Silk Plants versus Real Plants

One of the first questions that you must resolve when decorating with plants is whether you want them to be real or artificial. Each choice has positives and negatives. Plenty of sunshine and regular watering are necessities for real greenery that you will need to be able to provide. If there are a lot of insects where you live, real plants and flowers may not be a good idea, because critters often make their homes there. On the other hand, real plants give you a sense of satisfaction when you take care of them, and you feel a little �greener�. Silk or artificial plants are great for storage when you are not using them, such as wreaths or seasonal items. They also are lighter and easier to move. If you decide to go with silk plants, judge carefully how realistic they seem. You don’t want someone to walk into the room and instantly know that it is a fake tree or plant. You want it to catch their eye, make them walk up and feel the leaves before they realize that it is artificial. The best compliment an artificial plant can receive is, �I thought it was real!�

Sprucing up Your Work Area

Sometimes, the walls of your office can feel too much like a penitentiary. Day in and day out, employees will come in and sit down in front of square walls and a computer monitor. It is hard to feel inspired in such a place. Believe it or not, it doesn’t take much to revamp all this dullness into something more inviting and invigorating. Choose a place in your office to add a good-sized tree, such as a Japanese maple, to revitalize your work area. Many offices have put in silk trees because most of their conference rooms or offices do not have natural lighting available. After you have added a couple of trees or bushes, next add a fountain along the wall or in the reception area. With just these few changes, you have transformed the atmosphere of your office and created a much more productive work area.

Keeping your Dcor (Relatively) Simple

When decorating your house, the look you are going for can be classy, unique, retro, chic, modern, eclectic, or traditional. Any style is great�"as long as the style isn’t chaotic. It can be easy to get carried away, but often the result is opposite of what is intended. Have you ever been in a room that is so overstuffed with dcor that it is awkward to move around?You may have had the experience of walking into someone’s garage and seeing that it is so full of decorative materials that there is not enough room for anything else (like an automobile). To avoid these problems, keep in mind how you use a certain room as you decorate it. Kitchen counter space, for instance, most often needs to be used for cooking, and decorative pieces should be kept at a minimum. Bedrooms, by contrast, are a great place to add flourishes and accents, since it is mainly a room for resting and for storing personal times. If you find yourself moving a dcor item more than a couple times a week, it is probably not in a good place. Move it somewhere else, and if necessary, replace it with something more serviceable.

Ferns

If you would like to add some artificial trees or plants to your home, you can do so in one of two ways. You can find some beautiful greenery, bring it home, and play around with your furniture layout so that your plant has adequate room and a natural resting place. A different way to go about the process is to make sure your home is designed as you like it, choose areas to add plants or trees, and then shop for something that would fit the areas you have designated. In any case, if you are looking to fill a small location with a good eye-catching plant, you should look at the enormous selection of ferns available. Ferns are great in tight spaces because their leaves are quite narrow and grow into whatever area that you please. You can find a great selection of ferns, both real and silk. Ferns are pretty resilient, and are fairly easy to care for and maintain. Silk plants need no maintenance at all, and will stay the same size, so there is no need to worry about them growing too large. Ferns work better as �background� plants than centerpieces, but still ad a nice touch. One great idea is to have a display of several ferns (perhaps along a table or a window sill) with a flower arrangement as the focal point.