Do you want to brighten up your bathroom with some bathroom house plants? Struggling to decide which will be most suitable? This bathroom house plants guide gives you 5 of the best indoor plants for bathroom environments – from air purification to low light levels and maintenance.
Many bathrooms feature frosted glass windows which are great for keeping the nosey neighbours at bay, but not so good for light levels. There are some indoor plants that are perfectly suited to low light levels though, and they keep your bathroom fresh, smelling amazing and looking fantastic too.
Let's get stuck into the top 5 bathroom house plants!
Best Indoor Plants for Bathrooms
The best indoor plants for bathrooms without windows or bathrooms with frosted glass tend to be low light-loving plants. Some plants even thrive in dark conditions. For air purifying, check out number 2 on our list as this one is perfect for cleaning up your bathroom. Lastly, most bathroom house plants tend to not be very fussy which is brilliant because they don't need too much attention to stay alive.
Calathea
There are two traits that make the calathea a truly awesome bathroom house plant. First, it is one of the best low light bathroom plants and does remarkably well in darker conditions. Secondly, it loves humidity, which there will be an abundance of in your bathroom, especially if you regularly take hot showers.
The calathea can be placed on pretty much any bathroom surface where there is space and will then draw the moisture out of the air – making it a very low maintenance houseplant too. They are also quite striking to look at, transforming your bathroom by adding a wonderful burst of green patterned foliage.
English Ivy
Many bathrooms like to incorporate a trailing plant of some sort because they look that little bit more interesting than their windowsill pot counterparts. Of the trailing plants for bathrooms, the English ivy is unquestionably the most suited for several reasons:
- English ivy thrives in warm and humid conditions.
- They are easy to keep and look amazing.
- They filter toxins out of the air.
- They also remove other airborne germs – even, erm, poo!
As if that last point wasn't enough to convince you to buy some English Ivy, they are also incredibly resilient and can grow well in less than optimal conditions.
Peace Lily
We typically tend to think of peace lilies as gifts and housewarming presents, but they are also an amazing low light plant for bathrooms. What's more, with their luscious and deep green leaves and strikingly elegant white flowers, they are the perfect house plant for giving your bathroom a fresh look.
Peace lilies are one of the few bathroom house plants that flower in low light conditions too, perfect for that awkward corner that you can't think how to fill or the windowsill by that privacy glass. Lastly, because the bathroom will be humid enough to keep the peace lily's thirst well and truly quenched, you shouldn't have to water it too often either.
Aloe Vera
No bathroom is complete without an aloe vera plant, or at least, no house is complete without one. The aloe vera has long been heralded for its medicinal qualities and the aloe oils that weep from the leaves are used in cosmetics and dressings for sores and wounds. They're also soothing for any burns you pick up around the house.
Aside from their infinite practicality, aloe vera also works to remove formaldehyde and filter other toxins from your bathroom air. Formaldehyde is found in plenty of bathroom cleaning products and has been linked to cancer – it is, without doubt, something you don't want to be breathing in.
Aloe vera is nothing short of a super plant!
Snake Plant (Mother-in-Law's Tongue)
This sharp looking razor-like plant certainly lives up to its namesake. It also grows very vertically which gives it the unusual attribute of not encroaching on surrounding space like most house plants do. Something else the mother-in-law's tongue does well is air filtration and it is so good at this that it even made our top 5 best air purifying house plants list.
The list of toxins the snake plant removes from the air is a long one, but you can expect all the usual suspects from detergents, sprays and cleaning products. The snake plant successfully filters:
- Formaldehyde
- Benzene
- Xylene
- Toluene
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
The snake plant is also a great houseplant for dark bathrooms and needs little in the way of light to flourish. Finally, most house plants start producing carbon dioxide at night because they can't photosynthesise, but the snake plant bucks this trend and continues to produce oxygen.
How to Care for Bathroom House Plants
There are three key attributes that you should look for when selecting bathroom house plants. By checking off the list below you should be able to narrow down your selection and then pick a plant that looks incredible in your bathroom setting.
Humidity – Our bathrooms are humid places, so you need to select house plants that do well in damper conditions. Pick a humidity loving house plant and you may never need to water it.
Low-Light – Bathrooms aren't usually the brightest rooms in our houses due to privacy glass or not even having windows at all. Seek out plants that can still grow in these conditions.
Air Purifying – Our bathrooms quickly build up toxins and germs, making them inhospitable to some house plants. Air purifying plants on the other hand love cleaning up the air and help you breathe better as a result.
Caring for a bathroom house plants beyond these three areas is fairly straightforward. Keep them hydrated and give them a dust every now and then as plants don't like being dusty as it interferes with their living processes.
