Spring is on the way and you might be one of many looking to revitalise your home to honour the seasonal renewal. What’s one easy way to enhance your home’s beauty significantly while going greener? A living wall could be the breath of fresh air you need.
There are many ways to incorporate plants in nearly every room of your home, so are you ready to get inspired? Here are eight different ways to create your own living wall.
What Are the Benefits of a Living Wall?
Why should you make a living wall, anyway? As it turns out, these artistic installations have oodles of health benefits. For one, they can help you decrease stress. Gazing at natural scenes like plants alters your autonomic nervous system function, engaging the parasympathetic side — the half that tells you to relax.
You’ll also get a mental health boost by taking another step to combat climate change. Unlike dead substances like concrete, living walls reflect energy instead of absorbing it. Furthermore, the process of evapotranspiration cools your house naturally, lowering your AC bills in the summer.
You could also boost your immunity. Plants emit substances called phytoncides for defence that kick immune cells into high gear when people inhale them. A living wall could be the next best thing to having a nature centre where you can hike within walking distance of your home.
Finally, living walls can help you breathe more easily. Many houseplants can clear the air of pollutants like dust, VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and even harsher contaminants like formaldehyde. Here, you thought all they did was beautify the environment.
8 Different Ways to Create a Living Wall
You’re ready to go to town creating your living wall. What should you do? Here are some ideas to spur your creativity.
1. Frame a Pretty Picture
What’s more beautiful than a 3-dimensional picture containing living plants? You can buy pre-made kits at retailers like Amazon. Alternatively, it isn’t hard to learn how to convert nearly any frame into a planter.
You can use a single large frame to create a focal point “garden.” Another idea is to use several smaller frames, perhaps interspersing your favourite family vacation portraits in between boxes of living greenery.
2. Elevate Your Repurposing Skills
Most hardware stores give away the wooden pallets that carry the goods to their shelves for free — hello, repurposing. These frames provide lumber for countless purposes, including creating a living wall.
One idea is to mount the entire pallet on the wall, then screw various plant containers into it. You can also make a stand-up version if you rent an apartment and don’t want to put holes in your landlord’s walls. Another is to use the repurposed wood to create various frames and holders.
3. Keep Herbs on Hand in the Kitchen
Wouldn’t it be glorious if you could season your meals by reaching out and snipping some fresh thyme, well, anytime? You can. A living herb wall in your kitchen provides a beautiful focal point while keeping the fresh seasonings you need at arm’s length.
Here, you’ll need a sunny spot, as most varieties used in cooking require at least six hours of direct sunlight per day. However, you might be able to start this project for cheap. Many soft herbs grow from cuttings placed in water — try it with the next bunch you buy at the grocery and see if you can get roots to sprout.
4. A Growing Collage
Remember making collages in school? It was so much fun cutting out various shapes and arranging them to create an emotional impact.
You can do the same with your living wall. What are some of your favourite plant species? Make a collage of some of your must-haves, perhaps arranging them by theme, like relaxation or a day at the beach.
5. A Passel of Pots
Do you have tons of decorative pots that are as pretty as the plants they contain? Get busy constructing various shelves to show off their beauty. Another idea is to find an old entertainment centre, refinish it with some chalk paint and turn it into a 3-dimensional plant wall.
6. Privacy, Please
You may have begun working from home permanently since the pandemic, but find your corner office in the living room too distraction-filled for your taste. Consider building a small half-wall around your workspace and make it a living one with plants. You might need a few DIY skills to complete this project, but you can use the repurposed lumber from those pallets.
7. Daisy Chains
You’ve undoubtedly seen crocheted plant hangers at retail stores, but you can put your skills to the test creatively by needling up longer chains that can hold multiple containers. Create enough of them along an old curtain rod for a living “tapestry” that can make an entire family room wall into a green focal point.
8. Take It Outside
Have you neglected your home’s exterior? You’ll spend more time outside during the warm months, so go crazy creating a living wall on your home’s outer walls, too. For example, you could grab another pallet and some more chalk paint to make a living wall herb garden for your outdoor kitchen or plant some ivy that will creep up your exterior stone like an old-school castle.
Tips for Caring for Your Living Wall
Once you install your living wall, you need to care for it to keep it at its healthy best. What are some tips for novice indoor gardeners to keep their living walls fresh and green?
- Consider your lighting: When selecting plants, look for species that thrive in the available lighting in your home.
- Think about room temperature: Some plants thrive best if you keep them warm, while others like cooler abodes.
- Remember watering needs and your skill level: Understand your ability level. Plants like orchids take considerable skill, while others are suitable for beginners. Select varieties that need similar amounts of water. Post a schedule on your refrigerator, so you remember when and how much to add.
Purify Your Home With a Living Wall
Do you want to beautify your home for spring? Why not try a living wall? Get growing today and enjoy cleaner indoor air and improved mental and physical health.
Rose Morrison is a home living writer with over five years experience writing in the industry. She is the managing editor of Renovated.com and loves to cover home renovations and decor to inspire everyone to live their best DIY life. When she isn’t writing, you’ll find her baking something to satisfy her never-ending sweet tooth.