USA Houzz Tour: A Couple's Plant-Happy Home Layered With Greenery
See how these first-time homeowners created a lush, green retreat in Philadelphia, USA, with over 60 indoor plants
Sarah Lyon
8 September 2019
Houzz Contributor. I'm a communications professional and maintain a blog in my spare time (www.dctoat.com). I enjoy covering all things design and home-related and also like to share my favorite spots in DC. I believe that a home is never truly "done" and always have a blast moving around items in my apartment and mixing up my style a bit. I like classic, preppy pieces (ginger jars, campaign furniture, and faux bamboo are some of my obsessions!) and have enjoyed making my small space feel like home.
Houzz Contributor. I'm a communications professional and maintain a blog in my spare... More
This plant-filled home in Philadelphia, USA, which Adrienne Bruce shares with fiance Matthew Shannon, is exactly the calming escape she needs after a hectic day at the hospital where she works as a surgical resident. Framed artwork and cosy pillows are in abundance, and each room features a minimum of one potted plant, adding a fresh touch to the couple’s space.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Adrienne Bruce, Matthew Shannon and their black Labrador mix, Harper
Location: Philadelphia, USA
Size: About 149 square metres with two bedrooms and two bathrooms
The couple moved to Philadelphia in the summer of 2016 after meeting in Washington, USA, while Bruce was studying medicine. She had just been accepted into a seven-year general surgery residency program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Who lives here: Adrienne Bruce, Matthew Shannon and their black Labrador mix, Harper
Location: Philadelphia, USA
Size: About 149 square metres with two bedrooms and two bathrooms
The couple moved to Philadelphia in the summer of 2016 after meeting in Washington, USA, while Bruce was studying medicine. She had just been accepted into a seven-year general surgery residency program at the University of Pennsylvania.
“We knew this would be a move for a long haul and decided that buying a home in a budding real estate market such as Philadelphia would be in our best interests,” she says.
Find a local interior designer or decorator on Houzz near you to bring your home to life
Find a local interior designer or decorator on Houzz near you to bring your home to life
Indoor plants are a major component of the couple’s decor. “A large portion of how our style as a household has evolved has been shaped by adopting house plants as a hobby,” says Bruce. “This was something that came about during my first year in the house, and I haven’t turned back since. We now have over 60 house plants and I really do think they shape the style of our home. I shifted our style from more of a modern farmhouse feel to what you see today, a mixture of organic and modern with an emphasis on natural colours and materials.”
Seen here is a fiddle-leaf fig in the living room. Other smaller potted plants decorate the mantelpiece and add a fresh touch to the corner. The couple had the mantel added to the stone-covered accent wall, which includes an electric fireplace.
Seen here is a fiddle-leaf fig in the living room. Other smaller potted plants decorate the mantelpiece and add a fresh touch to the corner. The couple had the mantel added to the stone-covered accent wall, which includes an electric fireplace.
“Our house is a very traditional row-home floor plan in that you enter through the living room and there is an open floor plan spanning through the dining room and into the kitchen,” says Bruce. “We have two bedrooms upstairs, a master in the front and a second bedroom in the back, and our single bathroom.” The home also includes a finished basement with a second bathroom downstairs.
The living room is currently Bruce’s favourite space in the house. “The beautiful patina leather on our sofa mixes with the fabrics on our pillows and just screams cosy,” she says.
Blue is used as an accent colour throughout the home. “There is something about this colour plus the plants that just makes me feel calm,” says Bruce. “My favourite spot is sitting on our couch, with the sun shining through our giant window, and looking out into the space and all of the house plants. I love taking in the different greens of the leaves mixed with the different woods in our home. The effect is just so natural.”
Blue is used as an accent colour throughout the home. “There is something about this colour plus the plants that just makes me feel calm,” says Bruce. “My favourite spot is sitting on our couch, with the sun shining through our giant window, and looking out into the space and all of the house plants. I love taking in the different greens of the leaves mixed with the different woods in our home. The effect is just so natural.”
Before settling on a look that felt right, Bruce experimented with her decorating style. “I have had a tumultuous relationship with style over the past few years and am finally coming into my own – something that I truly am proud of,” she says. “Instead of focusing on clutter and trying to adapt what I thought my style was to the house, I began to focus on a few things that I loved and built a new style from there.”
Bruce loves to draw design inspiration from home tours on Houzz. “A lot of my ideas stem from real people and their homes that I find on Houzz,” she says. “The house tours that I enjoy the most are the ones that feature homes that speak for those within the home and are cosy. That is what I hope people get when they look at our home – this is a place where people live and enjoy coming home to.”
Bruce loves to draw design inspiration from home tours on Houzz. “A lot of my ideas stem from real people and their homes that I find on Houzz,” she says. “The house tours that I enjoy the most are the ones that feature homes that speak for those within the home and are cosy. That is what I hope people get when they look at our home – this is a place where people live and enjoy coming home to.”
“I’m a sucker for natural woods,” says Bruce. The entrance features a timber console, a comfortable bench seat and a gallery wall of collected prints.
When the couple bought the home, the walls were a flat, pale beige that made the entire interior feel drab. They hired a painter to add a fresh coat of white throughout the home.
When the couple bought the home, the walls were a flat, pale beige that made the entire interior feel drab. They hired a painter to add a fresh coat of white throughout the home.
“When I’m not on call on the weekends, I would say a normal Saturday or Sunday morning involves having coffee together at the table, with or without breakfast,” says Bruce. “In the mornings, our large, southern-facing front windows have this amazing light that makes the space come alive. Enjoying a cup of coffee while watching the light shift across the plants and the colours of the living area is just perfect, in my opinion.”
It took a bit of work for the space to appear as it does today. The couple replaced the existing aged-bronze ceiling fans in the dining room with a Sputnik-style chandelier.
It took a bit of work for the space to appear as it does today. The couple replaced the existing aged-bronze ceiling fans in the dining room with a Sputnik-style chandelier.
On weekends, the couple also enjoy visiting the nearby Rittenhouse Farmers Market in Philadelphia to buy flowers for the house.
A leaning ladder shelf displays their favourite books, abstract art and thoughtfully arranged trinkets and house plants.
A leaning ladder shelf displays their favourite books, abstract art and thoughtfully arranged trinkets and house plants.
This corner features a small, round bar cart on wheels, a mix of hanging plants and a planter with philodendron.
“The biggest limitation in our home, in my opinion, is the lack of good natural lighting in the back portion of the house,” says Bruce. “We are north- and south-facing.” Being in the northern hemisphere, the southern windows get substantial light, but the back rooms – including the kitchen, dining room, guest room and bathroom – don’t.
“I have a house plant hobby, so this has caused difficulty in planning what is grown where in our house. Also, I think that natural lighting is the key to everything being more cheery,” says Bruce. “Our kitchen is small, without good lighting and with dark cabinets, and we painted the walls a bright dark blue to help bring life to it.”
“I have a house plant hobby, so this has caused difficulty in planning what is grown where in our house. Also, I think that natural lighting is the key to everything being more cheery,” says Bruce. “Our kitchen is small, without good lighting and with dark cabinets, and we painted the walls a bright dark blue to help bring life to it.”
A potted Sansevieria in the kitchen adds a fresh touch to meal preparation.
The guest bedroom, which includes a queen bed, doubles as a home office for Bruce. Her husband works from home and uses the finished basement as his office.
“We decided to get a desk for the guest room and to help build a corner within that space so I could have a place to decompress and shut the door when I want to do work. I’m so happy we did that,” says Bruce.
“We decided to get a desk for the guest room and to help build a corner within that space so I could have a place to decompress and shut the door when I want to do work. I’m so happy we did that,” says Bruce.
The master bedroom includes a variety of house plants and a mix of natural textures, an earthy colour palette and metallic accents.
This corner of the couple’s bedroom includes a comfortable and cosy spot to relax.
Simple dresser styling keeps the couple’s favourite items within easy reach without cluttering the small space.
Engagement photos are displayed in this corner of the bedroom, where twining vines from a pothos plant add a playful touch.
“I made the gallery wall on a whim one day and I’m so glad that I did,” says Bruce. “I wasn’t sure how the effect of floor-to-ceiling frames would look in the space, but I took a chance and ended up loving it. The effect is that much better given the hanging pothos from the wall – this is one of my original plants who started as a 10-centimetre pipsqueak. He now is so leggy and stretches across three walls. He epitomises the feeling of nature being brought inside that I wanted for our bedroom.”
“I made the gallery wall on a whim one day and I’m so glad that I did,” says Bruce. “I wasn’t sure how the effect of floor-to-ceiling frames would look in the space, but I took a chance and ended up loving it. The effect is that much better given the hanging pothos from the wall – this is one of my original plants who started as a 10-centimetre pipsqueak. He now is so leggy and stretches across three walls. He epitomises the feeling of nature being brought inside that I wanted for our bedroom.”
The patio was originally just a plain concrete slab. “Matt is a hero and overhauled our patio walls so that we weren’t constantly looking at a breeze-block wall,” says Bruce. “He stained a fence to cover the sides of our patio because the alley behind the house is very unpleasant.” He covered the breeze-block wall with a stone facade and added string lights.
“All of this completely transformed the space,” says Bruce. “Since then, we have also hung a trellis that I am trying to train vining plants to grow onto.”
“All of this completely transformed the space,” says Bruce. “Since then, we have also hung a trellis that I am trying to train vining plants to grow onto.”
Small terracotta pots hold plants on the patio fence.
Your turn
What do you love about this plant-filled home? Tell us in the Comments below, like this story, save the images, and join the conversation.
MoreMissed last week’s Houzz Tour? See a house closer to home in this Houzz Tour: A Californian Bungalow Designed to Create Community
Your turn
What do you love about this plant-filled home? Tell us in the Comments below, like this story, save the images, and join the conversation.
MoreMissed last week’s Houzz Tour? See a house closer to home in this Houzz Tour: A Californian Bungalow Designed to Create Community
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Congratulations to you both on creating what you set out to achieve. I too love to see cosy comfortable homes and you have certainly done that. I love your dining area and lounge room, the greenery of all your plants really makes the rooms welcoming. I love my indoor plants, but at this stage I only have eight, you have both inspired me to collect a few more. Thanks for sharing your beautiful home.
My father always had gardens. I always wanted to bring those annuals/perennials inside until I learned about house plants. My first "babies" came to our house when I was 12. From that time forward I have had a long running affair with all categories of house plants. You are amazing! Your plants are amazing! And your obvious love of them is amazing. Bravo!! It's not just the plants you have but the true design elements you use in matching them to the rooms and environments within your home. I am now 78 years old and the only thing that limits the number of plants I have is my ability to water all of them lol. Please continue to be an inspiration to those of us who love greening our homes - inside as well as out.
Very nice,very natural. Feels good,the plants are well curated to feel like part of the overall scheme.