We write a lot about plants and gardening here at MLuxe, mostly thanks to the great contributions from regular guest writer P. Allen Smith. This morning, a piece from Elle Decor about hip houseplants caught our eye — and inspired us to pull together this collection of basic ways houseplants can jazz up a room or space easily.

Even the simplest plants can add a touch of liveliness, energy and style to a room:

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When chosen carefully, and put in the right sort of pot, plants can complement the design of the room:

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And of course, some nice flowers will add color — complementary, contrasting, subtle, bold…whatever the room needs — and fragrance:

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Sometimes a simple plant can let a stylish pot bring the style:

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If you want something that looks neat but is easy to maintain, try a jade:

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To really push things into the realm of funky and interesting, bring in a cactus — believe it or not, your friends will actually hae trouble keeping their curious hands off!

[photo "Cactus on a dark surface" courtesy of Robert Nunnally via Flickr]

Related reading:

• Outdoor garden accessories round-up
• Turning Your Thumb Green
• Upstairs, downstairs: Staircases as architectural attractions
• Giving some attention to ceilings
• Hooked on hands (and feet)

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Great ideas on using plants to add some life to the decor of a room. Mother Nature uses all shapes and sizes in her plan, and so should we.

I love house plants. They add a lot to so many indoor spaces.
Thanks for using my little cactus photo here. please add the proper attribution credit per the Creative Commons license.

Thanks for the comment. We adjusted the photo attribution to fuller format.