How To Choose a Faux Plant

Indoor greenery is a beautiful way to make your space more inviting, but if you have genuine challenges keeping plants alive, then faux plants are an excellent solution if you want the lush accents of living plants with no upkeep, no watering, and no fallen leaves.

Today's faux plants are realistic and expertly made from high-quality materials and are potted in a stylish container. There are real benefits to having live plants in the house. They improve air quality, among other things. However, if you have allergies, a black thumb, or kids under three, you may want to avoid living plants.

Here are some suggestions to consider when you're in the market for faux plants.

Table of Contents Hide

What Material Should My Faux Plants Be?
What Should I Look for When I'm Buying Faux Plants?
What Kind of Faux Plants Should I Buy?
Where Should I Put My Fake Plants?
How Do I Take Care of My Faux Plants?

What Material Should My Faux Plants Be?

Nowadays, faux plants have realistic texture, color, and even reflective properties that mimic real leaves. But how do you know what material your faux plant should be?

There are two main types of fake plants that you will see on the modern market - fabric and plastic. There are pros and cons to each. However, when buying a faux plant, the main thing to consider is which material realistically resembles the plant that you are in the market for.

Plastic

Modern technology has undoubtedly made faux plants look much more realistic. Some plastic plants are made using molds of real plants featuring varigations found naturally in plant leaves. Others are filled with foam for ultra-realistic texture. If the plant you're looking for features hardy foliage, like a succulent or an aloe, then a quality plastic plant will look more life-like.

Artificial Plastic Foliage Grass In Basket

Artificial Plastic Desktop Eucalyptus Plant

Artificial Lavender Flowering Plant In Planter

Silk

Prepare to spend a little extra money if you want your fake silk plant to look realistic. Silk is an excellent choice for flowering plants, but it is more prone to wear and tear than plastic plants, which means they require more maintenance to keep them looking realistic. If you're in the market for a plant that blossoms or flowers, like a rose or an orchid, you may want to opt for a silk plant.

What Should I Look for When I'm Buying Faux Plants?

When you're looking to decorate your house with faux greenery, it's all about the details.

Avoid buying a faux plant that looks overly done and includes gimmicks like fake raindrops on its leaves.
Plants that are over-stuffed, meaning that they have way too many leaves and stems for a real plant, is another clue that the plant is not authentic.
When you're in the market for faux plants, look at all the elements. Check out the container. Does it look cheap and gaudy, or is it made of quality materials?
Fake potted plants also include some dirt and sometimes a few roots popping up out of the soil for realism. These are excellent details that make your faux plant collection look like the genuine thing.

What Kind of Faux Plants Should I Buy?

The kind of plant you want in your home depends entirely on your taste and design goals. Faux plants add the same elements as real plants, without the hassle. They add softness and lushness and create a fantastic focal point for any room.

Some options to consider when you're buying faux plants are to go for plants that already look fake. Ficus, palms, and fiddle leaf fig trees have shiny leaves that already look like plastic, which makes it difficult to tell the difference between real and fake varieties.

Artificial Silk Potted Ficus Tree In Basket

Artificial Silk Potted Variegated Ficus Tree In Basket

Artificial Fiddle Leaf Fig Plant In Basket

Artificial Silk Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree In Planter

Orchids are an excellent option for a fake flowering plant with its broad, shiny, stiff leaves and architectural blossoms. It's challenging to tell if an orchid is a fake at a glance, and these elegant flowers make excellent centerpieces in your dining area or living room.

Artificial Silk Orchids Floral Arrangement In Planter

Faux Orchid Floral Arrangement In Glass Vase

Orange Polyester Faux Orchid Flower In Vase

Artificial Plastic Orchids Floral Arrangement In Planter

Where Should I Put My Fake Plants?

If you have a fireplace with a mantel, use this natural focal point and frame it with some of the larger faux plants to create a visually pleasing symmetrical design. Or if you only have medium to small plants as options, arrange them across your mantel to create depth and dimensionin your space.

To create a pleasing aesthetic, display faux plants at different levels in your house. Leave the largest in their containers on the floor, but for some medium plants, use the varying heights in your home, like staircases, bookshelves, or the tops of cabinets, to display them.

Since you won't need to worry about how much sun or humidity the plant is getting, you can place them in a variety of versatile locations.

Single stem flowers or faux bouquets look great when grouped on a table. When creating this sort of tablescape, choose flowers and plants that complement one another in size and style.

Larger plants can be positioned in an empty corner or next to sofas and armchairs without being overwhelmed by the scale of the furniture. They are also a great way to hide unsightly electrical outlets and cords.

How Do I Take Care of My Faux Plants?

The number one benefit of using faux plants instead of real ones is that you don't have to take care of them. Nevertheless, there are a few things to keep your plants looking as authentic as possible.

Cleaning. Dust them periodically to ensure that a thin layer of dust doesn't settle on the leaves and petals. Dust is an easy giveaway that the plant is not real.
Out of Direct Sun. Make sure your silk blossoms aren't directly in the sunlight. Silk left in sunlight will fade.
Move Them Around. If you're using a faux bouquet of tea roses as a centerpiece for an event you're hosting, you may want to switch the bouquet out the next time you have the same set of friends over. A gorgeous bouquet of blooms that stays fresh week after week is a sure sign the roses were made, not grown.

Faux plants are an excellent way to add the allure of living things into your house without the pressure of trying to keep them alive. Look for high-end silk or plastic which imitate the kind of plant you're looking to buy and place them thoughtfully throughout your house to create an organic effect.