12 Houseplants You Need to Improve Your Environment

Living plants can help clean the air you breathe, add panache to any room, and make you feel better – and with fall right around the corner, now is the perfect time to go plant-shopping to find houseplants that perk up every room in your home.

Why Keep Plants in Your Home?

In addition to the health benefits – including the fact that live plants can help you de-stress – they add a style element you can’t replicate with anything else. If you’re selling your home, plants can help create an amazing first impression with buyers, too.

Check out these 12 houseplants you need to improve your environment in this room-by-room guide.

3 Houseplants Your Kitchen Needs

Brighten your kitchen counters and keep the air fresh and breathable with:

Madagascar jasmine. Madagascar jasmine has beautiful, waxy flowers. It’s a climbing vine that does best when you water it frequently and prune back its growth.
African spear. A relative of Mother-in-law’s Tongue, the African spear can handle low light and infrequent watering.
Goldfish plant. Small, waxy leaves and bright orange flowers that look like goldfish make this plant the perfect addition to your kitchen. It thrives on partial sunlight.

3 Houseplants Your Living Room Needs

Your living space could benefit from a few living plants – these are some of the best to place near the sofa or beneath a window:

Heartleaf philodendron. Heartleaf philodendron are tough plants that can survive with very little light.
Purple rubber tree plant. Low light requirements and infrequent watering make the purple rubber tree plant a great addition to your living room. It does need to be kept warm (over 60 degrees F), but it grows large enough to fill a corner.
Cast iron plant. The easy-to-care-for cast iron plant is bright green but doesn’t require a lot of light. You can even keep it by a door because it can tolerate temperature fluctuations.

3 Houseplants Your Bathrooms Need

Typically more humid than any other room in the house – and the most natural-light-challenged – your bathroom can benefit tremendously from these houseplants:

Aloe vera. Aloe requires minimal care, and it does best in indirect light (too much sunlight will burn its leaves). Bonus: You can use the juice from the leaves to soothe scrapes and minor burns.
Bamboo. Bamboo can get large, but it thrives in low and indirect light – plus it removes toxins from the air.
Croton plant. Croton plants come in a wide range of colorful shades. While they grow slowly, they can get pretty large – up to 3 feet by 3 feet – so it’s important to trim them now and then. They need bright, indirect light and plenty of moisture.

3 Houseplants Your Bedroom Needs

Waking up refreshed and cheerful is easier when you see living plants around you, so check out these three for the bedroom:

Parlor palm. Preferring bright, indirect light, the parlor palm can grow with average humidity and only moderately frequent watering.
Snake plant. Don’t let the name put you off – this beautiful plant grows long, vertical leaves, and it’s a succulent, which means it can tolerate low-moisture.
Pothos. Famously hard to kill, pothos has thick leaves that store water. It also grows in a wide range of light conditions.