How To Style Your Faux Plant

You’ve unwrapped your new faux plant, given it an approving nod and placed it in a corner. Job done, right? Well... not quite.

While artificial plants don’t need watering, pruning or pep talks, they do deserve a little attention. With a few clever styling tricks (and a sprinkle of creativity), you can take your faux foliage from flat-pack to fabulous.

Whether you’re styling a faux fiddle leaf fig, a Monstera, or a palm that’s more drama than diva, the steps are pretty much the same. Here's your full guide to getting the most natural-looking artificial plant.

Pick the Right Pot

Your faux plant may come in a nursery pot, but that’s basically its underpants. Nobody needs to see that.

To make it home-ready, choose a decorative pot that suits your space. As a rule of thumb, go for something around 5-10cm wider than the nursery pot. This gives you enough room to style, weigh it down, and still keep everything looking polished.

Love a rustic look? Try natural clay or textured ceramics. More into sleek and modern? Matte black or white is your friend.

Gather Your Styling Kit

This isn’t a full DIY project, but a little prep makes things smoother. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Scissors or secateurs (for trimming packaging or rogue plastic)
  
  

• A trowel or scoop
  
  

• A protective sheet or newspaper (to keep things tidy)
  
  

• A decorative pot
  
  

• Your finishing touch: sphagnum moss, clay pebbles, or potting soil
  
  

Top Tip: Our Soil Ninja moss and pebbles are perfect for a decorative topping, and our Beards & Daisies potting mix is the dream if you want it to look like the real deal.

Set the Scene

Before you get too excited, protect the area you’re working in. Lay down your sheet, grab a coffee (optional but encouraged), and let’s get to it.

Stabilise the Base

Faux plants can be top-heavy, especially taller ones like artificial trees or palms. To avoid any wobbly drama, fill the bottom third of your decorative pot with something sturdy.

You’ve got options here:

• Clay pebbles
  
  

• Soil
  
  

• Stones or gravel

This base gives your plant support and elevates the nursery pot inside, so the foliage sits at the right height. Clever, right?

Position Your Plant

Time to nestle your plant into its forever home.

Place the nursery pot into your decorative planter and check that it’s sitting straight and level. Adjust as needed by shifting the base filler until it looks natural, no one needs to know it didn’t wake up like this!

Lock It In

Once it’s standing confidently, fill the gaps and top layer around the nursery pot with your chosen filler..

This keeps it from sliding around and gives it a planted-in-place look. No one will know it’s not sipping on rainwater from the Amazon.

Style the Fronds

Now, bring your plant to life by giving it shape and structure.

Start at the base and bend out each stem or frond. Most artificial plants have wired stems, so you can gently tease them into place. Work your way upwards, fluffing as you go, and try to avoid making it look too symmetrical - natural plants are a little wild, and yours should be too.

Smooth the Creases

Many faux plants arrive a little squashed from travel. If you spot any odd bends or wrinkles, simply smooth them out with your hands. A gentle press here and there works wonders. Most creases will naturally relax over a day or two.

Top tip: The warmth of your hands helps soften the plastic, making it easier to shape.

Fluff and Final Touches

To give your plant that extra volume and softness, give it a gentle shake. Yep, a little shake and shimmy to fluff the leaves and let them settle into a natural position.

Step back, admire your handiwork and make any final tweaks. Does one frond need more zhush? Is there too much symmetry? Trust your eye - you’ve got this.

Faux plants aren’t just low-maintenance, they’re zero-maintenance. But that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a good styling moment. With the right pot, a realistic base, and a bit of frond-fluffing, your artificial plant can look every bit as good as the real thing (maybe even better).

Ready to bring home a plant that always looks good (no watering can required)? Explore our full faux range here.