5 Easy Houseplants for Colorful Home Decor

Houseplants: is there any more appealing decor? I love houseplants (especially beautiful but easy houseplants) and own many, and I love the way they make my home feel vibrant and alive (literally!). I adore monsteras, and I love snake plants, but sometimes you want a plant that breaks away from the green trend into other, less common plant color palettes. If you’re looking for some easy-to-care-for houseplants that will make a big statement, look no further than this list of colorful, low maintenance plants. 

This list includes some upright and some hanging plants so you can find a good balance of ‘thrillers and spillers’ for your home. 

Here are 5 dramatic and colorful options for using houseplants as decor.

Plant Specs

Coleus

Scientific Name: Coleus scutellarioides

Color: Red, Green, Purple, or Orange

Light Requirements: Indirect sunlight

Watering Requirements: 1-2 times per week

Soil Requirements: Moisture retaining but well-draining soil (all-purpose potting soil)

Fertilizing Requirements: Typically unneeded

Notes: Cut back the ends of coleus branches to encourage new branches to grow and keep the plant looking bushy and full. Root cuttings in water and plant as new plants

I was introduced to coleus by a friend, and I am hooked! These plants grow like crazy and come in a wide variety of vibrant, unique colors. I have red and purple coleus, and even the green varieties often sport red veins or elegant white stripes. 

Coleus make great indoor houseplants, as they grow quickly and, with the right care, will become bushy and lush. They prefer indirect light, making them a good choice for northern-facing windows and tables and displays that are not directly next to a window. These plants need regular watering, and wilt dramatically when they are thirsty, but after a good drink they quickly perk back up. Coleus are easily propagated from cuttings as well, meaning you can trim your mature plants back and grow even more plants.

Coleus can also grow outdoors when the weather is warm enough. Some pots with a variety of coleus colors would make great decor for a shady porch, and can be moved indoors in cold weather.

Overall, coleus is an amazing choice if you’re looking for a colorful houseplant!

Plant Specs

Inchplant, or Wandering Dude

Scientific Name: Tradescantia zebrina

Color: Purple

Light Requirements: indirect sunlight

Watering Requirements: 1 time every 2 weeks

Soil Requirements: Moisture retaining but well-draining soil (all-purpose potting soil)

Fertilizing Requirements: Typically unneeded

Notes: Cut back the ends of inchplant to encourage new branches to grow and keep the plant looking bushy and full. Root those cuttings in water and plant as new plants.

These beautiful purple plants grow quickly into long trailing vines, but can also be kept compact with regular trimming. In the sunlight, the leaves look almost metallic! However, these plants prefer indirect sunlight, making them great houseplants for anyone without a south-facing window.

Inchplants can be propagated easily from cuttings. They need infrequent watering and are fairly tolerant of drying out. They are prone to dying off at the top, but this can be avoided by keeping them out of direct sunlight and looping long vines back into the pot where they can root from another spot on the vine to help keep the plant healthy.

There are several varieties of inchplant, including the strange-looking Pale Puma which sports fuzzy leaves of a dusky purple color.

Plant Specs

Angel Wing Begonia

Scientific Name: Begonia maculata

Color: Green and red, purple, red

Light Requirements: indirect sunlight

Watering Requirements: 1 time every 2 weeks

Soil Requirements: Moisture retaining but well-draining soil (all-purpose potting soil)

Fertilizing Requirements: Typically unneeded

Notes: Cut back the ends of the begonia to encourage new branches to grow and keep the plant looking bushy and full. Root cuttings in water and plant as new plants.

Begonias sounds like a very old lady plant to me, so I’m embracing my inner old lady and getting some of these beautiful houseplants to display around my home.

Begonias come in many varieties, with a wide range of striking colors and leaf shapes. My favorite is the angel wing begonia, or polka dot begonia, which has leaves with white polka dots on the top with a vibrant red on the bottom. It’s a lovely and unique plant! Like other plants on this list, it prefers indirect sunlight and does well as a houseplant. Begonias need infrequent watering, only once every few weeks, making them even easier to care for.

These wonderful plants also come in purple and red, and some have dramatic spiraling leaves. The many options mean you’ll likely find something that fits your decor perfectly.

Plant Specs

Neon Pothos

Scientific Name: Epipremnum aureum

Color: Bright yellow-green

Light Requirements: indirect sunlight

Watering Requirements: 1 time every 2 weeks

Soil Requirements: Moisture retaining but well-draining soil (all-purpose potting soil)

Fertilizing Requirements: Typically unneeded

Notes: Cut back the ends of the pothos to encourage new branches to grow and keep the plant looking bushy and full. Root cuttings in water and plant as new plants.

Alright, so this plant has green leaves, but they are such a unique shade of green that I thought it made sense to include it in this list. The Neon pothos has bright neon green leaves (hence the name), and grows quickly in indirect sunlight. It needs to be watered only every few weeks and is tolerant of underwatering. It can grow many feet in length as a vine, or can be trimmed frequently to keep it looking bushy. 

Neon pothos is easy to propagate as well, so you can easily have many of this lovely plant!

Plant Specs

Velvet Leaf Philodendron

Scientific Name: Philodendron micans 

Color: dark green and red

Light Requirements: indirect sunlight

Watering Requirements: 1 time every 2 weeks

Soil Requirements: Moisture retaining but well-draining soil (all-purpose potting soil)

Fertilizing Requirements: Typically unneeded

Notes: Cut back the ends of the philodendron to encourage new branches to grow and keep the plant looking bushy and full. Root the cuttings in water and plant as new plants.

These delicate and elegant philodendrons have duo-tone leaves with green on the top and a deep burgundy underneath. In the sunlight, the leaves have a subtle sparkle to them as well! These plants grow easily from cuttings, and grow quickly in the right conditions so they soon become long trailing vines.

Philodendrons prefer indirect sunlight making them ideal if you don’t have a super sunny window, and they are tolerant of drying out a bit so you won’t need to worry about them if you forget to water on time.

(P.S. You can get this amazing planter from Object Lover!)

Bonus Plant!

Plant Specs

Ghost Plant or Mother of Pearl Plant

Scientific Name: Graptopetalum paraguayense

Color: Grayish green, purplish gray

Light Requirements: direct sunlight

Watering Requirements: 1 time every 2 weeks

Soil Requirements: Well-draining soil (cactus and succulent mix potting soil)

Fertilizing Requirements: Typically unneeded

Succulents can be some of the most colorful plants you’ll find, but they are slow growing and often do not reach a large size for years. Graptopetalum ghost plants (not to be confused with the colorless Monotropa uniflora) grow slowly, but have trailing branches of succulent rosettes that can be several feet long! These dramatic-looking plants grow the rosettes at the ends of long bare stems which will drape over the edges of their pots when kept in containers. 

Ghost plants need full sun to maintain compact rosettes, but require little watering and need a drink only once a month or so.

Ghost plants are easily propagated from their fleshy leaves. Simply place a fallen leaf on the soil and keep watered and it will begin to grow roots and eventually become a new plant.

Though you will need to be patient if you want to grow a large ghost plant from a small pup, the end result will be worth it for this amazing succulent.

What is your favorite easy houseplant?

What plants would you add to this list? Add a comment below!