design

Design in the plant world goes beyond just placing plants in places that look aesthetically pleasing. Interior plantscapers have to look at everything from principles and elements of interior planting design, color psychology, even down to the fact that plants can influence our health in many ways. Putting plants indoors takes a lot of thorough planning and thought to get the right balance of both principle and elements of planting design.

The Principles and Elements of Interior Planting Design

Understanding the principles and elements of design help interior plantscapers and regular plant owners to create beautiful designs by following these simples rules. A lot of us already follow these rules in our daily lives without even realizing it. Here is a quick summary of all the principles and elements of interior planting design.

Principles of Interior Planting Design:

Balance: Has to do with the distribution of objects in space. There is physical balance and visual balance. Physical balance has to do with the balance of the weight of the plant and the pot it is in. Visual balance has to do with the balance of the health of the plant along with the aesthetic appearance of the plant (DelPrince).

Proportion: The bigness or smallness of one thing in comparison to another or the amount of one thing to another. When studying proportion, we are making a comparison of the amount of one thing to others within a collection (DelPrince).

Rhythm: A conscious provision of a sense of movement in design is known as rhythm. It is up to the designer to create a statement when it comes to the rhythmic placement of plants, reflecting the environment of the client. Some elements within rhythm include spacing, size, shape, and color (DelPrince).

Scale: Scale equals measurement. Interiorscapers should be able to communicate with their clients all of the measurements that will go into the scape they are designing (DelPrince).

Unity: Unity is a celebration of similarities. A designer can bring unity into a space in many ways. For example: Instead of having the same plant throughout the space, you can bring unity by using some colored pot planters in different sizes (DelPrince).

Dominance: The dominance of a plant or plants in an interiorscape area, whether that be through a focal point or focal area. A focal point/area of a design is the part of the design with the highest concentration of elements. Individual plants can be made more prevalent by isolating the plant, making a certain plant a different color from the rest which can make it a dominant focal point (DelPrince).

Harmony: Harmony celebrates differences. For example, real plants and fake plants can work together in a space in harmony if the designer is skilled enough to place them in the right place (DelPrince).

Elements of Interior Planting Design:

Color: Color plays such an important role when designing a space. Color really brings the mood and design in the room to life. In order to use colors properly, we need to understand color terminology and the way color works. There are many different ways that designers can use color, working with hues, tints, and shades. Hues are colors that derive from natural light, such as the colors seen from the rainbow. If white is added to a color, that color becomes a tint. And if black is added to a color, that said color becomes a shade.

Color Psychology: Many people don’t realize how much of an impact color has on feeling and emotional response in our life. Interiorscaping is art, and understanding what the client wants along with the mood they are going for has to do so much with the color choices you choose. Colors evoke different feelings (DelPrince).

Black:

Blue:

Brown:

Green:

Orange:

Purple:

Red:

White:

Yellow:

Information from “Interior Plantscaping Principles and Practices” by James M. DelPrince.