The Best Houseplants for Your Light Level

Light Up My Life 

If you’re looking to add a new plant to your home but you’re not working with a lot of natural light, you might have some concerns. We totally understand, but worry not! With our guide, you can find the right plant for your light situation. 

Check Your Windows

Natural sunlight is best for plants, so let’s figure out what you’re working with. The direction your window faces will determine the quality and amount of light you get for your plants. 

South Facing: A south-facing window is best for plants to receive a full spectrum of light throughout the day. This window is what you need for bright light plants or plants with a lot of variegation in their leaves. 

West Facing: A west-facing window is also ideal since it will be receiving light most of the day, but it’s best for medium light plants since it misses the hottest and most direct rays of the day. 

North Facing: The North Face is a great outerwear company, but a north-facing window is the least ideal for plants and receives extremely little sunlight. If you’ve only got a north-facing window, you definitely need to focus on low light houseplants. 

East Facing: If your window faces east, you won’t get much intense sunlight. Low light houseplants are a great choice for a room with an east-facing window. 

No Windows: If you are decorating an office at work or otherwise windowless room with no natural light, we’ve got you covered. As long as you can provide bright, artificial light, your low light houseplants will be okay. 

Best Houseplants for Low Light 

Having limited light doesn’t limit your plant options! (Okay, technically it does, but there’s still a huge variety of plants that will love your room with low to medium light). 

If you need low light houseplants, look for these beauties. 

Ivy: Ivy naturally grows on forest floors and tree trunks with a canopy overhead, so it’s used to limited and dappled sunlight. A room with low to medium light is ideal for ivy. 

Arrowhead Vine: There’s an arrowhead vine growing in the Wild Interiors office doing just fine with only artificial light. You can prune the vines back to keep the plant bushy or let them grow a little more wild. 

Pothos: Pothos can grow happily in a setting with low to medium light. We have two in our office doing great! 

Dieffenbachia: Growth is a bit slower in lower light, but dieffenbachia will remain healthy in low to medium light conditions. 

Spider Plant: Spider plants are highly adaptable to pretty much any environment. They’ll continue to grow in lower light conditions and produce spiderettes (baby plants) that you can leave as a trailing addition off the mother plant or repot for more spider plants! 

Sansevieria: The snake plant, or sansevieria, is drought tolerant and low light tolerant, making it a great houseplant for beginners or an ideal choice for a windowless office or darker room. 

ZZ Plant: There’s a reason ZZ plants are frequently used in planters at shopping malls; they are extremely low maintenance, require very little water, and can handle low light environments. The ZZ is an excellent starter plant for any room of the house or office. 

Best Houseplants for Bright Light

If you’re working with a super sunny south- or west-facing window, we’ve got recommendations for your space too! Take advantage of all that bright light with these light loving plants. 

Succulents: Succulents need bright light and are not good candidates for low light environments. Water sparingly - but more often in direct sun since they’ll dry out faster. 

Yucca Cane: The latest addition to our Signature Collection, yucca does best in bright light but can tolerate medium. It won’t do well in low light, so make sure you’ve got a sunny room.

Ponytail Palm: The ponytail palm is one of our team favorites and sometimes moonlights in our Signature Collection as a limited edition plant. It behaves like a succulent and holds onto water in its thick trunk, with a spiral of curly leaves on top. 

Umbrella Tree: The Schefflera arboricola, or dwarf umbrella tree, does best when it has plenty of bright light. 

Croton: We occasionally have croton plants in our mix as a limited edition offering, and these colorful beauties love a sunny, warm spot in your home. 

Let the Light In 

What light levels are you working with? Do you have any of our suggested plants that are doing well? Show off your plants on Instagram @wild_interiors!