Indoor plants not just make your space look brighter. They can also boost your mood, enhance your creativity, reduce your stress levels, increase your productivity, naturally filter air pollutants, and much more.
Most of us don’t realize regarding the important of air quality. With time the insulation, paint, and furniture in our homes can pollute our indoor air with toxins like formaldehyde and benzene. To help purify the air in your home, consider adding plants. Plants absorb harmful gases through the pores in their leaves, filter and clean the air you breathe every day.
Bedroom plants have many health benefits as well as they add a nice touch of decor and bright energy to any indoor space. If you’re looking to add some greenery to your room, below are 10 of the best plants to keep in the bedroom.
- Snake Plant
Snake plant is commonly referred as Mother-In-Law’s tongue, this insanely low-maintenance plant is an optimal choice for the bedroom because not only does it claim a spot on NASA’s list of the top 10 air-purifying plants.
Snake plants are also known for their ability to help remove toxic air pollutants. Though in small contributions, snake plants can absorb cancer-causing pollutants, including CO2, benzene, formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene.
Bedroom Benefit: Filters indoor air during the day and night
Care Tip: Bright indirect light; water occasionally
2. Heart Leaf Philodendron
This trailing plant’s heart-shaped leaves come in a variety of visually appealing variations and are particularly effective at absorbing formaldehyde. Philodendron is probably one of the easiest house plants to grow. Place them nearly anywhere (except direct sun) and they will thrive However, keep out of reach of pets and children because this plant is toxic when eaten.
Bedroom Benefit: Absorbs formaldehyde from the air
Care Tip: Moderate to bright light; water occasionally
3. English Ivy
English Ivy is extremely effective at absorbing formaldehyde, benzene, xylene, and toluene. Not only does English Ivy help rid our air of toxins, but research shows that it may be able to clear air of mold and animal feces as well as improve allergy symptoms. Ivy can thrive in cold and low light situations. Many people like the plant because it stays green all year and makes an attractive ground cover for decorative gardens. It’s also popular as an ornament, especially during Christmas and winter seasons.
Bedroom Benefit: Rids indoor air of toxins
Care Tip: Moderate light; water regularly
4. Golden Pothos
Similar in aesthetic to the heart leaf philodendron, this plant is effective at filtering out formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and benzene and is extremely easy to care for and grow. It is one of the easiest indoor plants to grow. Its trailing stems carry heart-shaped leaves that are irregularly splashed with gold. The trailing stems can train to grow up a trellis or planted in a hanging basket. It has been nicknamed ‘the cubicle plant’ because of how tolerant it is.
Bedroom Benefit: Purifies indoor air of toxins and helps eliminate odors
Care Tip: Moderate light; water regularly
5. Spider Plant
Spider plants produce a rosette of long, thin, arched foliage that is solid green or variegated with white. These easy-to-grow houseplants look especially nice in a hanging basket and were a favorite in Victorian-era households. Here’s how to grow spider plants in your home!
Perfect for a hanging planter, and easy to propagate; this plant is effective at fighting a variety of pollutants such as benzene, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and xylene. Keep these plants in bright to moderate indirect sunlight and water occasionally during initial growth. Once you’ve had the plant for about a year, water moderately.
Bedroom Benefit: Purifies indoor air by removing harmful chemicals
Care Tip: Moderate to bright light; water occasionally
6. Rubber Plant
Rubber trees, formally ficus elastica, can be enjoyed as either medium-sized house plants or grown to become focal point, beautiful indoor trees.
This require low-maintenance with its striking forest green leaves is a powerful toxin eliminator and air purifier. The abundant leaves of this plant draw in large amounts of contaminants, making it excellent at cleaning indoor air. Allow these plants to dry between watering and keep in moderate to low light.
Bedroom Benefit: Improve indoor air quality by absorbing airborne chemicals
Care Tip: Moderate to low light; water occasionally
7. Gardenia
Beloved for their intoxicating fragrance and attractive, waxy, creamy-white flowers contrasting beautifully with their shiny leathery, dark green leaves.
The Gardenia is a little more high maintenance than the other plants on our list, but the extra care needed will definitely be worth your while. These plants bloom gorgeous scented blossoms that are a popular choice for the bedroom. Studies have shown that these plants may help you relieve anxiety and achieve better quality sleep. Make sure to place these plants in bright indirect sunlight and keep the soil continuously moist.
Bedroom Benefit: Help relieve anxiety and promote sleep
Care Tip: Bright indirect light; water weekly
8. Peace Lily
Peace lilies, also known as closet plants, are a popular choice for offices and homes. When it comes to indoor plants, peace lily plants are some of the easiest to care for. But, while peace lily plant care is easy, proper growing conditions are still important. Let’s take a look at the care of peace lilies.
Peace Lilies bloom beautiful white flowers that are perfect for indoors, because they are known to clean the air of formaldehyde, benzene, acetone, alcohols, and trichloroethylene. These plants are poisonous so make sure to place somewhere that is out of reach for children and pets. To care for a Peace Lily, keep the soil moist and place it in an area of your home that gets moderate to bright indirect sunlight.
Bedroom Benefit: Purifies indoor air and can absorb acetone vapors
Care Tip: Moderate to bright indirect light; water regularly
9. Areca Palm
Areca palm is one of the most widely used palms for bright interiors
It is a tropical plant that adds a lush aesthetic to any indoor environment. . It features feathery, arching fronds, each with up to 100 leaflets. These big, bold plants command attention.
These plants are boasted for their air purifying abilities that remove harmful toxins such as benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene. One study found that the Areca Palm is one of the best plants for removing carbon dioxide from the air. These palms grow best in bright indirect light when their soil is kept evenly moist.
Bedroom Benefit: Absorbs air pollutants — purifying indoor air
Care Tip: Bright indirect light; water regularly
10. Aloe Vera
The aloe vera plant is an easy, attractive succulent that makes for a great indoor companion. Aloe Vera releases oxygen at night making it perfect for your sleep environment. It is also one of the easiest plants to care for, because it can tolerate neglect — meaning you can go three weeks without watering it and it will be OK. These succulent plants are also known for their medicinal benefits; the juice from their leaves can be used for scrapes and burns when applied topically.
Bedroom Benefit: Filters indoor air during the day and night
Care Tip: Bright indirect light; water occasionally
Should You Keep Plants in the Bedroom?
Despite the positive benefits indoor plants provide, there are varying opinions when it comes to keeping plants in the bedroom: harmful vs. helpful. Some people believe it may be harmful because plants may respire as humans do, emitting carbon dioxide at night as a reverse response to photosynthesis, but humans and pets produce more CO2 than plants do.
Despite the scare stories, carbon dioxide is actually relatively harmless in small amounts. It is CO2’s cousin, carbon monoxide, that is extremely dangerous and perhaps where the idea that a few houseplants will cause you CO2 suffocation arises. Making the answer to this question a resounding yes; plants are great for the bedroom.
What Is the Best Plant to Have in Your Bedroom?
The best bedroom plant for you will depend on what you’re looking for in a plant. If you’re looking for a plant that filters indoor air even at night, consider adding the snake plant or aloe vera plant to your bedroom. If you’re looking for a plant that eliminates odors as well as purifies the air, go for the golden pothos. Compare the health benefits and care tips of each to choose which bedroom plant is best for you.
The Benefits of Bedroom Plants
One of the greatest benefits of keeping plants in the bedroom is that they have the ability to improve indoor air quality. Dry indoor air is blamed for a host of ailments like respiratory problems, sore throats, colds, and even breakouts. Indoor plants help to maintain, and in some cases increase, humidity levels by emitting water vapor during transpiration. And in addition to emitting oxygen and humidity — plants produce negative ions, similar to many fancy air-purifying machines. The negative ions attach themselves to, and effectively remove, any particles in the air such as dust, mold spores, bacteria, and allergens.
The presence of negative ions has also been shown to increase psychological health, productivity, and overall well-being. Some common houseplants even take it a step further in air quality control, naturally filtering indoor air pollutants like formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene, toluene, and benzene.
One of the most under-appreciated benefits of houseplants is the calming effect they have — making them the perfect addition to your sleep space. Although there’s no scientific evidence that a houseplant can increase your quantity of sleep, they can turn your bedroom into a zen den to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. If you’re in the market for some new bedroom plants, make sure to match your potted plants to your bedding for an even sleeker sleep space.