Let’s be honest, the typical dorm room is bland, empty, and typically a mixture of beige tones. When moving into college, you want your room to be your safe space. It needs to be the place you can relax, unwind, and escape from the hustle and bustle of college life. Once you decorate your room to make it livelier, try adding houseplants to really give your room an extra pop of color. House plants are known to help increase productivity, lift your mood, and even purify the air (Lohr, V. I. (2010). Some houseplants are easier to maintain than others, especially when you’re a busy college student. If you’re a busy student, but want to liven up your living space, take a look at these three low-maintenance plants below:
- Succulents are by far the easiest plant to maintain in a dorm room. Succulents are small, compact, and only grow as large as the pot they are in will allow them to. Needing full light, succulents will do perfectly on a window ledge. If this is not possible, purchase a small grow light. These small spiky plants only need to be watered once their soil is completely dry, so they don’t need constant attention. A fun fact about succulents is that if you add a drop of food coloring to their water, their petals will absorb it and change to that color!
- Snake plants are a great low-maintenance option because they are extremely difficult to kill. These plants are slow-growing and don’t require much sunlight, so they can just hang out in pretty much any spot in your room. They don’t need to be watered often, just enough to keep their soil damp, so a cheap spray bottle is a great option to have on hand. If you’re limited on space in your dorm room, snake plants are a great option because they don’t grow at a rapid pace. Start off with a smaller plant to ensure it won’t cramp your space.
- Aloe Vera is not only an attractive houseplant but serves many other purposes as well. This plant is another low-maintenance option that is great for dorm rooms. Aloe Vera only needs to be watered once the soil is dry, typically once per week. Indirect sunlight is best for this plant, so it can be placed almost anywhere in your room. If your plant becomes too big, that shouldn’t be a problem. After trimming it, the aloe plant can be used for skincare or even treat sunburns!
Succulents are a great way to liven up your bland living space at college. Houseplants are proven to help increase productivity, lift your mood, and even purify the air. Additionally, tending to your plants will give you something to focus on other than the stresses of school, and are a helpful little distraction. Buying a houseplant (or two, three, five, or ten!) is a great way to add color and life to your dorm room. The plants listed above are all pretty low maintenance and easy to care for. Once you get the hang of caring for them, feel free to move on to more advanced plants!
Citation: Lohr, V. I. (2010). What are the benefits of plants indoors and why do we respond positively to them? Acta Horticulturae, 881, 675–682.