It seems plants are here to add a little more than just greenery to your bedroom décor! There’s no denying a plant’s ability to breathe some life into your space – both physically and visually – but the research says there’s plenty of benefits that stem beyond just their natural beauty. We’ve put together a few of these benefits below that may have you reworking your current bedroom space to make way for some fabulous foliage.
A touch of vibrancy
This first one is a bit of a given, but a benefit, nonetheless. Plants. Look. Good. With the vast array of indoor plants readily available, there’s bound to be one that suits your bedroom style. A new plant for the bedroom is also the perfect excuse to pick up a gorgeous indoor pot which is yet another chance to add a pop of colour and some extra texture to your sleep space.
With the aesthetic side of things out of the way, let’s chat health perks of the humble bedroom plant.
Image via @hamptonsinthescrub
A nifty air purifier and air quality improver
Out of sight, out of mind. No truer phrase could be spoken for the way we treat air quality. It’s easy to forget how darn important it is when we simply cannot see it.
Riddle us this: When the word pollution gets thrown around where does your mind go? Ours naturally gravitates to the outdoors, high traffic areas, power plants and factories, but we are sorry to tell you, there’s plenty of items around the house that are also polluting your air indoors. It all sounds very grim, but the solution is quite a favourable one. Plants have the ability to naturally filter air pollutants and improve air quality and it’s done through a couple of processes you very likely learnt about in year 7 science:
- Through the process of photosynthesis (remember this guy?), plants absorb carbon dioxide to create and release fresh oxygen into the air. As well as removing carbon dioxide from the air, this process also allows plants to remove harmful toxins, ergo improving your indoor air quality.
- Plants increase humidity through a process called evapotranspiration whereby water from the soil travels from the plant’s roots, through the stems and up to the leaves, where it is evaporated into the air through microscopic pores in the leaves.
Science aside, the main takeaway here is that better air begets better health and with a plant in the bedroom – the place you spend a third of your life – this purified air you are unconsciously breathing in as you snooze is certainly going to have it’s benefits.
Image via @claire_alyce
A snooze booster
You wouldn’t think a plant would have much to say when it comes to your sleep, but there are in fact a few ways it can help improve those evening zeds you catch. As unofficial bed specialists, it’s no surprise we are big on sleep. Not only what we sleep on, but the environment we sleep in. Our quality of sleep has a huge impact on our overall health and as one of the most routine parts of our lifestyle, you might as well make your bedroom a space you can reap some health benefits from. Enter, the bedroom plant. There’s two main ways popping a plant in the bedroom will improve the quality of your sleep:
- It will help purify the air (refer back to previous point for a refresher on this)
- If you opt for a plant like lavender or jasmine in the bedroom, the calming scent it emits will naturally help you relax and fall asleep faster.
Image via @littlestronghome
A mood lifter, stress releaser
It may not compare to walking through a luscious rainforest, but the research says that being around nature is a proven way to relieve stress and anxiety and help pick you up when you’re not having the best of days (something many of us may now experience more regularly given current circumstances). Playing back into the health benefits of your new bedroom plants, any improvements made in that department are also going to better equip us to deal with our mental load.
Here’s another part of becoming a bedroom plant parent you may not have considered - the actual process of taking care of plants is therapeutic and fulfilling in itself. Watering your plants and giving them the nutrients they need to thrive is a great way to switch off and wind down and relishing in the fact that your plants genuinely rely on you for their growth and survival, well that’s pretty darn gratifying.
So there it is. The humble bedroom plant is here for the win. Aesthetically, mentally and medically, the range of benefits are really looking like a little (virtual) trip to the garden centre might be on the cards. This week, why not make the most of being stuck at home and research which plants will work best with your space. Order your plants online or make a list for when freedom returns and you can fill your physical trolley with some mood boosting, sleep improving, stress releasing, air purifying bedroom plants.
Image via @theoakhousee