Plants are not often used as the main design scheme of a room, but the plant aesthetic has become a more popular choice over time. Many people, including college students across the country, have discovered the benefits of decorating with plants. A plant dorm room aesthetic is centered around the use of plants. And not just one plant. This theme requires you to have several plants. Plants can really make a space come to life, especially when used in abundance. A few prominently displayed plants will bring lots of color and character to a dorm room. You will feel calm and connected to nature when you’re surrounded by earth-toned plants. 

It takes a bit of plant knowledge to pull off this dorm room style. You have to learn how to care for plants, and also learn which ones are the least maintenance. It can be beneficial to get plants that will be manageable for a busy college student. Once you decide on your preferred plants, the next step is figuring out the best ways to display them. Your number of plants, types of plants, and how you show them off will determine how awesome your space looks. Here is how to create an aesthetic plant dorm room!

Why It’s A Good Idea to Decorate With Plants 

Owning plants may seem like hard work, but it can actually be a lot simpler than you might think. When you own relatively low maintenance plants, the benefits far outweigh the negatives. If you aren’t already considering a plant dorm room aesthetic, you may want to go with one when you find out how great it looks!

Plants Fill Empty Space

Plants are fixtures that can be placed anywhere in your dorm room. They will look good on the windowsill, your desk, and even on the floor. Any empty space that you have in your dorm room can be filled in with a plant. If you feel like your room lacks decorations like photos and paintings, a plant will fill that need. Plants will make your dorm room feel full. 

Plants Add a Lively Atmosphere 

Plants fill any room they dominate with lots of life. They function as live decorations, but most of all add a lot because of their presence in nature. Elements of nature have a naturally calming effect on people. Green and brown are earth tones we are wired to respond positively to. Surrounding ourselves with these beneficial colors has the power to lift our spirits and put us in a positive mood. 

Plants Fit With Every Color

Using colorful plants for decoration is much different from using colorful decorations of other kinds. Plants can’t look bad combined with the other colors in your room. Using too much of one color, like green, can look bad if it involves other elements, but an abundance of green plants won’t have the same effect. 

These essential oils from OCM are made from the essence of plants. Scent is another element you can use to immerse your dorm room in a plant aesthetic. 

Which Plants Work Best In A Dorm Room?

Since you’re busy with school, you likely won’t want to deal with the kinds of plants that require too much of your attention. But luckily, not every plant is tough to deal with. If you can find plants that will thrive even as you prioritize your studies, you can have a plant aesthetic dorm room with minimal effort. There are many plants out there that look great inside a room, and won’t require too much attention. 

Succulents

Succulents are an ideal plant for dorm room dwellers. They are easy to handle because they do not require very much maintenance. If you’ve never owned a plant before, a succulent is an easy place to start. You have to make sure to water a succulent once a month. That is because it thrives in a dry environment. You have to replicate that environment for it as much as you can. Watering a succulent too often can kill it. 

The amount of water you give your succulent also depends on where you have placed it. If it receives a lot of direct sunlight, it needs more water, but if it doesn’t get direct sunlight, it needs a lot less. It will also need to be watered more in the summer than in the winter. When the temperature is warmer, the moisture that a succulent stores evaporates more quickly. 

Bamboo

Bamboo is known as the large, tough plant that pandas like to eat. They also happen to make for a really great indoor plant. Bamboo can grow really large if you let it, but if you grow it in a small container, it won’t grow to reach out of control proportions. A bamboo plant is relatively low maintenance, but needs to be watered more than once a week. It is best to make sure that the soil always stays evenly moist. It shouldn’t be too wet or too dry. 

This plant does well when it receives a healthy amount of sunlight. You can leave it in partial shade, but you will need to rotate it so that every part of the plant can get enough access to sunlight. It does really well with typical indoor temperatures. 

Snake Plant

A snake plant is one of the most common types of house plant. Snake plants are easy to grow and easy to maintain because of how indestructible they tend to be. They can thrive in dark areas as well as they can in bright sunlight. But even though they will stay alive when left in the dark, they won’t grow as much. Snake plants grow a lot faster when kept in the sunlight. And you don’t have to leave it in the sun all the time. Just a few hours of sunlight each day will help this plant’s growing process. 

Because this plant isn’t at all easy to kill, it makes a great choice for a dorm room. You won’t have to panic when you forget to care for your plant because your mind was too occupied with other important things. But while this plant is just fine if left underwatered, it does not do too well if it is overwatered. During the spring and summer months, a snake plant should be watered once every three to four weeks. But during the winter time, every two months works fine. 

Pothos Plant

A pothos plant is another easy way to add greenery into your dorm room. They can survive in many types of environments. They do well with bright lighting and in dim lighting. They also do just as well in soil that is low in nutrients as they do in high nutrient soils. Pothos plants can even grow when kept in vases filled with water. Soil is useful, but not completely necessary. But if you place your pothos plant in soil, you can’t just switch it to water, and vice versa. 

This is a great plant for beginners. It does well when kept inside average room temperatures. It is easy for it to grow to long lengths, so you have to keep the size contained, but that is not very hard to do. Just make sure to give the stems a trim when you notice that there is a need for that. 

Money Tree

A money tree is a low maintenance plant that will fit very well in a dorm room. It does best when not given too much attention. Overwatering can damage this plant, as well as giving it too much sunlight. Too much direct sunlight can cause the leaves of this plant to be scorched. When you own a money tree, you will need to supply it with a good amount of humidity. Since it normally thrives in humid environments, simulating a humid atmosphere will help it survive in your dorm room. A humidity enhancing pebble tray can create humidity for your plant, or you can try a humidifier. 

Monstera Plant

A monstera plant is a tropical plant that does best in bright yet indirect sunlight. It needs to be kept in a room that gets lots of natural sunlight, but kept away from windows where it would get too much sunlight. It will not tolerate temperatures below 60 degrees. Room temperature is ideal for a monstera plant. You must also make sure not to water it too often. For this plant, you should only water it once the soil has gone dry. They will need a lot more water in the warmer months than they will during colder months. 

These can grow quite large. If that is something you want to avoid, keep them in more dimly lit areas so they won’t grow too out of control. 

This botanical throw pillow from OCM is a great option for contributing to your room’s plant aesthetic. This pillow is made with 100% polyester and filled with a soft, fluffy filling. It is just as comfortable as it is great to look at! It will also resemble the plants all throughout your room. 

How to Display Your Plants

Plants are amazing for decorating a space, but you should know how best to display them. The spots you choose to keep your plants can have as much of an effect on your dorm room’s appearance as the types of plants you choose. There are traditional plant placements you can use as well as more unique ones. When building a plant aesthetic for your dorm room, getting creative will give your room the type of vibe you’re looking to achieve. 

Vines

Displaying plants across your walls will have your dorm room really immersed in the plant aesthetic. The types of plants that you own will determine whether this display style is possible, but if you can pull it off, your space will turn out looking amazing. Faux vines became a really popular dorm room trend last year, and this trend can be accomplished with both fake and real vines. 

If you get a pothos plant, you can easily display its vines across your wall. When well taken care of, it will grow to cover even more wall space. 

Shelf Plants

The shelf space in your dorm room will make wonderful display cases for your plants. Rather than have your shelves be completely dominated by textbooks, save some of that space to keep your plants. It will make for more fun shelves and bookcases when you add fun visual elements like plants. As long as you still have plenty of space for your books and for your other display items, your shelves will work just as well to hold your plants. 

Windowsill Decoration

Window sills are a popular place for potted plants. When it comes to plants that need plenty of sunlight to thrive, this is the perfect space to put them. They will get plenty of sunlight, and look good from the outside and the inside of your dorm room. 

Corner Placement

Tall plants that need plenty of space will do well when placed in the corners of your dorm room. It is a good way to add color to a typically empty space. Plants that don’t need too much sunlight will do well when placed in more dimly lit corners. The ones that need more sunlight can be placed in the corners that receive more natural light. 

Wall Hanging

High up on your dorm room walls is a very visually appealing spot for plants. Plants that hang down instead of growing upwards will do well with this placement. They will fill in the spaces high up on your walls where you may not normally place decorations. This is one of the best ways to display your indoor plants. 

Having a room that is dominated with plants is a new aesthetic trend that looks great when put to use. Plants are pretty and comforting, and they give our spaces a nice and earthy feel that is naturally relaxing. Go ahead and fill your dorm room with plants so you can revel in how good they make you feel!