The ficus tree is one of the top choices of all artificial plants for home decor. This plant is tall, full, and elegant; just right for adding warmth and liveliness to your living room!
However, if you do not style an expensive artificial ficus correctly, then it can look flat. But when you implement just a few simple tips, your tree will look quite real.
This guide explains everything, from the selection of the right tree to the finishing touches that will make all the difference. If you are a first-time buyer or looking to upgrade the ficus you already have, these tips will help you get the most natural look possible.
Choosing the Right Ficus Tree
An artificial ficus tree is available in varieties. Some of the most common types include ficus benjamina, with its small glossy leaves and fine branching character, and the fiddle leaf fig, with its large sculptural leaves and strong visual impact, better known as ficus lyrata.
The trunk can also be braided to give the base a beautiful appearance. Each type has its own character. So it is worth giving some thought to which type best suits your home’s style before you buy.
When selecting a tree, look at its size, colour and shape of the leaves. A small tree will look diminutive for the space, while a tree that is oversized will overwhelm the whole room. HRtrees offers artificial ficus trees in various sizes to help you pick the right one for your space.
Search for leaves that have natural color variations. Real ficus leaves are not all the same shade of green, so a good faux tree should reflect this variation.
Assessing the Placement
The location where you decide to put your ficus tree is just as important as how it looks. The best place for your potted ficus is basically the same place where a real tree would be placed. A window or a bright corner are the most obvious choices. Putting your fake ficus in these places makes it believable to the eye since that is exactly where a live plant would be found.
If you are going for a more comprehensive approach to your home decor, you can try coordinating your ficus placement with hidden doors ideas for a multi-layered, well-thought-out and very characterful scheme. Don’t leave it stuck in a dark, neglected corner, the kind of place where a real plant wouldn’t be able to survive. That will immediately make one suspect it is fake.
Light has a big impact on the appearance of a ficus tree. The light streaming into the well-lit window will create a shadow of the leaves on the floor as they will be moving. If natural light is limited, warm-toned floor lamps or spotlights angled at the tree can produce similar results.
Fluffing the Foliage
Artificial ficus looks more convincing if it is fluffed up nicely. In fact, you may just find it to be the most important step in making your faux ficus look more lifelike. But more often than not, we tend to skip this step completely. Most artificial trees are shipped with the branches tightly packed together. The tree appears rigid, flat and unquestionably artificial without fluffing.
Begin with the lower branches first, working your way up pulling each branch outwards, away from the trunk. Next, place the smaller sub-branches and individual leaves so they fan out naturally.
The goal is to create some depth and dimension to the tree. Real ficus trees have layers – some leaves play supportive roles in front; some tuck deeper inside; some catching light at diff angles. Purposefully place branches, some more forward and others further back, to create this effect.
Adding Natural Elements
One of the easiest ways to make an artificial ficus seem more real is to incorporate true natural elements around its base. The plastic base of the artificial trees is the biggest giveaway so you must cover it.
Adding a layer of real potting soil or dried moss on top of the base gets these close to real. Both are affordable and easily found in garden centers and craft stores.
For extra texture and visual richness, add a layer of decorative stones, pebbles, or river rocks on top of the soil or moss. This is exactly what you would see in a well-styled real plant pot.
Choosing the Right Pot
The shape and size of the pot you choose can make or break the overall look of your ficus tree. A cheap or mismatched pot immediately detracts from the tree itself.
Choose a pot that is proportional to the size of the tree, so as a rule-of-thumb, the pot should be about a third of the height of the tree. Using materials such as terracotta, ceramic, concrete and woven seagrass helps reinforce the illusion of the presence of a live plant.
Colors like white, sand, charcoal and earthy brown won’t take away the attention from ficus foliage. After you place the tree in a pot, completely cover its artificial base with moss, soil, or stones.
Incorporating Lighting
Lighting has an incredible magic that can change the way your artificial ficus tree looks. A very popular and effective technique is to weave warm white string lights through the inner branches of the tree.
The soft beam coming through the leaves casts a gentle glow which adds a warmth and touch of magic to the whole room. It works best in spaces such as a living room or bedroom where you want a cozy effect.
For a more dramatic effect, a spotlight or an uplighter aimed upwards from the tree’s bottom can throw tree branch shadows onto the foliage above. Nevertheless, the best light by far is natural light. A ficus placed by a bright window will have that soft shifting light and shadow on its leaves that no man-made lighting can really replicate.
Conclusion
Styling an artificial ficus tree to look real is all about the details. Each styling step we’ve talked about builds on the last to create a convincing and beautiful result. These measures are simple and inexpensive but together they make a huge impact.
Feel free to play around and make the tree your own; you cannot go wrong with it! Switch up the branches, use another pot, add or swap the stones or even a string of lights will change it. An artificial ficus that is well styled it is a design statement that gets warmth, texture and life into your home every day of the week.