You can use plants and landscaping to enhance your house’s curb appeal and add to the property’s value.

You can use houseplants to achieve a similar effect indoors. If you select plants and containers that match your décor you will increase the overall effect.

The choice of plants and containers is a matter of personal tatse but does also require a certain artistic sense so that your overall design flows and blends rather than detracts. The intent is to enhance not to hinder the design.

There are few had and fast rules that cannot be broken but there are guidelines that make good sense and will help you to determine and achieve the look that is best for your home.

Context, consider this to be rule or rather guideline number one: every plant arrangement must be designed in context, which means that you need to consider the appearance of the plant itself, but also the container you will sue, the background against which the plant will be seen and the room features and furniture which will accompany the plant.

A plant arrangement may be as simple as one plant in a basic container or a more complex and formal grouping of plants.

When selecting the right plants for the right place in you home, you are, from a design perspective taking into consideration: plant form which includes knowing what the plant will look like as it grows, leaf size, leaf shape, leaf colour, leaf texture, flower size, flower shape and flower colour.

Once you have made your plant choices bearing the above in mind, it s time to decide on the container or containers. You are not simply the proper size container for the plant but a container that is also a design element.

Hen you are selecting a container the first thing to consider is the proportion of the container to the plant, the smaller the plant, the more it should equal the size of the container it is placed in.

Once you have made this choice, it is then time to give thought to the exact spot where you will place the plant and container.

Remember you goal is not to just stick and plant in a pot and watch it grow but to select a plant and container combination that will enhance the rooms’ ambience. So when selecting a container you need to give thought to shape, colour and texture.

If you plan is to group a number of plants and container together you can select containers that are all the same colour which will work to stabilize the room’s mood. For example, your plant grouping could be all terra cotta containers of differing sizes depending upon the plants used or you can use a combination of tall, graceful containers paired with a smaller, more oval one.

If you are working with more than one plant then you will want to achieve a sense of balance in yoru choices. A guideline worth remembering is that a larger plant is often more visually striking than a smaller one; however, leaf colour, shape or texture must also be taken into consideration.

A plant or plant can capture the visitor’s eye and draw attention toward the arrangement and away from other areas that you do not want to emphasize.

Indoor plants can continue the work that your landscaping began and provide continuity to your overall design.

Plants add beauty and warmth to indoor settings and the more care you take in selecting the right plant for the right place, the better the home’s ambience will be for visitors and those who live there.