The Adorable, Easy Houseplant Trick That’s Hiding Right in Your Kitchen
Even if you live in the middle of a bustling city, the cottagecore decor trend lets you pretend you’re surrounded by rolling green hills in the English countryside. All about the aesthetic of the ideal rural life, the trend starting hitting it big in early 2020 and is still going strong. If you don’t want to transform your pad into a place that was plucked from a BBC special, though, you can still work the look in small ways. Specifically, we’re talking about the brilliant idea of using mugs as planters, as seen in Amanda Montell’s house tour (and the photo below).
Finding the right mug to transform into a planter isn’t just about aesthetics, though obviously that has a huge role. Choosing a mug that will be a hospitable home to your plant is also crucial, not to mention a plant that can withstand a tiny “pot.”
So, which plants can make themselves right at home in a mug? “Some of the best plants that work for mugs would be succulents,” says Paris Hannon of Planting With P. “They’re fun, unique, and look so amazing sitting in a funky mug on your windowsill. But you can’t just pack the soil into the mug and plant. Not having a drainage hole would mean you would have to be a master water bender to avoid overwatering and root rot.”
To avoid the latter, Hannon suggests creating your own mug DIY planter. There are two options. “You can drill a hole in the bottom if you have a drill and are able, or you can be like me and use sand/tiny rocks at the bottom of your mug,” she advises. “This will catch all the water draining from the soil at the bottom and evaporate over time.”
As for finding the right mug, that comes down to your cottagecore vision. “No planter will be alike; mugs come in such cool shapes, colors, and sizes,” Hannon says. “You can really get creative with matching a succulent to its new home.” Depending on the vibe you’re going for, you can look for woodsy or magical mushrooms, or country creatures like roosters, frogs, or even kitschy kitties.
Vintage mugs are also up to the task, like this or this. For more of an English garden feel, a classic floral teacup is ideal, or you can opt for a set of cups and saucers to do a cluster of planters. For the ultimate English estate feel, you can’t go wrong with the UK-based line Ali Miller, like their Alice Teacup & Saucer set.
No matter which you choose, creating a mug planter makes for the perfect crafternoon.
This post originally appeared on Apartment Therapy. See it there: The Adorable, Easy Houseplant Hack That’s Hiding Right in Your Kitchen