Perfect plants for your bedroom
This Mother’s Day could be the perfect time to start bringing a bit of nature into your Mum’s bedroom décor. Giving your Mum (or any special person in your life) flowers with lovely lingering scents can change the fragrance of her bedroom, but did you know that if you give her some plants instead, they can help purify and clean the air while she sleeps?
NASA famously released a Clean Air Study on plants that can absorb harmful chemicals, pollutants and purifying air in your home. New Zealanders spend approximately 57% of their time at home in their bedrooms – so sleeping & chilling out in a healthy environment is important.
We’ve compiled a list of the top ten air-purifying plants for the bedroom, so if your Mum loves her indoor plants, we can help you find something that doesn’t just look great, but also helps to purify and clean the air while she sleeps.
How do Air Purifying plants help?
Indoor plants are an all-natural way to remove toxic agents such as benzene, trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde from air in any room of the house, including the bedroom. In addition to looking great, the best plants for bedroom air purifying tend to be easy to care for.
It’s said that air-purifying plants can help absorb and trap toxins while releasing oxygen to generate cleaner air, making for a more healthy and fresh sleeping environment throughout the bedroom. Most indoor plants are relatively easy to take care of and are adaptable to common indoor elements like low light and indoor temperatures.
Whether you have bright light in your bedroom or prefer to sleep in a darkened room, the following are the best bedroom plants with varying condition requirements that require little care.
Here are our top 10 air-purifying plants for your bedroom……
Peace Lily
This low maintenance plant is great for the bedroom because it thrives, even when you forget to water it. The humble Peace Lily also helps filter the indoor air & increases the levels of humidity that help you breathe better and ultimately sleep better. It looks lovely in a bedroom with the shiny leaves and big white bracts but also can survive without sunlight.
Snake Plant
Also known as Mother In-Law’s Tongue, the Snake Plant is great for night time oxygen production – so perfect for the bedroom. While it’s oxygen-giving, this slick indoor plant also purifies toxins from your household air including; benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene and toluene.
Aloe Vera
This was one of Nasa’s top picks for air-purifying plants in your bedroom because it helps rid the air of formaldehyde and benzene found in varnishes, floor finishes and detergents. Plus this succulent is known for its healing abilities with the sap being applied to burns. It loves a sunny spot but doesn’t require too much watering – just not one for the bedside table if you want to avoid being pricked by its leaves.
Rubber Plant
The Ficus robusta or Rubber Plant is a popular house plant because it requires minimal care to keep it alive – under watering is better than over watering in it’s case. NASA in it’s study found the Rubber Plant is the perfect addition to the bedroom because its large shiny leaves absorb airborne chemicals and break them down. That includes carbon dioxide, which the Rubber Plant converts to breathable oxygen as well as eliminating bacteria and mold spores in the air. This plant can reach around 2.4m so make sure there’s room for it in your bedroom.
Boston Fern
Add some soft elegance to your bedroom with a Boston Fern. They look beautiful cascading over shelves or in hanging baskets. Looks and they’re air-purifying, known to remove more harmful formaldehyde than any other plant. Keep them away from cats, they like to nibble the ends & you’ll need to ensure they’re watered regularly and kept in a cool place with a high level of humidity and away from direct sunlight.
Areca Palm
A stunning palm to decorate your bedroom but behind the scenes this plant helps remove dangerous chemicals in the air. It’s a plant biologically engineered to absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen but also purifies your sleeping environment by removing dangerous chemicals such as formaldehyde, xylene and toluene.
Gerbera Daisy
Definitely the prettiest plant for your bedroom because it flowers, however it does so much more. Pop one by your bed because a Gerbera Daisy is known for its ability to produce high oxygen levels at night while removing harmful chemicals including trichloroethylene & benzene.
Spider Plant
These plants are commonly seen in Kiwi homes for good reason. Once again, they are perfect for green finger newbies who tentatively want to bring greenery into their homes but aren’t sure how to take care of them. The Spider Plant is a simple bedroom decoration but it packs a punch in the fight against toxins. It’s one of the few house plants that is non-toxic to animals & helps eliminate toxins like carbon monoxide and xylene – a solvent used in the printing and rubber industries.
Chinese Evergreen
One of our most common household plants is actually one of the best to pull harmful toxins like formaldehyde & benzene from the air in your home while admitting high levels of oxygen. The Chinese have known this for years, where it’s very popular – hence the plant’s name. It’s great in full shade and only needs to be watered occasionally.
English Ivy
Another popular plant here in New Zealand both indoors and outdoors. Inside your home, and specifically in your bedroom US research has shown that it can remove 78% of airborne mold in just 12 hours. This is good news for anyone suffering from allergies.
Making the Right Choice For You:
No matter who is going to sleep with you, investing in the right sized mattress is one of the most important factors. Size is a key determiner of the quality of the sleep you’ll have. So don’t rush into picking a certain size mattress because that’s what you’ve always had.
View our range of mattresses here or take our Sleep Selector Quiz to find the right mattress for you.
Get a Better Nights Sleep with Sleepyhead:
Choosing the right bed size for you will ultimately affect your sleep. The sleep experts at Sleepyhead are here to ensure you get the rest you deserve. Get more sleep tips and helpful information on our Sleep Guide. Explore articles below before you buy your bed:
The best mattress for hot sleepers
