Best Air Purifying Indoor Plants For Your Rooms & Pets

Houseplants can have a ton of benefits. One of the primary benefits, other than looking amazing and being fun to have around, is improving air quality.

Different varieties of plants can act as better air purifiers than others, so let’s take a look at some of the top options for you to consider for your home! Every home is different, so we’ll break things down by different rooms as well as what plants are safe for your furry family members!

Best Air Purifying Houseplants Overall

Not only do some indoor plants absorb harmful toxins, but they also help in maintaining optimum humidity levels as well as cooling down your home during hot months. In addition, these plants have been said to provide health benefits like reducing headaches and allergies.

Many of these plants work to remove pollutants like benzene, xylene, trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde from the air, which can often linger indoors due to chemical-based products that we use daily such as paint or cleaners.

Also check out some of our sustainability checklists that include introducing air purifying plants into your home:

• Home Interior Sustainability Checklist
• Air Quality & Emissions Sustainability Checklist

Spider Plant

Spider plants are one of the most popular houseplants due to their ease of care and also their ability to purify the air. They look great as hanging plants because as they grow, vines shoot out with smaller clumps of long, narrow leaves that look a little like spiders! They’re also easy to propagate as young shoots grow.

Peace Lily

Peace lilies are a beautiful flowering plant that can convert carbon dioxide into oxygen at night, making them a great addition to other air quality improving plants.

Snake Plant

Snake plants have long been used as an effective way to add more oxygen into any room while at the same time helping to filter out harmful toxins from your home’s environment. Snake plants are also easy to propagate, either by splitting as new shoots emerge, or by cutting large leaves into section and rooting them!

Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera is often known for its healing properties, but is also a great air purifier. It absorbs carbon dioxide, releasing oxygen while simultaneously removing air pollutants.

Bamboo/Parlor Palm

Bamboo palms will look beautiful in any room while helping keep your indoor air healthy!

This is just a starting list, as there are many other beautiful house plants including varieties of pothos, philodendron, and others that also help improve your home’s air quality.

Cat Safe Plants that Improve Air Quality

While there are lots of indoor plants that look great and improve air quality, it is important to remember that some plants are not safe if you have pets in the home. If you’re a plant lover and cat owner, you’re probably aware that there are many plants that are potentially toxic for cats that you should avoid.

Some of the top plants should absolutely be avoided if you’re a cat parent, such as peace lilies, snake plants, aloe, and pothos.

However, don’t give up hope on getting some air purifying plants in your home. There are still a plethora of indoor plants like spider plants and palms instead, which also work to remove airborne toxins from the environment, helping to create a healthier home for both you and your pet!

Best Air Purifying Plants By Room

If you really want to optimize your home’s air quality, you can pair certain plants to certain rooms! Ultimately, many of the plants will have similar effects on the air in your house, so it’s best to pair them with the environment in your home.

Consider things like the amount of light, humidity, and temperature to decide where your houseplants would thrive.

Bedroom Plants

Decorating your bedroom with plants is a great way to freshen up your space and boost indoor air quality. There’s a variety of plants that are well-suited for growing in typical bedroom conditions including:

• Money Tree (likes bright indirect light, does not need excessive humidity)
• Aloe Vera (likes direct sunlight, dislikes lots of humidity and moisture)
• Peace lilies (likes bright indirect light, best to let the soil dry a bit before watering thoroughly)

These plants can be especially beneficial in smaller spaces like bedrooms where fresh air exchange is limited.

A peace lily is especially nice in bedrooms because of its ability to regulate the room’s humidity and low maintenance requirements.

Bathroom Plants

If you’re looking to add a bit of life and color to your bathroom, plants can be the perfect natural addition! Not only do plants brighten up any space, but removing indoor air pollutants is essential for bathrooms, where we often use cleaners and create steam.

Some of the best plants for improving the air quality in your bathroom include:

• Boston Ferns (likes bright indirect light and lots of humidity)
• Bamboo (likes sunlight and can even grow in water directly without soil)
• English Ivy (likes medium to bright light, likes higher than average home humidity levels)

These plants all thrive with humidity while they remove toxins from the air. Not to mention they’ll make your bathroom look incredible.

Low Light Office Plants

Whether you’re working in a company office or trying to liven up your home office, plants are a great way to do it while also improving the air quality. The problem with offices is that they often don’t get a ton of direct natural light. Low light plants are an excellent choices for the office.

Some of the best low light plants for improving the air quality in your office include:

• Snake Plants
• Pothos
• Chinese Evergreen

What A Breath of Fresh Air

There are many amazing varieties of plants that can do wonders for your home, both in air quality and décor, even beyond what is discussed here. We hope that you’re excited to get growing and breathe in all of the benefits of these great air purifying houseplants!