Plants: Real vs. Faux

Florals in my livingroom, sofa table off the foyer. Click to enlarge all pics.

I'm glad you all enjoyed my yardsale finds for this week! It's always fun to share them with you...and ya'll really appreciate a good bargain, I can just tell! LOL


Over the years, I've been involved in many decorating boards & have seen many discussions on real vs. faux plants & there seems to be a lot of differing opinions on this subject, so I thought that would be a great thing for us to talk about. I have both real & fake plants in my house & have been completely content with that for many years, but recently have begun to wonder if I have "too" many fake ones. Maybe it's time to rethink this. I made all of my arrangements & some of them are over 10 years old & while I still like them very much, perhaps it's time to change some of them.

I really need to get my magazines out & pay closer attention to what they are doing in there now. I know lots of photo shoots have real flowers in them, but you wonder what the homeowners do all the time...every day. It would be nice to have real flowers everywhere, but that's not practical either(or realistic $$ wise). But, this is the real world, so what do we do when we want some texture & life that plants inject in a room?

So, what do you do in your home? Real or fake...I'd love to know! Now ugly silk flowers, I just can't stomach either, but I'm sure if some real designers walked in my house, many of them would probably poo-poo my fake plants...I'm sure of it.

This one I made many years ago too & it's in my livingroom. I probably do have too many, now that I think about it, but what do you put in their place? I can't imagine taking out all the greenery, it would feel so cold & sterile. My livingroom has a floral needlepoint rug, muted colors & these arrangements fit in there so well colorwise.
These 2 iron urns are on the coffeetable with fake plants too.
I made 2 of these sconces a few years ago & this is all dried material. I still like them too, with the artichokes & pomegranites & feathers. These colors work well with the painting here. I love Mary Carol Garrity's style & notice that she uses lots of dried floral material. I'm trying to use more of that too & nothing garish or really fakey looking. I think I've succeeded at that,
at least I hope I have. This is an iron base with more pomegranites & artichokes & feathers. I still like it...and if this wasn't here, what then? I'd love to hear from all of you...is there something else that gives life to a room other than greenery or flowers?
Ivy topiary I made several years ago too & it's on a wall sconce seen from the foyer.
Tin container in the diningroom with more greenery & berries.
Large silk palm in the livingroom..this really adds some drama, so I'm sure I won't change it out. I'd love to do a real one, but I've heard they are pretty temperamental to keep going indoors. That's the main reason I do mostly fakes...real ones require quite a bit of care to keep them pretty.
Faux forsythia in a tin on my desk. These really look real, but of course, forsythia only blooms in the spring.

A faux orchid is on the foyer table & I love the colors in this piece. It has the roots & leaves & I have it in a white urn. I see lots of orchids in magazines & they always look so pretty. We just added all those real plants & trees in my office & that really made me start thinking about all of this.
And here are some of my real plants. In the foyer, this iron basket is hanging on the wall.
And this floor planter is just inside the front door, also real. The ivy in this one is really taking off. This planter was a yardsale find for $5 last year.
Downstairs in the den is another peace lilly.
And I have several African violets in the laundryroom.

So, I do love real plants, it's just that they are not practical everywhere. I know there are so many people who absolutely hate fake plants, florals & greenery & wouldn't be caught dead with them in their house. I'm just not one of those people. I think there is a place for both...in the right balance. I've just been rethinking mine lately & maybe need to pare it back a little. And I do agree that the fakes need to be good quality. I hate the plasticy looking cheapies that you see out there...you know what I'm talking about!? For the most part, I think mine look like good quality, but I'm sure some who walk in my house would hate them.

So, tell me what you think! I'd love to know...this could be a great discussion. What do you do in your house??

Don't miss my 100th post giveaway on Wednesday!!