Home » Gardening

7 Reasons Why Indoor Plants Make You Feel Good

ByMiranda Published on

Houseplants are beautiful, aren’t they? They certainly have physical beauty, but indoor plants offer so much more. There are many benefits of having indoor plants in your home. Here, we’ll list a few reasons why houseplants make you feel good.

You may associate feeling good with daily exercise and healthy eating. Those are certainly contributing factors for good health, but what about your home environment?

Houseplants are visually appealing, which is one reason why aspiring gardeners purchase them. Indoor plants are also preferable because of their easy-care and low-maintenance.

However, vibrant houseplants like snake plants and bromeliads can do much more than decorate your home. Indoor plants can also improve your home environment and make you feel good too. Here are just a few reasons why indoor plants make you feel good!

Some Of Our General Houseplant Guides For Your Reference:

1.) Indoor plants purify the air.

All plants emit oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide. In contrast, humans do the opposite; we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Doesn’t that make indoor plants the perfect pair for us?

Furthermore, NASA published a study that reveals that houseplants may be removing, or at least decreasing, toxins from the air. That is excellent news considering how many toxins and air pollutants can invade our homes. You can read more about indoor air quality at the American Lung Association.

You can read more on Nell’s thoughts here: How Well Do Houseplants Really Clean The Air?

a large zz plant in a purple pot sits on a plant stand

2.) Memory retention can improve when you’re surrounded by nature.

Do you enjoy being productive and avoiding mental fatigue? As humans, we feel good about ourselves when we’re living productive lives. One of the best ways to be productive is through excellent memory retention (AKA longer attention spans).

Multiple studies have shown that being around plants can improve your memory retention by up to 20%. This particular study by the University of Michigan found that students that were surrounded by nature had better attention spans than students who walked down city streets.

The results from this study make sense the more you think about it. Which environment sounds more appealing to you? City streets made of concrete or plants that are full of color and contain a variety of smells? The latter sounds much more inviting!

In climates with long, cold winters or urban environments, houseplants are even more special. They help bring nature into what can feel like a confined space.

3.) Indoor plants may reduce psychological and physiological stress.

In this modern, technological world, most of us spend a good portion of our time working on computers or using our smartphones. We still have yet to know what the longterm psychological effects are from using technology so frequently. However, you can get a good idea from research performed on the mental effects of social media, that frequent usage is can lead to anxiety and depression.

There was another particular study that referred to those feeling stress while learning new technology as technostress. At the conclusion of this study, it was reported that an “active interaction” with plants indicated that participants felt “promotion of comfortable, soothed, and natural feelings.”

Imagine how you’d feel after spending 30 minutes with plants versus spending 30 minutes scrolling through social media or browsing the internet?

close up of orange red & yellow guzmania bromeliad flowers

4.) Nurturing plants may improve your mental well-being.

By nature, humans enjoy nurturing and contributing positively to their environments. One way to do this is by caring for plants. They are something to take care of & nurture. It’s fun to watch them grow.

Flowering plants, like orchids, anthuriums, and bromeliads, make us feel as good as having a bouquet of fresh flowers. Plus they last longer!

If your plants are happy, they’ll grow. Propagating them is very rewarding. Then, when they start growing babies or producing cuttings, you can give those baby plants to family and friends.

5.) Indoor plants make us happy and content.

How do you feel when you go shopping? Shopping for a new plant is fun. It feels good to bring that new beauty home! It’s just like shopping for a new pair of shoes or sporting equipment.

Watching a plant grow and thrive is a rewarding feeling. Imagine owning several indoor plants and watching them succeed! You’ll feel so happy watching your plants’ progress.

6.) Houseplants can add more livelihood to your home.

Indoor plants add so much to our indoor environments. They provide living accents to our decor, which may help calm us and encourage a relaxing mood. Decor such as wood paneling, floral pillows, and live plants are known to clear the mind because they’ll remind of a nature trail.

Being in a room surrounded by houseplants has proven to make us feel better both physically and psychologically. There was one study conducted by Kansas State University that found that patients exposed to houseplants in their hospital room had much better recovery periods. If patients are experiencing that type of success in hospital rooms, how do you think that indoor plants could affect your home life?

7.) Spending time around plants is good for our souls and overall health.

Spending time in nature is good for our souls. Houseplants bring the outdoors in! Since we spend about 85% of our time indoors, it’s such a great idea to include nature in our homes.

a large, colorful neoregelia bromeliad in a metal urn planter sits on a table next to a window

Having an indoor garden is a fun, recreational activity. It’s really simple to get started because there are so many easy-care houseplants to choose from! Here is a quick list of some of our favorites: bromeliads, snake plants, and aloe vera.

a large rubber plant in a basket grows next to an arrowhead plant in a basket

Do you have houseplants in your home? How do they affect your well-being? Please let us know in the comments below!

Did You Enjoy Learning About the Benefits of Having Indoor Plants? Feel Free to Check Out Some of these Easy-Care Houseplant Resources:

Bromeliad Care

Snake Plant Care

We have plenty of houseplant care guides here.

About the Author
Miranda is a content manager for Joy Us Garden. In her free time, she enjoys hiking with her dog, reading a good book, or critiquing a new movie or TV show. Check out her marketing blog here.

Similar Posts