Decorating With Fake Plants

Decorating With Fake Flowers And Greenery

Plants bring out the colour, texture, fullness, softness, and a touch of life to your space. They also make your area feel cool and fresh, and rooms and sometimes feel incomplete without them. So, should you give up on that if you lack the patience, talent, and interest to grow plants? Absolutely not!

For many people Artificial plants bring up thoughts of dusty, fluoro green plastic from grandma's house. However, forget all the negative information you know about fake plants and look at today’s exquisitely made versions of fake plants. Are you ready to fake it with fake plants? Read on to find out how you can decorate your space with fake plants.

How To Decorate With Faux Plants

Decorating with fake plants does not have to be complicated. In fact, there are simple ways to make them look natural and blend with real plants, whether it’s potted plants or fresh clippings from the garden.

Here are a few easy decorating ideas to make fake plants look like the real thing

Mix with Real Flowers

Mixing your artificial stems with natural florals livens up your environment. To make them look more realistic, curve the branches of the fake plants to match the real flowers. If you are using a glass vase, you can add artificial water to create the picture perfect look. This will make sure your artificial plant won’t degrade over time and will also keep them perfectly in place.

Dust Them Often

Just like all things home décor related, fake plants can experience a build up dirt and dust over time. Regularly dusting your plants makes them look lush and fresh. If you want to clean them, you can wash them with warm soapy water and move them around a basin or sink to remove the dirt. Then, rinse off the soapy water. To dry the plants, wipe with a soft towel, and air dry to avoid kinks and formation of wrinkles.

Keep It Simple

The best way to decorate with artificial plants is by keeping the styling simple. For a guest room, you can use succulents and faux ivy. Additionally, if you are placing two artificial plants next to each other, make sure you style them differently. Why? Because real plants are never identical, even if they are the same kind.

Place Them in Natural Light

All plants and flowers need sunlight to thrive. To pass off artificial plants as real, you should place them where you can place real plants. Placing them in areas with natural light just takes things one step further in making sure any passers by won’t notice they’re not real.

Place Them Outside

To liven your porch area, place several fake plants outside. Choose potted trees to place at the corner to get a bold and green look.

Make Hoops and Wreaths with Faux Plants

You can decorate with fake plants when making hoops and wreaths since you can use them all year round.

How To Take Care Of Artificial Plants

Fake plants may not need the tender care of watering or collecting dead leaves after a draft, but they still need the care to look good. However, this care mainly involves how to deal with dust. While real leaves also collect dust, artificial plants overdo it. Always aim to dust your artificial plants regularly and deep clean them at least twice a year.

Again, if you cannot correctly dust your faux plants, you can use any leaf shine product to keep the dust from settling.

How To Deep Clean Your Fake Plants

Deep cleaning your artificial plants is not complicated. In fact, you probably have all the items needed at home already. However, you need to pay special care to silk flowers. Why don’t you try one of the following four methods!

Leaf-by-Leaf Cleaning

This cleaning method is labour-intensive, especially if you have many artificial plants. However, you can do it quickly as you only need a wet cloth.

Follow the steps below:
Step One: Dampen a microfibre cloth and wipe the fake plants, leaf by leaf.
Step Two: Rinse the cloth two or three times. If the faux plant is large, you should rinse the cloth twice or thrice before you are done.

Using the Shower

If your faux plants can fit in the shower, this is the easiest method to apply to dust them. All you'll need is a standard paintbrush and a trash bag. Additionally, you can clean them outside if you have a hose.
Follow the steps below:
Step One: Take the fake plants to the bathroom or outside.
Step Two: Dust the plant with a paintbrush or use a vacuum cleaner to suck the dust. However, it is best to be careful as the suction can destroy some delicate faux plants.
Step Three: Protect areas susceptible to water. If your plant has some areas that should not get wet, wrap the garbage bag properly around that area and seal with packing tape.
Step Four: Run the shower or hose and clean the stem, leaves, and other dust-ridden surfaces.
Step Five: Dry the plant gently with a towel or place outside to air dry.

Cleaning Using Vinegar

What should you do if water alone cannot effectively clean the grime or you have very intricate faux plants? All you need is to add white vinegar to the water to remove the built-up dust.
Step One: Create a vinegar and water mixture. Create a 1:1 vinegar and water solution and put it in a spray bottle.
Step Two: Spray the artificial plant and let the solution sit for ten minutes.
Step Three: Wipe the plant with a wet cloth to remove the dust and vinegar solution.

Cleaning Using Hairspray

This is the quickest way, advocated by some interior designers, to clean your faux plants without the tedious work. Spray the fake plant with hairspray and shake to remove the dust. The hairspray eliminates the dust and leaves a clean and shiny surface.

How To Clean Delicate Silk Flowers

It would help if you gave silk flowers special care since they contain dye. Gently wiping or using salt or cornmeal to scrape off the dust from the leaves and petals will not hurt your silk plant. Additionally, if you have a large zip lock bag, here is what you should do:

Step One: Add a cup of salt/cornmeal to a zip lock bag/pillowcase.Take the zip lock bag or a pillowcase and add a cup of salt or cornmeal.
Step Two: Place your silk flowers into the bag/pillowcase. 
Step Three: Tie or seal the bag. Tie the pillowcase or seal the bag.
Step Four: Shake the flowers gently for around five minutes.
Step Five: Remove the flowers from the pillowcase or bag and dust off the salt or cornmeal. If possible, use a hairdryer to shake off the cornmeal or salt but stick to the cool settings only. Be sure to undertake this step outside or over a garbage bin.
Step Six: Replace stems

Replace the stems on your silk plant.

How To Dispose Of Artificial Plants

While artificial plants can last for years, sometimes you need a change. Maybe you want to change the colours of your space, or you are moving to a new area that needs different colours. So what should you do with these old fake plants? Disposing of artificial plants may not be as simple as disposing of any garbage waste. However, there are plenty of different earth-friendly ways you can dispose of faux plants. These include:

Give the Plant a Makeover

You may be wondering what to do with the old faux plants in your home. First of all, check whether it can be recycled into something better. Is it possible to give the plant a new look? Can you trim it to give it a unique shape? One of the best things about faux plants is you can easily change containers to provide them with a new look.

You can also take two different arrangements and swap several stems to create two new plants. Feel free to try out new things; after all, what's the worst thing that can happen?

Use as Garden Apparatus

Every part of an artificial plant has value. For the strong steel branches, you can use them in your fence and for the small branches, use them to support vegetables. If you have a flower bed, you can use the log as a flower bed.

Donate

The best way to keep artificial plants from landfills is by donating to someone else. Give your friends and family any unwanted faux plants. You can also contribute to child care facilities, nursing homes, schools, or hospitals. In such places, they can use the plant as a decoration on the verandah to welcome visitors.

Additionally, you can donate to schools to decorate classrooms or as theatre props. You may think you are getting rid of an old plant, but you never know the impact of small acts of kindness. As they say, pay it forward.

Repurpose the Fake Plant

If you do not know what to do with your old fake plant, you can repurpose it to something new; there are many DIY options. From headboards to hair bows, you can fix fake plants to anything.

Sell Your Fake Plants

Do you have a thrift store near your home? If yes, you can sell your old fake plants at a lower price. You may not get your money value back, but you will put a smile on someone's face. Moreover, the proceeds from thrift shops go to orphanages, churches, or war-torn servicemen's families.

Place It Outside

If your artificial plant no longer works for you indoors, you can place it on the porch or patio. Sometimes you may forget to decorate outdoor living spaces. Well, decorate your deck, and don't worry about water and the sun.

Decorate Your Space With Faux Plants

Have you noticed how faux plants can brighten your space? They are absolutely everywhere, and what's more, you cannot tell them apart from natural plants. Naturally, the best part about them is the low maintenance. However, always dust them once in a while as dust is a dead giveaway.

Faux plants will not only save you time but give you value for your money through hundreds of different ideas and inspirations.

If you have been holding back from decorating your space with fake plants because of some uncertainties, you can now do so by following the tips mentioned above. You can also always reach out to reliable and professional fake plant enthusiasts to help you decorate your space with fake plants.

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