Pots & Planters Styling Guide

Thinkoutside Gardens Designer Pots

Detail is key to good design. One way to add the finishing touches to your landscaping project is through finishing details, like adding contemporary designer pots. Pots are a great way to style the garden, bringing greenery to a difficult space in a corner or over paving where access to deep soil is not possible. The other main benefit of designer pots is that they can be styled to suit indoor and outdoor use. They are great on a balcony, terrace, or in the home office allowing greenery to thrive. Continue reading to learn how you can pick and style the perfect pots for your home.

Which pots are right for my home?

Visual balance is key when picking pots for your home, and can be achieved by clustering an odd number of pots in various sizes. The reason why you cluster in odd numbers is that odd numbers create visual interest, forcing your eyes to pay more attention and thus creating more visual appeal. This is also the reason you generally get 3, 5 or 7 items on a plate at a tapas restaurant, great for visuals not for sharing! 

How To Style Pots & Pot Plants

To style your planters, place taller or larger pots at the back with smaller pots filling out the foreground. Sometimes symmetry can also be effective to highlight a feature such as a doorway or an entry to formal styled gardens. By clustering your pots with varying sizes but keeping to a similar colour palette you allow your plants to shine as the feature, and bring a sense of order to eclectic planting.

Contemporary gardens often look best with a clean crisp shape and restrained colours such as white, charcoal or black allowing the plants to feature. More traditional or formal gardens can also be brought up to date with a crisp contemporary planter but with a more formal planting such as conifers or topiary. Homes with traditional features or a formal planting can also look great with more ornate or decorative planters. Post can also become a feature in their own right and this often applies to marble and rustic styled pots.

Restraint is key in smaller spaces such as a balcony or terrace garden. It’s easy to overcrowd the area with too many pots and this is a case of less is more. One or two larger pots can be enough and provide a good body of soil for plants to thrive. Lightweight planters can also assist in managing weight, especially on balconies or rooftop gardens. 

Where is the best spot for pots & planters?

Regardless of whether you’re planting inside or outside, the key to good planting is understanding the aspect of the space and selecting plants that will thrive in that situation. The aspect refers to the direction that you’re facing when looking at the garden and will have a large effect on which plants you should choose. For instance, sunny northern aspects may suit Figs and Frangipani, whilst shady southern aspects may require low light specialists like succulents, majesty palms or dragon palms. Hot sunny areas require the largest pot possible to provide the nutrient required to perform, as smaller pots can heat up and dry out. 

 

What should I plant in pots?

Our tip is to keep the planting in line with the style of your garden and in proportion to the planters, generally, the plant should be a similar size to the pot. To start, Fiddle leaf figs or a Monstera are some great options to bring a freshness inside your home. For taller feature plants our favourites are Succulents, Figs and Frangipani. Philodendron Succulents, such as Jades are great ways to fill out the lower pots with trailing plants like Dichondra silver falls providing a cascading effect over the edge of the pot. Pots are a great way to allow vines such as Boston ivy or Mandevilla to climb up walls and balconies.

What pots and planters do you recommend?

We were sick of struggling to find beautifully designed pots that were light and durable. That’s why we designed a range of Designer Pots and Planters that instantly add value to any space. Made from polymer-coated, reinforced moulded glass, the planters have been purpose-designed with ergonomics in mind, meaning no more heavy terracotta pots you can’t move. The planters are available in two neutral tones, matte white and charcoal meaning they’re at home inside or out. With 6 shapes and sizes to choose from, they’re perfect for clustering and will suit a large range of styles and budgets. Check out our range of Contemporary Planters Here