A bathroom is more than just a space for your early morning shower, it should be a place for self-indulgence and relaxation too. And if there’s one thing that can add an element of luxury to a rustic bathroom, it’s an oasis of high humidity loving plants.
According to the Designer Desire Report, rustic bathrooms with lush green houseplants are featured heavily in many of the rustic bathroom images on Pinterest to achieve a natural bathroom look.
The higher humidity levels help plenty of plants live their best lives and make bathrooms a more pleasant place by improving the decor and air quality. Choose houseplants that thrive in humidity carefully by selecting the varieties that can withstand the warmth and low light in the bathroom. Select a mix of hanging plants, potted varieties, and those that will work in a plant stand to create a lush-looking bathroom. Make use of your window frames and ledges, and add warmth to your interiors with these best houseplants for your bathroom.
1. Snake Plant (Sansevieria)
Also known as ‘Mother in Law’s Tongue’, the snake plant is an excellent bathroom plant. It is a humidity-tolerant plant, so if you like to take long, hot showers it may not need any extra watering at all.
The snake plant also has a whole host of other benefits. The long, vertical leaves are known to help filter toxins out of the air, which is perfect if you are worried about chemicals from cleaning products or counteracting any bad smells.
If you’re working with a small bathroom, a snake plant is a great choice as the leaves grow upwards rather than outwards, so it won’t take up too much floor space. Be sure to dust the leaves regularly to ensure they can still soak up the light and moisture in your rustic bathroom.
2. Air Plants (Tillandsia spp.)
These low-maintenance, hardy plants flourish in hot and humid conditions, so they will feel right at home in your bathroom. Taking nutrients from the air, light and water through tiny vessels in the leaves, these plants don’t need any soil at all which makes them incredibly easy to care for.
As they don’t need to be potted in soil, you can get creative when decorating with air plants. An effective way to display them is by creating a DIY vertical garden, which you can create using some wire mesh and a photo frame. Gently thread your air plants through the mesh grid and hang them on your bathroom wall. The humid air will circulate around the plants helping your green wall to flourish.
3. Boston Fern
This full and bushy plant needs quite a lot of room to grow, so it’s perfect if you have a bit more space to play with when creating your bathroom canopy. Ferns in general thrive in high moisture and warm environments, which means you can even get in on the ‘shower plant’ trend.
If your toiletries have taken all of your bathroom shelf space, why not try a hanging planter? These are a great way to fill unused space and can even be fixed up next to your shower, meaning your thirsty fern will get watered each time you hop in.
4. Ivy
These houseplants that absorb moisture are incredibly effective air purifiers, making them a great choice for your bathroom oasis. They grow very quickly, so you can start to make use of all that vertical space in your bathroom.
Ivy is a fast-growing plant with beautiful trailing tendrils which can be left to hang or clipped to encourage them to creep along a wall, shower curtain rod or even a door frame.
However, it is important to be careful when incorporating Ivy into your bathroom as the plant can easily get out of control if not maintained regularly and can be damaging to properties.
5. Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
Spider plants are the gift that keeps on giving. Once they reach maturity, these clumpy, grassy plants will start to grow offshoots, which can be trimmed and propagated to create even more spider plants – more plants for no extra cash!
If you feel like your bathroom canopy is a bit sparse, you can play around with your bathroom mirrors. Placing plants near them and changing the position of the reflection can give the illusion of more greenery.
6. Calathea (Calathea spp.)
The colourful waxy leaves grown by the Calathea will be a striking addition to a sea of green in your bathroom rainforest. They can be quite fussy and do prefer a shady spot with lots of humidity. Calathea does start quite small, but grow quickly, so start them off on a shelf and move them to the floor as they mature.
Pick your plant pots carefully. They should be made from a porous material like terracotta and have a few drainage holes at the bottom. But if your decorative pot doesn’t have this, it’s worth buying a smaller terracotta pot to sit on some drainage pebbles within the decorative pot. You won’t see it, but your plant will thank you for it.
7. Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)
Pothos is another best plant for the bathroom and a great trailing plant for your shower. These lush green plants absorb plenty of water when kept in the bathroom but to check the moisture level, just gently poke your finger in the soil and if it comes out clean, they will need a top-up.
8. Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum spp.)
With deep, glossy green leaves and bright white flowers, the peace lily is one of the most effective plants to include in your bathroom plant collection. They love moisture and prefer to be kept in low-light locations, but if you find your lily is wilting regularly, it might be time to upgrade to a bigger pot.
Look to the ceiling for more space to keep your plants. Fill unused space (like above a toilet) with hanging planters to draw your eye upwards and give the illusion of a larger bathroom.
9. Heartleaf Philodendron (Philodendron scandens)
Heartleaf philodendrons are incredibly hardy, making them a great option for new plant owners. Few house plants are as eager to climb as a heartleaf philodendron. If you allow the long stems to grow you can put the plant in a hanging basket for a beautiful bathroom wall feature or let it trail along a wall for the ultimate bathroom oasis.
Keep a philodendron full and bushy by pinching back the growing tips, or allow the tips to grow out and trail over the sides of the pot.
10. Aloe Vera
Aloe vera is a succulent plant which means it doesn’t need much water, especially when it is being kept in the humidity of a bathroom. Overwatering can be damaging to the Aloe plant.
The gel inside the leaves of the aloe vera plant can be used to soothe burns and sore skin, but only break off a small amount each time you need to use it.
Similar to the spider plant, aloe vera produces “shoots” that can be trimmed and propagated in the soil to create brand new plants.
If your plant’s leaves are flattening out instead of growing upright it may not be getting enough light.
11. Alocasia (Alocasia portodora)
Alocasia loves humidity and brightness, so they’ll thrive in a bathroom with high humidity. They like soil a little on the drier side so make sure to water only when the top section of its soil is dry. It grows best in a humid environment that combats Alocasia’s most common pest, spider mites.
Just be careful not to set this leafy plant too close to the windowsill — the leaves are prone to sunburn.