bathroom, you might like to continue the fresh theme with a botanical or floral print shower curtain.

17. Have a plant wall shelf

You can also create a simple plant wall by filling open shelving, which is great if you lack floor space. This white shelving looks stunning thanks to the use of white planter pots. They create unity despite the wide variety of plants incorporated.

18. Use plants as accents

Even just one or two plants can dramatically upgrade a bathroom, providing a pop of green to act as an accent to a plain bathroom.

19. Juxtapose contrasting plants

Mix different kinds of indoor plants to create contrast and balance. For example, some plants are spikier looking, while others have softly rounded forms. Here, a variety of spiky cacti sit beside some Elephant ears with sweet rounded leaves.

20. Go overboard

Love the jungle look? Then, by all means, make your bathroom a little extra by grouping a lot of large, leafy plants together. It’s bold, it makes a strong statement – and if you squint your eyes while you’re in the tub, you’ll be transported to a rainforest watering hole.

21. Or exercise subtlety and restraint

But you don’t need a huge number of plants to get the benefit of bathroom greenery. Even just a single trailing plant creating a waterfall effect over the tub will have an impact. (With a minimalist bathroom, there’s a lot of visual focus on the tub. So make sure it’s in perfect condition – you may need to think about bath resurfacing.)

22. Create a green view

Blur the boundaries between indoors and outdoors by bringing in large plants and positioning them near the window.

23. Use bathroom plants for Boho vibes

An eclectic assortment of pretty potted plants easily evokes Boho style. Apart from the aesthetic effect, having plants in your bathroom will make your bath time even more relaxing.

24. Have plants at a variety of heights

Incorporating several plants? Create more visual interest by placing them at different heights rather than all at the same level. Place plants on the vanity or the floor or add a plant on a little wooden stool.

25.  The more the merrier

Surround your bathtub with greenery. Hang or place in planters along with the tub or windowsill. For example, you might have a Pothos (Devil’s Ivy) plant hanging above the bathtub while a Parlor palm adorns your window. These two plants love medium light and need minimal watering.

26. But one plant makes all the difference

Don’t underestimate the impact that a single plant can make in your bathroom. It completely changes the vibe and provides that all-important connection to nature.

27. Create a living plant wall

You can create wall art from plants by constructing a plant wall. These can be a bit high maintenance but are worth it for the effect. Just make sure to choose plants that stay green all year long!

28. Keep function in mind

Your bathroom serves many practical purposes, and you should keep this in mind when planning your plants. You need to be able to carry out self-care tasks without a plant interfering, no matter how good it looks. This means you may prefer to limit your greenery to something unobtrusive.

29. Think outside the box

If you are keen on a lush plant feature but don’t have a lot of room, consider alternatives to shelving or corners of the bathtub. Instead display your plants in a fun, unusual way, such as a DIY hanging shelf constructed from a ladder hung by ropes. Not only does it make a great plant display, but it will give you something pleasing to look at while you’re soaking.

30. Arrange plant cuttings in vases

Last but not least, an alternative to keeping potted plants in the bathroom is to pop oversized leaf cuttings into vases where they’ll create drama and texture.

A tip from interior gardening designers is to snip a little eucalyptus and place it in a vase. Its soothing aroma and antimicrobial properties are released by the humidity of the shower.

Of course, you could also choose plants and foliage that appeal to you visually, such as a stem from your favourite garden bush arranged on the counter, like this.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed our green bathroom tips. Which plants are your favourites? Let us know in a comment below! Also, I haven’t forgotten about the other rooms in the house. Here’s our beautiful guide to the best indoor plants.