Indoor plant & pot trends

Contents

• The UK's favourite indoor plants

• Trending pots & planters

• Indoor plant spending habits

• Where do people get their inspiration?

• How many indoor plants does the average person kill?

• Positive mental effects of houseplants

• Artificial plant popularity

• Key indoor plant & pot trends

The UK’s favourite indoor plants

Orchids - The UK's favourite houseplant

Orchids have overtaken succulents and cacti as the UK's most popular houseplant for 2024, with 17% of people choosing them as their favourite indoor plant. They're the favourite houseplant among every age group except for the youngest 25–34-year-olds.

Older age groups may have more experience with gardening and might be more willing to tend to finicky plants like orchids. It could also be their elegant and sophisticated nature that appeals to older age groups.

"Orchids are brilliant for an empty windowsill or as a table centrepiece, especially with their impressive blooms that are quite unlike any other houseplant. And if you love their unique blooms but struggle to keep them alive, you can always opt for realistic faux orchids instead.", says artificial plant expert, Sarah.

Succulents & cacti

The favourite plants among the youngest age group, and the second favourite overall at 13.10%, are succulents and cacti.  

Their compact size is ideal for shared living and small apartments and their quirky style suits modern interiors well. What's more, their mostly low maintenance nature also makes them a perfect pick for young professionals.

These trendy houseplants are brilliant for mixing and matching to create a funky display, with so many options to choose from, with large options like giant sansevierias to cute mini succulents.

Peace lilies

Peace lilies are up by three positions with an overall popularity of 9.26% and are particularly popular among the older age groups, likely due to their practicality and elegant style.

Their classic white flowers tend to suit any interior style and their big leaves deliver a bold splash of greenery where needed.

These lilies are also excellent plants for Feng Shui, known to convert negative energy into positive vibes! ✨ This makes them perfect for sitting in your entrance to shake off any bad energy.

Other flowering plants

Other generic flowering houseplants have remained strong at number four, proving to be a consistently popular choice, which increases with age.

Anthuriums and birds of paradise are common choices indoors, especially when paired with pots of similar colours to match their attractive flowers.

Spider plants

These stripy plants have risen in popularity since our 2020 survey, shooting from eighth position up to fifth. They're trendy among the 55-64 and the 65+ age groups, likely due to their carefree personality.

Spider plants feature stylish, stripy leaves and are incredibly versatile, working well on shelves, side tables and desks to add a little leafy love to your interior.

Ferns

Sitting at number six are ferns, up from twelfth place, whose lush greenery works pretty much anywhere. In fact, roughly a quarter of each age group voted ferns as their most popular houseplant.

With lots of lush greenery, ferns are great at transforming empty spaces on shelves and in bathrooms, where they'll appreciate the extra humidity.

There are plenty of options to choose from with large varieties like Boston ferns to smaller button ferns and plenty of hanging options to trail beautifully.

Swiss cheese plants

2020’s ‘it plant’ was all the rage with its large glossy leaves and tropical style. Since then, however, its popularity has dropped, along with web searches, taking up seventh place with just 3.90% of people voting it as their favourite, below ferns and spider plants.

Despite a drop in popularity, "cheese plants are brilliant at filling empty corners with big tropical style. Their big green, glossy leaves match every interior style from minimalism to mid-century modern.", claims interior design expert, Annabel. And worry not - for the not-so-green-thumbed among us, realistic faux monstera plants won't let you down!

General greenery

There was a large amount of indifference among respondents. 3.78% chose ‘general greenery’ as their favourite and the top choice was 'no favourite' at 19.38%.

This indifference may be contributed to by prioritising the practical aspects of houseplants over aesthetic ones. For example, these people may simply want some foliage to style their space and are happy with any plant that will do the job.

If that's the case for you, you'll likely be looking for something low-maintenance like a cactus or fern. And if plants just aren't your thing, you can skip the hassle and go straight for faux flowers or plants that will instantly spruce up your interior.

African violets

Down by two places, African violets were the most popular houseplant among those aged 65+.

These little flowering friends, make excellent companions to cheer up your indoor space, with clusters of flowers in shades of either purple, red, pink or white. They're quite similar in style to pansies and if kept happy, will flower for months on end.

Tropical plants

No change here, tropical plants remain at number ten. Interestingly, tropical plants were least popular with 25-34 year olds at just 14.81%, with a slightly higher percentage of males choosing them as their favourite indoor plant.

Typically native to much warmer countries, tropical plants come with a long list of needs including high humidity, warm temperatures and lots of sunlight, which in the UK, often leads to their demise. With this in mind, they might not be the most popular type of plants in the nation, potentially explaining their spot at number ten.

Instead, forego the maintenance and check out our selection of tropical artificial plants.

Snake plants

At number eleven, stripy snake plants are one of the least popular indoor plants with just 5% electing them as their favourite plants. A large portion of that belongs to the 25-34 (42.31%).

Also known as 'mother-in-law's tongue' or sansevieria, snake plants are known for their distinctively patterned foliage and are brilliant for adding dramatic colour to your interior.

Try sitting one on your shelf or desk in a warm, sunny spot to switch to a faux sansevieria to skip the faff!

Dragon plants

What was once 2020's third most popular plant, has since fallen from grace. The dragon tree, has plummeted to number twelve, leaving peace lilies in its place. 

Their overall popularity sits at just 2.32%, with 50% of those votes belonging to the 25-34 age group.

The dragon trees' unique foliage does wonders in a warm conservatory or hallway where it can introduce tropical colour without overwhelming your room.

Devil’s ivy

Devil’s ivy, or pothos, retains its position as the UK’s least popular indoor plant. 😢 Despite each age group being evenly split, 52% of votes are from the 25-34 age group, just like the previous two plants above.

Although pothos are at the bottom of this list, in our minds, they rank highly as an excellent shelf plant, where their heart-shaped leaves can beautifully cascade.

Trending pots & planters

Natural materials are the nation’s favourite 

There’s a clear preference here for natural materials, with clay, stone, ceramic and concrete planters all topping the charts as the most popular way to display indoor plants.

This is especially true among the eldest 65+ age group, with one in four (25.13%) choosing clay and ceramic as their favourite option, suggesting that older plant owners prefer classic, durable materials. 

Plastic planters & eclectic displays

Plastic planters are also a popular choice with 10.76% overall popularity, likely due to their affordability and versatility.

They’re followed closely by ‘mix and match’ at 10.53%, showing that a significant number of people enjoy the look of a more eclectic display.

Wood & metal

Wood planters are the next popular choice with 6.36% of people seeking a natural, rustic aesthetic.

Behind are metal containers, which are predominantly popular with the youngest two age groups, indicating a trend towards contemporary and industrial interior design among younger adults.

Popularity for both, however, drops off as age increases.

Interest for terrariums & glass planters

Terrariums show a similar story. Overall, they have a niche following, chosen by 5% of respondents, 36.36% of which were among the 25-34 age group.

Despite their popularity among young adults, their interest falls off sharply in all other age brackets.

Original pots are popular with age

While the younger age groups are keen on the more creative display options, the older 65+ group have a strong desire to keep their plants in the original pots.

Of the 4.92% that voted this as their favourite option, 26.15% were aged 65+. This indicates a preference for practical solutions and simple, low-effort options as we get older.

Low popularity for hanging, DIY & fabric planters

Hanging planters are one of the least popular choices at just 4.32% with a balanced appeal across all age groups. 

DIY planters have an even smaller following at 3.11%, reflecting a small, yet inventive group of respondents who prefer DIY planters made from old jars or crockery, indicating a growing interest in sustainability and upcycling.

This suggests that they're not only concerned about aesthetics but also value environmentally friendly and cost-effective solutions for displaying indoor plants.

It’s a similar situation with fabric planters, which rank as the least popular way to display plants, with just 1.59% popularity overall.

The majority of those who voted these options as their favourite ways to display indoor plants, were in the younger 25-34 and 35-44 age groups, indicating that younger adults are more interested in unique ways to display their houseplants and more interested in sustainable solutions that their elders.

Indoor plant spending habits

The data below shows how much people have spent on indoor plants in the past two years. This includes the cost of plants, soil and pots.

It reveals a wide range of spending habits, with a third of people reporting that they hadn't spent any money on indoor plants.

So while houseplants have become a large trend in interior design, there are still of lot of people who choose not to invest in them.

Most people have spent just £26-50 on houseplants in the past two years, a significant drop since 2020.

Our survey also found a significant drop in spending when compared to previous years. Most spenders reported paying between £26-50 on houseplants in the past two years, in contrast with our previous 2020 survey where the average person was spending £74 each year.

This could be due to economic factors such as the cost of living increase, which we recently found has had a significant impact on how much people are spending on their gardens.

It's no surprise, therefore, that affordable options appear to be preferred, as shown by the majority of spenders falling within the lower spending brackets. This includes 15.11% spending between £1-25.

There's still a considerable portion (13.45%) who have spent between £51-100 over the past two years, which shows that while affordability appears to be a big factor, there are still some who are willing to spend more on styling their homes with houseplants, potentially investing in larger, more extravagant plants.

After this, spending drops off significantly beyond the £100 mark, especially for both the youngest and eldest age groups. The former perhaps lacks the space needed for larger, more expensive houseplants, which is something we also found when looking at recent garden spending.

Where do people get their inspiration?

We asked our survey respondents where they like to get their home inspiration from.

Overall, the results showed that physical shops are the highest source of inspiration, along with the homes of friends and families. While Instagram and Pinterest lead the social media charge.

Physical inspiration

Our survey results show a strong overall preference for physical retail stores (19.12%) as a way to get ideas and interior inspiration - a trend that increases with age.

This suggests that it's not just the products themselves that inspire people, it's also the curated displays and styling in interior shops that are influencing our design preferences.

This is on track with our previous 2020 survey, where physical retailers were also the top choice.

There was also a small percentage of respondents who cited museums and galleries as their favourite way to receive inspiration. The majority of these people were in the youngest 25-34 and 34-45 age groups.

Traditional media

Print newspapers and physical interior magazines also hold some sway, albeit to a lesser extent, suggesting that there's still some value in traditional print media for home decor inspiration.

Online inspiration

Together, online sources account for 44.18% of votes, including online home and interior magazines which were preferred by 9.07% of respondents.

Social media collectively accounts for 20.55% of votes and 41.47% of those votes were people aged 25-34, underlining how influencers and styled posts can have a huge impact on younger adults' interior preferences.

Instagram and Pinterest take the top spots for social media inspiration, likely due to their large interior design scenes. Overall, TikTok is the least popular social media platform for decor ideas, except for the 34-44 age group, who chose TikTok as their favourite.

These findings highlight how digital media, especially social media, is shaping our interior design preferences and indoor plant trends.

Personal connections

The homes of friends and family rank as the nation's second highest source of interior inspiration at 18.24%, especially for the 55-64 age group where one in four (25.30%) takes inspiration from other homes.

This supports the data found on physical retail stores, that we tend to draw inspiration from the spaces we encounter in our day-to-day lives, while also indicating that our personal connections play a vital role in shaping our design preferences.

A few creative respondents also told us that they like to come up with their own ideas using their imagination.

How many indoor plants does the average person kill?

The average person kills roughly 20% of their houseplants.

In our previous 2020 survey, we found that the average person kills 31% of their houseplants. In our 2024 survey, however, we found that the average person kills roughly 20% of their houseplants, indicating that there is perhaps more information and guidance available on plant care than in previous years.

Overall, 40.06% of respondents said that they hadn't killed any of their houseplants purchased over the past two years - an answer which became more frequent as age increased. Just 13.63% of the 25-34 age group answered that they had killed zero houseplants compared to over a quarter (25.55%) of the 65+ group.

In fact, 19.90% of 25-34-year-olds said that they'd killed more than half of their recent plant purchases, compared to just 8.61% aged 65+.

Positive mental effects of houseplants

We asked our respondents how, if at all, their real or fake houseplants impact their well-being and found that 69% of people said that houseplants, real or fake, improve their mood.

69.10% of people said that houseplants, real or fake, improve their mood.

Indoor plants seem to be most popular with the 25-34 age group, with 82.04% reporting that their mood is positively impacted by owning them.

35-44 year olds, also had a high percentage of people who reported a positive mood impact, which is slightly lower but still indicates the positive effects that houseplants can have on your mood.

The trend declines from here on, with 65.52% of the 45-54 age group reporting a positive effect and 59.41% in the 55-64 age group.

There is however a slight increase for the 65+ group. 62.20% reported positive effects which, while less than the younger groups, still shows a significant positive mood impact.

But when a houseplant dies, 48.73% of all the survey respondents reported that their mood is negatively impacted, 54.80% of which were female.

Again, the 25-34 age group were the most negatively impacted, with 60.68% stating that their mood is negatively affected by the death of a houseplant.

These results clearly show that younger adults tend to emotionally invest in their houseplants, almost like pets. It's no surprise when you consider the rise of plant influencers and rapid increase in popularity, especially across social media, which 42.25% of 25-34 year olds reported as their favourite way to receive inspiration.

Artificial plant popularity

We also delved into our respondent's shopping habits in relation to artificial plants and found that 37.82% of respondents had bought an artificial plant in the past.

Almost a third of those who had bought a faux plant were aged between 25-34, which makes sense when you consider that 19.90% of them reported killing over half of their houseplants in the past two years. This age group clearly struggles with plant care more than the older age groups, leaving them to turn to artificial plants as an easy, practical solution.

It's no surprise that where people are spending less on natural houseplants, they're also spending less on faux plants, with 54.64% preferring to spend between £10-25 on artificial plants. A choice which most likely limits them to low-quality faux plants which are smaller in size and worse in durability compared to premium options.

Key indoor plant & pot trends

Our survey findings show how the indoor plant landscape has shifted in recent years, including new emerging trends and attitudes towards houseplants.

Trending indoor plants

Orchids have stolen the title of the UK's most popular houseplant, particularly among the older age groups. Their classic, sophisticated beauty likely appeals to older individuals, who are less likely to be put off by their high-maintenance nature.

The young age groups, diverge from this trend, preferring more interesting, low-maintenance options like succulents and cacti, which save space in small apartments and urban spaces.

Pot preferences

Natural materials including clay, stone, ceramic and concrete are the most popular choice across the board, highlighting a desire for durability and a timeless aesthetic.

The young age groups also show a penchant for more creative, eclectic displays and DIY planters, reflecting an interest in sustainability along with a preference for more personal, authentic ways to display indoor plants.

Inspiration sources

Online platforms, particularly Instagram and Pinterest, play a crucial role in influencing young consumers' interior design preferences and plant choices.

That said, physical inspiration, including in-store displays and the homes of friends and family, continues to be a large source of inspiration, especially among older age groups.

Economic influences on spending

One of our key findings is reduced spending on indoor plants in comparison to previous years, reflecting broader economic constraints like the rising cost of living in the UK. As a result, people are searching for more affordable options than they would have previously.

Mood impact & knowledge

We also found clear psychological benefits of houseplants, particularly among younger adults, most of which report a positive impact on their mood as a result of indoor plants.

There are, however, many people who are negatively impacted by the demise of a houseplant, particularly women and younger adults, further highlighting how we emotionally invest in our houseplants.

Fortunately, the average number of houseplants killed has fallen from 31% in 2020 to 20%, suggesting that there are more plant care resources available, improving awareness and education around maintenance.

Faux plants & young consumers

We found that the youngest age groups, had a higher chance of killing their houseplants, likely due to less experience of keeping plants than the older respondents.

The high amount of artificial plant purchases among the youngest age group shows a practical solution to their struggle with plant care, allowing them to benefit from the psychological mood boost that indoor plants bring, without being negatively impacted by their death.

Need help with indoor plant & pot trends?

Not sure how to incorporate these trends into your home decor? Looking to go faux? Get in touch or check out our other guidance and inspiration.