Sometimes, when you enter a commercial space, the layout flows, you can easily find what you’re looking for, and it feels finished. You’re relaxed and ready to take on your task, whether that’s finding your way to a job interview, filling in a form at a car dealership, or meeting a friend at a trendy restaurant. But sometimes, things fall flat. Lobbies echo and look austere. Waiting rooms are cold and uninspired. You find yourself pinning up a dozen pictures to liven up your desk.
From our decades of experience in providing interior plant design services to Little Rock and northwest Arkansas, we know that this difference can come down to many design choices, but especially plants. When you neglect greenery and blooms, no design will ever feel truly finished, and your business’s space won’t reach its potential.
The Science and Art Behind Interior Plant Design
Interior plant design is a unique blend of several different fields, with the end goal of making transformative changes that make indoor spaces beautiful, functional and emotionally affecting.
We Are Experts in Design
The design element of interior plant design is incredibly important. Like any other interior designer, when we approach a new project, we look at:
- Light
- Proportion
- Color
- Texture
- Shape
- Size
This goes for the plants we thoughtfully consider and the existing layout of a space. Because the way we incorporate plants into a space is rooted in what looks great and compliments the architecture, furniture, function and current or planned décor.
We Are Rooted in Biophilic Design Principles
The core of biophilic design is the idea that humans connect with and respond to nature very strongly, even if it is indoors. While biophilic design as a whole involves more than just plants, as interior plant designers, we add living things to a building because they are one of the most critical ways to improve the biophilic properties of any space.
This is especially true in finished projects, where things like window placement, floor material, lighting choices and furniture may not be easily changed. In these cases, plant design can be a bridge towards the benefits of biophilia. But if you’re an architect or designer who wants to incorporate plants early into your planning to improve your biophilic interior designs or sustainability efforts, plant designers like the Leafscape team can help you work in nature from the start. This way, your clients don’t feel the need to seek out additional plantscaping after the fact.
We are Horticultural Experts
The reason that interior plant design exists as a separate field from interior design is that it requires a second, separate skill set: horticulture. Just as important as understanding design is understanding what plants will work in a given space. This means taking into account light and shade, temperature changes, foot traffic, and how you want people to feel.
We also have to be able to maintain our designs in ways other designers do not. We know how to care for plants and offer plant maintenance to ensure that your space always looks exactly as planned. We know how plants will change and grow, and we rotate, prune, nurture and even replace plants as needed.
More Than ‘Just’ Plants: Creating a New Feel and Function in Your Space
Like any form of interior design, interior plant design isn’t just about adding accessories. It’s also about how your space functions, and how you can change people’s moods and reactions through your choices.
Plants can dramatically shape how people feel, and can:
- Make people happier and more confident
- Reduce stress and improve recovery and restoration
- Increase feelings of creativity, wellbeing and productivity
We have added plants to medical practices where creating a calm oasis in a waiting room can significantly improve patient experience. We’ve updated hotels to create a more welcoming experience for guests. We’ve improved the reputation of apartment buildings through paying much-needed attention to communal spaces.
But plants don’t just work aesthetically. They also improve the function of your space. Plants can:
- Serve as dividers in a restaurant, office or reception room
- Absorb sound to improve acoustics
- Create privacy and exclusivity in a dealership, hotel, office or restaurant
- Direct people’s attention in retail environments
This is why we talk about our services as design, because they’re about the comprehensive look, feel and function of a space. We can build living walls, create moss installations, provide extensive container options, and even ensure indoor trees thrive. But no matter what we do horticulturally, it’s in service of your goals and needs in your commercial space.
Leafscape’s Approach to Interior Plantscaping
Leafscape is the premiere choice for business in northwest Arkansas and Little Rock because we provide expertise and partnership that you can trust. We can take on creative and ambitious projects, ranging from living wall installation to multi-floor office designs to interiorscaping in malls and atriums. But we can also execute smaller, meaningful transformations for single retail stores, purposeful design refreshes of any space and more.
Our approach starts with you: what the qualities of your space are, what your business’s goals are, and what needs to be improved in the function and aesthetics of your business. We then offer personalized proposals to every client so they can see exactly how we will improve their space.
Our experience means that we know how to stick with a design for the long-term, and can help you as you grow, expand or change your business. Whether you want to open a second location, decide to renovate or even downsize, we work with our clients for success throughout our partnership. That includes options like rotational displays, where we create new designs to change with the seasons and moods of your space. And a knowledgeable and friendly maintenance team that does everything from preventive pest care to dusting plants.
