Burning Question: Faux Real?
This week’s big q is all about real vs. fake. Don’t worry, it’s not a plastic surgery debate- we’re talking about plants. Do you think fake plants of any kind are T-A-C-K-Y? Or do you think that tastefully made faux blooms, herbs, topiaries, and potted orchids can add to the illusion of freshness even if they don’t need water? Do you have a black thumb so fake plants are your only option? Or do you despise faux plants so much that you would rather go plant-less than live with something plastic or silk?
We’re excited to hear where you stand on the issue. In fact, we whipped up this handy little poll to keep everything tabulated:
[poll id="12"]
We’d love to hear more about why you voted the way you did, so feel free to comment away with more details.
Image courtesy of Nathan Egan designs via Odi Et Amo.
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When fake plants or flowers are done well, I have no problem with having them in the house. Since people rarely (I hope) actually TOUCH someone elses houseplants I cant imagine anyone would be the wiser provided they dont LOOK fake. My mother in law has an amazing arrangement of pale pink peonies she brings out every spring. Took me a couple years to figure out (when I finally asked where she bought them) that they were faux!
I don’t like when plants and flowers are obviously fake or not natural looking, but when they’re nicely done, I’m all for it. One less thing to take care of, in my opinion and they can add that outdoorsy feeling to a room, without all the cost and maintenance.
But I DO think they sometimes can be huge dust attracters (although real ones can be too)…I’d be curious to know how people that do have lots of fake plants keep them clean. I know that you can sometimes just wipe them with a damp cloth, but any other tips would be really useful.
The main reason I have real plants (other than their aesthetic) is because they purify the air. Fake plants don’t do that.
However, I have been known to kill a few plants and have seen some really beautiful and tasteful fake arrangements.
The one thing I don’t condone is fake flowers in a wedding!!! Way tacky in my book.
I agree with Lynn , I have yet to see a large fake plant I like but a few live ones. However, fresh flowers are clostly and rarely eco-friendly. I recently found Pottery Barn to have some beauitful hydrangeas that I’ll be putting out since we don’t have access to growing a garden at the moment.
Just spotted this on one of my favorite food blogs! They’re trying to figure out a wall collage and are looking to you guys for inspiration, thought you might wanna check it out:
http://ohsheglows.com/
Thanks Laura! Off to check it out!
xo,
s
I prefer fresh, but totally support faux plants. I have a cat who loves to eat flowers, etc. The only way I can still decorate and not have to worry about him destroying the plant is to use the faux variety.
i’ve been scarred for life on fake plants. i worked at a michael’s arts and crafts for a year in high school. not only did i have to price gun individual stems of silk flowers, not only did i have to sell some of the most hideous flower arrangements on the planet, not only do those things smell funny en masse– but they have realistic plastic thorns on them sometimes. and i have the scars to prove it!
we actually don’t have any plants whatsoever in our house right now. i suppose we need to bring the outdoors in soon!
Definitely not into the fake look…there are several homes in the area where I have even seen fake flowers shoved into the ground around mailboxes and flower beds…THAT IS TOO TACKY!! Inside, as long as they are natural looking, I am OK with them…currently, we can’t have any plants that sit on the ground due to two big dogs…one of which would assume I got him a port-a-potty! Don’t be afraid of the real deal…start small with a couple of hearty varieties and go from there. I have a real tree for my classroom and my students love it…they like to decorate “her” at Christmas time with lights…they talk to her… The read deal can be fun!
Of course real plants/flowers are best. But there is nothing wrong with a few (read: very few) stategically placed fake flowers. I have some hydranga stems that look fabulous (and they should, they were $40+ for three).
I prefer the real thing, but in our cave like bathroom I would consider putting in some fake plants. There is 0 natural light in there, I just dont think anything could grow there
Laura – I dust fake plants with a lint roller, works on lampshades too!
I’m kind of half and half. I don’t want fake plants in my house but I don’t really have anything against them if other people want them in theirs, ya know?
Plus live plants help filter the indoor air, definitely a good thing. :)
It’s like you can read my mind. I have been pondering this topic lately in my plans to re-do the rooms in my house. I have several silk plants/trees and I have spent some time looking at inspiration rooms to see if plants of any kind were included. I am leaning toward getting rid of most of my plants (helloooo garage sale!) and thereby ridding myself of the chore of dusting them. I may not be able to part with my faux banana palm tree though…it only has a few “leaves” to dust anyway!
When I moved in with my husband, he had a fake tree in the living room. I let it stay but complained about it constantly and refused to bring it when we moved. Now, we have a rather empty living room corner, and I decided a little tree would look great there. I insisted on buying a real one, and it looked wonderful… until it finished withering away and we had to take it out. I’m seriously considering getting another fake tree, but thus far have refused out of principle.
I do have a sweet cluster of fake hydrangea on my vanity table in the bedroom. Why I don’t object to that and yet do object to a fake tree is beyond me. I expect I’ll get over the objections soon.
Actually…that should just be “banana tree”…since it’s not technically a palm. :-)
I prefer real ones, but sometimes fake can work. I had a couple branches of fake dogwood blossoms in the foyer of my apartment of Japan. The room didn’t get much of any light during the day, so they added a lovely splash of color, and were a joyful reminder of the dogwoods back home in Virginia.
Faux plants = big NO NO. All they do is collect dust and scream tacky.
I used to be a “wouldn’t be caught dead with fake” vote, but since I’ve had my own house, I’ve actually added two fake plants….. tall flowers in tall vases in my bathrooms. I got some pretty “real” looking ones, and I think they look pretty good… they add a nice height to the countertop.
But as far as the rest of the house….. I’d rather have no plants than fake ones.
I agree with the previous poster…. definitely no fake flowers in weddings!!!
I like high end silk flowers, but thats about it!
I voted only real plants for me . . . but the truth is I do not mind seeing them in other people’s nicely put together rooms. Don’t forget to dust them, that ruins the effect!
i have a mixture: a bamboo that has real bamboo poles with fake leaves (hard to dust, thinking of getting an air can) and a gorgeous orchid that’s impossible to tell apart from real (it was pretty pricy). most fakes look pretty bad, i’d rather have more real ones, and have found some that are impossible to kill! (trying to look up the names for anyone who wants to know–will comment later).
I was recently given a real plant that had fake flowers stuck into it. I didn’t even realize until two weeks after having the plant that the flowers were fake (just assumed they were real and didn’t touch them). But I enjoy how it looks with the mix :)
I think fake plants are definitely okay…but you have to be willing to hose them off or dust them down every few months! I’ve seen people with real houseplants in their house that look much tackier – leave growing down to the ground, sprouts sticking out and dead leaves on them. I much prefer fake – but I have about half and half!
I have no problems with faux plants as long as they are done right. I have several in my office of both real and fake. I have to deal with watering, fertilizing, making sure real plants have sunlight, and re-potting as they grow. I also have a huge gnat problem with my indoor office plants and have tried everything to get rid of them. With my faux plants, our custodian dusts them monthly and bam! perfect! I highly recommend Garden Ridge for cheap, real-looking faux plants.
I do however agree that faux arrangements should not be used at weddings, and the faux flowers are a bit tacky! I only use greenery!
I also used to be totally against fake plants, but I’ve changed my opinion since we moved into our house. I now have a fake plant in our bathroom because it doesn’t have a window…..a real plant probably wouldn’t last too long!
I am CHEAP and real flowers, unless planted in your yard or given as a gift, just do not seem cost effective to me! I buy and make fake flower arrangements all the time. They look great, and have no chance of dying in a few days!
I have 2 fake flower “arrangements” (I would hardly call them that) and 2 real green leafy plants. The fake ones are understated (like Pottery Barn silk yellow orchids in a vase in the corner and silk hydrangeas in small silver pot in the bathroom) and the real ones are obviously REAL–I think overkill is bad (and please please stay AWAY from 1980s hot glued floweredy wreaths!!) and DEF no fake flowers at a wedding, but tasteful and mixed is ok. Also, I’ve heard that using fake and real flowers in an arrangement is a good way to beef up your bouquet and save some dough.
There are so many pretty things out there! If you don’t think you can keep a plant alive look for other decoration. No faking it!
I have both in our house – we have real flowers in the areas of the house that the cats are banned from… since they eat any kind of flower, we can’t have them out in the common areas of the house. I have two small fake hydrangea vases in the living room… and for some reason, the cats STILL try to eat it.
I am proof that wedding bouquets CAN have silk flowers as long as they are combined with real flowers and are on the high end cost wise!
http://i29.tinypic.com/3008tae.jpg
Hydrangeas were way too overpriced in our area, so I got expensive silk hydrangeas and combined them with real high end cream colored roses and real greenery. I got so many compliments about my bouquet and my bridesmaids bouquets as well. It’s all about making smart choices and not going overboard with the silk flowers you use. I also love that the flowers dried very well and don’t crumble with age.
“Wouldn’t be caught dead” is a bit strong, but I generally won’t have fake plants in my house. I always think they jump out and scream, “I’m not real!” But perhaps there are good ways of doing fake that I just don’t know . . .
In 95% of circumstances I think faux plants are the most wretched items ever! However, sometimes a very quality tasteful faux plant is great. Typically, people don’t want to spend the money on the quality so they just look cheap and dusty!
EEEEKKK! the dreaded fake plant… the antithesis of everything they are supposed to represent, in that their mere production (usually with plastic and/or with toxic dyes) is not compatible with ‘real’ living things anyhow. now, if i could find a truly ‘green’ non-live substitute for an actual plant, and it didn’t look uber fake – then maybe i would change my mind. but until then, i’d rather go without, than have a toxic plastic substitute.
There has been many times I have thought for SURE that a plant was real, only to get really close and find it’s a fake. So, I think it can work, but it must be well done.
You know, I think it all depends on the fake plant and the natural lighting situation in your house. Ours is particularly dark and in the summer to conserve utilities we keep everything closed up. Real plants just don’t do well and end up looking rotty or spindly. If it was an attractive fake plant I’d consider it, but for now I find non-plant things to suffice my need for “nature” in my home.
John & Sherry — what do YOU think about real vs. fake?
We prefer real blooms and plants but we’ve seen some surprisingly gorgeous faux topiaries and orchids.
xo,
s
Dried arrangements are a great alternative to silk. A bunch of golden wheat stalks or curly willow is so much classier than “hydrangeas” in November.
I wish I had more real plants in my house. But I have such a black thumb that I killed an aloe vera plant (it was suppose to be “easy to care for”). Poor plant… maybe I’ll try again one day because I prefer real plants.
I cringed when I first read this post because all I could picture was a my MIL’s house filled with a million dusty fake plants. Then I remembered, DUH, I used fake flowers for our wedding and they were gorgeous! No one could tell that they were fake because they were made of latex. They even felt real. Crazy. Here’s a few pics of them:
http://bontempsbeignet.blogspot.com/2010/03/wedding-week.html
I bought them here:
http://www.sharonnagassardesigns.com/
9 boutts, 6 bouquet, and 5 corsages shipped for around $400.. can’t beat that with a stick or a faux tree limb. My recently married friends all speck well over $1500 for their flowers.
I don’t particularly like fake plants, but if they came with that stunning kitchen in the photo above, then I’ll take ‘em!
It’s all about the real flower for me. I developed an extreme hatred towards fake flowers when I worked for a garden store as a teenager. Just thinking about having to mark all those flowers individually with a price tag makes me shudder.
My parents live in an apartment that gets almost no sunlight and the only vegetable-like thing that grows there is mold. My mom became a great fan of plastic plants, developing an eye for good lookalikes and many guests still ask in wonder: But, how do you manage to grow this plant here?
Interestingly, I never really asked myself whether I liked them or not. My own home gets plenty of sunlight and never thought about them. So, as a conclusion, I’d say they are a necessary evil. Green is truly reinvigorating, and if nothing really grows in your home, they’re the way to go. Otherwise, don’t dream about it!
A few years ago I found a really nice potted fake orchid that I purchased to go in my guest bedroom (even though I’m usually against most fake plants). One time, when I had an extended guest staying at the house, I came home to find the fake orchid (complete with fake soil) in my kitchen sink, soaked in water. My guest thought my orchid needed watering.
By the way, my dad once remarked: the fake plants are the ones under the dirt, the real ones grow over it.
We have a few Ikea and C&B plants around the house. Friends constantly touch them to see if they’re real. So I think that’s a good test if something looks okay! I use them as accents to decorate. They’re very small so it’s not like it’s a big huge dried flower arrangement or something that collects dust!
The reason I don’t like them is that I can usually spot that they are fake. That, and most people who have fake plants don’t dust them and they look grungy right away… Well, to tell the truth, most people who have real plants don’t bother to dust them!
I hate fake plants and flowers with a passion. They cause my lip to involuntarily curl up in disgust! I think an arrangement of dried flowers is a better low maintenance substitute for those that can’t handle living plants. At least they are still real!
I think fake is fine as long as they are well done. The ones they have now that are almost a wax/rubber texture have fooled me a few times! Also, I agree with so many of you, a dusty fake plant gives it all away…..keep ‘em clean!
My BF knows I love daisies, so instead of buying me a bouquet that would just wilt and die, he bought me a fake bunch to keep forever :) They’re simple, cute, and I don’t ever have to worry about rotting plants, stagnant water or fruit flies!
I really wanted to vote the first route – that I HATE fake plants (my mother in law is in LOVE with them, she’s got about 10 in the tiny little living room of her appartment – aurgh!), but I do have one that our realtor gave us that I actuall do like. It sits peacefully up against the cupboards on our kitchen counter.
We have really tall ceilings, and have yet to figure out much of anything to put up on the shelf area that it makes. Deffinately not fake plants!
I would say 95% of the plants in my home are real, but that is because I feel like the fake plants/flowers that I find just don’t cut it. I am open to real or fake…as long as it looks good and is fairly low maintenance I don’t give a hoot if I have to water the thing or not. I mean let’s be honest here…the less a living thing has to depend on me the better.