Designer Decorating Guide

The Best Faux Plants for Every Interior Design Style

The right faux plant does more than add greenery. It can fill an awkward corner, bring softness to hard surfaces, add height, and help a room feel more complete. The key is choosing a plant whose shape and scale complement the style of your home.

From sculptural trees to trailing shelf plants, these are the artificial plants I use and recommend most often in interior designs.

Best Overall Faux Plant

Fiddle Leaf Fig

Modern
Contemporary
Transitional
Organic Modern
Coastal Contemporary
Quiet Luxury

If I could recommend only one faux plant, it would be a fiddle leaf fig. Its tall trunk and broad, sculptural leaves add height without making a room feel visually busy.

A fiddle leaf fig works beautifully beside a sofa, next to a fireplace, behind an accent chair, in a home office, or anywhere you need to fill an empty corner. Its simple silhouette coordinates with both warm and cool color palettes and complements almost every decorating style.

Designer Tip: Place the tree inside a woven basket or oversized ceramic planter, then cover the original pot with preserved moss for a fuller, more finished appearance.

Shop the Faux Fiddle Leaf Fig

More Designer-Favorite Faux Plants

Different plants create different moods. Use the shape, texture, and scale of the plant to reinforce the overall feeling you want for the room.

Best for Traditional Homes

2. Ficus Tree

A ficus tree has a softer, fuller silhouette than a fiddle leaf fig. Its smaller leaves and branching shape make it especially well suited to rooms with classic furniture, layered textiles, and collected accessories.

Best for: Traditional, Transitional, English Cottage, European-Inspired, and Classic interiors.

Large faux bird of paradise plant with broad tropical leaves

Best Statement Plant

3. Bird of Paradise

With its large, dramatic leaves, a bird of paradise can become part of the room’s focal point. It works especially well in open rooms where its broad foliage has enough space to be appreciated.

Best for: Modern, Tropical, California Casual, Contemporary, and Resort-Inspired interiors.

Full artificial paradise palm in a textured planter

Best for Coastal Spaces

4. Paradise Palm

A paradise palm brings softness, movement, and a relaxed feeling to a room. Its airy fronds pair naturally with linen upholstery, woven textures, pale woods, and soft coastal colors.

Best for: Coastal, Beach House, Casual Contemporary, Tropical, and Resort-Inspired interiors.

Faux monstera plant with large split green leaves

Best for Modern Rooms

5. Monstera

Monstera leaves have a bold, graphic shape that looks especially striking against simple furniture and clean-lined architecture. A medium-height monstera can add substantial greenery without the height of a full-size tree.

Best for: Mid-Century Modern, Contemporary, Urban, Eclectic, and Modern Organic interiors.

Full faux pothos plant with trailing green vines

Best for Shelves

6. Pothos

Pothos is one of the easiest plants to incorporate into a room. Its trailing vines break up the straight lines of bookshelves, kitchen cabinets, mantels, and console tables while making styled surfaces feel more natural.

Best for: Built-ins, bookcases, kitchens, bathrooms, mantels, and layered shelf styling.

Faux maidenhair fern with delicate green leaves in a white planter

Best for Adding Softness

7. Maidenhair Fern

A maidenhair fern adds delicate texture without becoming a strong focal point. Its fine leaves make it ideal for balancing heavier furniture, dark wood, stone, tile, and other hard surfaces.

Best for: Cottage, French Country, Traditional, Organic, Vintage-Inspired, and Romantic interiors.

Which Faux Plant Should You Choose?

For the most versatility Choose a fiddle leaf fig.

For a classic room Choose a ficus tree.

For a dramatic statement Choose a bird of paradise.

For a relaxed coastal look Choose a paradise palm.

For a modern or eclectic room Choose a monstera.

For shelves and built-ins Choose a trailing pothos.

For soft texture Choose a maidenhair fern.

Start With the Plant That Works Almost Anywhere

A tall fiddle leaf fig adds natural color, sculptural shape, and the height needed to make an unfinished corner feel intentionally designed.

Shop the Faux Fiddle Leaf Fig