How to Decorate a Small Apartment With Artificial Plants (+ The Best Fake Plants for Small Homes)

Small apartments have a way of exposing every design decision, especially the flaws.

There's nowhere to hide clutter, nowhere to hide bad scale, and nowhere to hide the gaps. That's why greenery, placed strategically and chosen well, can transform a compact apartment more dramatically than almost any other single change. 

The problem is that real plants in small spaces are often a slow-motion disaster: wrong light, forgotten watering, soil mess, and eventually a sad, yellow something on your windowsill that makes the whole place look worse.

Artificial plants solve all of that. And in small spaces, the rules for using them well are specific and worth knowing before you buy a single stem.

If you want to know how we’d approach it, keep reading. 

The Golden Rule for Small Spaces: Vertical, Not Wide

Floor space is the one thing small apartments have the least of. The single most effective thing you can do with artificial greenery in a compact home is think upward, not outward.

Vertical garden panels turn a blank wall into a living feature without consuming a single square foot of floor space. A panel installed behind a sofa, above a desk, or framing a bed headboard creates the impression of a lush, considered space at a fraction of the cost and effort of real plants. 

Our vertical garden and green wall panels come in 40" × 40" (11 sq ft) panels that connect seamlessly, meaning even a single panel makes a dramatic statement, and multiple panels can cover a whole feature wall without gaps.

For renters and vacation homes, this approach works beautifully because you can mount your panels with minimal hardware and remove them cleanly when you move. Here’s a glimpse of how you can do this for concrete surfaces: 

Artificial hanging plants and garlands are the other vertical-play powerhouse. Suspend them from curtain rods, ceiling hooks, or floating shelves, and they fill empty vertical air space by drawing the eye upward, making ceilings feel higher, and making rooms feel bigger. 

The 4 Best Types of Artificial Plants for Small Apartments

While the best way to choose an artificial plant that fits like a glove in your space is with a dedicated free consultation with our expert team, you can also follow a few of our general tips for decorating small apartments with greenery. 

Here are the 4 types of fauxliege we recommend most often: 

1. Hanging panels and wall-mounted artificial greenery

For impact-per-square-foot, nothing beats wall greenery. The Lush Spring Vertical Garden Panel, the Country Fern Panel, and the Spring Sensation Panel are 3 of our most popular choices for residential interiors because they’re dense, realistic, and easy to trim around light switches, outlets, and corners if needed.

For a softer, more organic look, the Artificial Moss and Succulent Hanging Wall Art Frame is a 20" square piece that hangs like a picture frame and is ideal for small walls, hallways, or bathrooms where a full panel would be too large.

For a more textural, nature retreat look, our Moss Wall collection adds earthy depth to any small space and works especially well in neutral, Scandinavian-leaning, or boho interiors.

2. Tall and slim statement plants

In a small room, a single tall plant in the right corner does more visual work than a cluster of small ones scattered around. Height draws the eye up, and a strong vertical silhouette creates structure. 

Look for slim-profile options: tall bamboo, faux eucalyptus stems in a floor vase, or a slender topiary tree that fits in a corner without competing for floor space.

Our Plants & Topiary collection includes freestanding topiary options that are particularly effective as apartment-scale statement pieces because they’re elegant, low-profile, and completely maintenance-free.

3. Faux stems and garland bushes

This is where small-space styling gets creative. Hang a cluster of Pothos Hanging Bushes from a floating shelf bracket, drape a faux eucalyptus garland along the top of a kitchen cabinet, or arrange bamboo stems in a tall vase on a console table. 

These pieces cost relatively little, install in minutes, and fill visual dead zones above cabinets, in empty corners near the ceiling, or trailing from bookshelves that would otherwise make a room feel flat.

There are many types of artificial hanging plants to use for indoor spaces, but your choice will depend on your specific requirements and needs. 

4. Artificial trellis and ivy panels

One of the most overlooked products for apartments is the expandable faux ivy trellis. These are hinged, accordion-style panels that expand to cover fences, walls, or awkward utilities, like an exposed pipe, a dated radiator cover, or a plain divider between a kitchen and a living area. 

They're particularly effective for studio apartments, where the challenge is creating visual separation between zones without adding actual walls.

The trellis also solves one of the classic small-apartment pain points: the unsightly AC unit or utility box. A well-placed ivy trellis camouflages it entirely and adds greenery simultaneously.

Where to Put Artificial Plants in a Small Home

Depending on your available space, here’s where we recommend you use artificial plants in a small apartment: 

• Living room: The feature wall behind the sofa is prime real estate. One or two vertical garden panels here can transform the room and create an instant focal point. If you prefer something more flexible, a tall statement plant in the corner beside the sofa adds organic warmth without claiming centre stage.

• Bedroom: Trailing hanging garlands above a bedhead or draped from a curtain rail create a canopy-like effect that makes a small bedroom feel intentional and cosy rather than crowded. A small moss wall art frame on a bedside wall adds texture without bulk.

• Kitchen: Kitchens are often neglected in greenery plans, but they respond beautifully to it. Eucalyptus garlands above cabinets, a small ivy trellis along the splashback side wall, or a cluster of hanging stems from a ceiling hook near a window all work well, and because there's no soil, no moisture, and no root systems, there's none of the mess that real herbs and plants tend to create.

  

• Bathroom: Bathrooms with no natural light are exactly where real plants die, and artificial ones thrive. A moss wall panel, a small hanging fern basket, or even a trailing garland over a mirror gives a spa-like quality to a small bathroom that a candle alone can't achieve.

• Home office or desk nook: A vertical panel behind a desk doubles as a photo-worthy video call backdrop. Given that so many of us are working from home at least part of the week, this is a smart and practical use of wall greenery and one we see a lot in interior design inspiration content right now.

Finishing Thoughts 

Small spaces are often where the best design decisions live because every choice has to work hard. 

The key to making a small apartment look good is working with your space, not against it. 

Go vertical. 

Choose one or two strong placements over many scattered ones. 

Invest in quality that looks real up close.

And don't be afraid to ask for help.

Every apartment is different. There’s a different light, a different layout, a different style. If you're not sure which products will work best in your space, our team offers a free consultation, and we're happy to advise on placement, product selection, and quantity before you commit to anything.

You can also browse our full gallery for real-world installation inspiration across residential and compact spaces, or follow us on social media for weekly styling ideas, before-and-after transformations, and new product drops.

FAQs

1. What are the best artificial plants for a small apartment? 

• For small apartments, vertical garden panels, hanging garlands, faux moss wall art, and tall slim-profile statement plants give the most impact for the least floor space. Wall-mounted greenery is the single highest-impact choice in compact spaces because it transforms a room without claiming any floor area.

2. Do artificial plants look fake in small spaces? 

• Not if you choose quality products and style them well. The key factors are realistic materials (look for RealTex and UV-stable construction), appropriate scale for the space, and thoughtful placement, especially pairing plants with quality containers. Designer Plants products use RealTex materials and UV inhibitors for a genuinely lifelike appearance that holds up over time.

3. Are artificial plants good for apartments with no natural light? 

• Artificial plants are ideal for low-light apartments. Unlike real plants, they don't need sunlight, soil, or water, so they look exactly as lush in a north-facing studio as they do in a sun-drenched loft. This is one of the primary reasons apartment dwellers choose faux greenery over real plants.

4. Can I use artificial plants in a rental apartment? 

• Yes. Most of our wall panels can be installed with minimal hardware, with just small screws, zip ties to an existing fixture, or adhesive hooks, and removed cleanly when you move. For zero-wall-contact options, freestanding topiary, floor vases with tall stems, and shelf-displayed garlands require no installation at all.

5. What's the best artificial plant for a bathroom with no window? 

• Moss wall panels and hanging fern baskets are our top picks for windowless bathrooms. Both are low-profile, high-impact, and require zero maintenance. The Faux Evergreen Moss Mat and the Artificial Hanging Fern Basket are two of our most popular bathroom choices.

6. Can I get help choosing the right artificial plants for my apartment? 

• Absolutely. We offer a free design consultation for both residential and commercial projects. Tell us about your space: the dimensions, style, light conditions, and we'll recommend the right products and placements before you spend anything.