Greenery can transform your home, bringing life and a feeling of peace to your space and improving your mental health and wellbeing. Find out why faux foliage is a timeless home décor option

When I first started pursuing my interest in flowers, I saw it as an opportunity to explore my creativity and translate my love of nature into an activity that I could enjoy at home. The one thing I could never have predicted is the difference that being surrounded by flowers and foliage has made to my family’s overall wellbeing.

Life can be hectic. We often find ourselves moving through the day at 100mph, juggling several different plates all at once: pursuing careers, caring for our children, staying on top of our life admin, keeping the house clean – the list goes on! Naturally, these fast-paced lifestyles can take a toll on our mental health and wellbeing. Experts advise us to slow down and spend more time in nature, but these well-meaning suggestions can sometimes feel like just another thing we need to add to our never-ending to-do lists.

That’s where green foliage can help.

The power of green

Green is one of the most powerful colours found in nature. In fact, it’s been proven that spending just a few minutes of the day surrounded by greenery can drastically improve our moods. It’s also a colour with multiple meanings, representing new beginnings, renewal, growth, and abundance.

When used in our homes, green can bring feelings of peace, harmony, and balance. It can rejuvenate and restore us, helping us to feel more connected to nature and instilling a sense of safety and security. And that’s not all; its many positive psychological effects include enhancing our creativity and focus.

Experimenting with faux foliage

If the thought of caring for house plants and keeping up with a watering schedule feels like just another chore, faux foliage can offer a fantastic alternative. Artificial plants have evolved a lot in recent years and the dusty, plastic plants you might remember from childhood are thankfully long gone.

Today’s faux foliage benefits from advanced technology, materials, and incredible attention to detail. Not only that, but they’re also fuss free and hypoallergenic, so they won’t affect those suffering with allergies. The faux stems I use in my displays are unbelievably realistic, but do they offer the same benefits to our homes as fresh greenery?

From my own experience, high quality faux foliage brings the same sense of calm and balance to a space as the real thing. And the science agrees with me, confirming that both fresh and faux plants can have a positive effect on our mental wellbeing.

How to use faux foliage in your home

At The Suffolk Nest, we believe that we have the most realistic and lifelike stems on the market - we’re very proud of our foliage range. I’ve also found that there are endless opportunities to create interesting and distinctive displays with faux foliage.

Using greenery on its own can make a real statement and add vitality to your home, but sometimes all you need is a couple of stems and your favourite vase to keep the arrangement light and airy while infusing your space with peace and harmony.

Green eucalyptus is one of our most popular foliage stems and it’s easy to see why. It’s real-touch qualities and dusty green leaves can instantly lift a room, especially when grouped together (I recommend four stems at a time).

Artificial foliage: my top tips

To achieve a natural look with your faux foliage, it all starts with the stems. While each piece you receive will be the same, you can differentiate them by bending and arching them into shape. There are no set rules when it comes to this, so don’t be afraid to play. You can also try trimming the top off a couple of the stems to create varying heights. I tend to use shorter pieces at the rim of the vase and build asymmetric arrangements, which look and feel more authentic, especially when using the same stem throughout.

In my opinion, you can’t go wrong when investing in great faux foliage for your home. It looks fantastic on its own or when used as a base for different arrangements year-round. Artificial greenery is timeless, easy to maintain, and offers a wealth of benefits for your mental health and wellbeing. It’s one of the most important features of my interior design and a tool I use to freshen and brighten spaces throughout the seasons.