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Studies Show Houseplants Improve Your Mental Health & Wellness

April 15, 2019

Houseplants near a couch

Plants are pretty important. News flash: plants are an essential part of our survival. Think about it: food, construction materials, natural medicine, oh and the process of taking carbon dioxide and transforming it into clean oxygen. It's no surprise then, recent studies show that indoor plants have a direct impact on our mental health.

There are many reasons why household plants might improve our mood, and an unmistakable reason is they’re better to smell and look at. Wallpaper and carpet have a hard time competing with living things and floral colors. A recent study supports this notion in its report that there is a direct correlation between the amount of care required to keep a plant alive and the positive psychological effect it had in the caretaker. The researched showed, those who share extended periods of time around plants tend to have stronger relationships with friends & family and accordingly experience increased levels of happiness.

best apartment home houseplants 

Plants Help People...Help People

Additional research found that flowering plants provide increased levels of happiness and therefore, having flowering houseplants around the apartment home and in the workplace is likely to significantly reduce stress levels. Science is science. Studies have shown that people who spend more time around houseplants are almost always more likely to offer help to others, and tend to have more advanced social relationships. People who care for plants & animals are more likely to care for others, reaching out to their peers and forming shared bonds out of their mutual interests.

Plants Help Reduce Stress 

Natural aesthetic beauty is known to have a relaxing effect, and keeping ornamental plants around the apartment home is an excellent way to decrease stress and anxiety. As a result of the positive energy derived from a home or work space that has plants in it, the likelihood of suffering from stress-related depression is lessened as well. Collective research supports that by having plants in your home or work place, you improve your mental health by inducing peace and open spaces to your brain.

Plants Help You Remember Your Honey To-Do List

Including ornamental plants in the office increases memory retention and concentration. How? The calming influence of natural environments increases a person’s ability to concentrate on the task at hand. Going outside with nature or being under the influence of plants inside your home can increase memory retention up to twenty percent, a recent University of Michigan study reported (Sewach).

Convinced yet? Great. Here are some examples of ideas for great plants to have in your apartment home:

best houseplants in apartment homes

Spider Plant

Spider plants are a very popular indoor botanicals, and your family is going to like them because umm duh, it's name, spider plant They’re very easy to take care of, and spider plants are especially good at absorbing mold and allergens from the air and can be put to good use in parts of the house that are prone to dampness: laundry room, downstairs, and bathrooms. Spider plants are fairly easy to care for, too. Provide them with bright, indirect light and your spider plant will love you. Water the houseplant well but do not overwater, which can lead to root rot. Even better, spider plants don't mind drying out partially between waterings.

Snake Plant

A study of CO2 conversion in plants by Harvard University discovered that the snake plant is one of the greatest oxygen-producing houseplants. For those interested, ficus and pothos are the other plants included on the list. One of the greatest snake plant health benefits is the plant can make small and ongoing contribution to eliminate toxic air pollutants. It can do more than absorb CO too, it can absorb benzene, formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene; all of which are cancer-causing pollutants. Snake plants are some of the easiest to care for plants out there as snake plants can go weeks of being forgotten without losing neither shape nor healthy look. They can thrive in environments with very low light and water. 

See any similarities with our two houseplants? If you have kid visitors, we’re hopefully making it easier to get them excited! Who gets Spider and who gets Snake?