Best pet-friendly plants for your home office
Bringing plants into your workspace is one of the easiest ways to upgrade your home office and create a tranquil working environment. Besides the obvious aesthetic appeal, houseplants improve air quality, reduce stress, and help with focus—benefitting both your health and your productivity.
But many common species of houseplants are toxic to animals. This clarity and calm will be undone if you’re constantly watching your pets to make sure they don’t eat the greenery. We’ve put together a list of the top pet-friendly plants for your home office—so you can spruce up your workplace without having to worry about your furry friends.
The plants to avoid for pets
Before getting into the details of pet-safe houseplants, here’s a few you should definitely avoid: peace lilies, ivy, dieffenbachia, pothos, jade, aloe vera, and ZZ plants—all of these are toxic to cats and dogs. When ingested this can lead to mouth irritation, diarrhea, vomiting, and in some cases can be fatal.
If you’re not sure whether a houseplant is toxic to cats and dogs, there are other ways to keep your animals happy. Get your greenery out of reach with hanging baskets, or try using plant stands and wall planters. This is a safe and stylish way to protect your pets from harm. Plus, it stops them from chewing up your favorite plants—whether toxic or not.
Calathea: the best for beautiful leaves
One of the most attractive nontoxic indoor plants is the calathea. With its eye-catching foliage, this beauty definitely stands out from the crowd. Make sure to find a shaded spot for your calathea—direct sunlight can cause the striped patterns across its leaves to fade.
You can get this calathea set from the Plant Store.
True palms: the best for making a statement
Weeping figs make popular statement houseplants, but they are poisonous to animals. If you’re looking for bigger pet-safe houseplants, palms are the perfect option. Kentia, bamboo, areca, ponytail, and parlor palms are all nontoxic—giving you plenty of varieties to choose from. The elegant fronds of palm leaves will add a touch of style to your space.
Bring a taste of the tropics indoors with a kentia palm from the Plant Store.
Spider plant: the best for clean air
Houseplants can absorb harmful toxins from the air inside your home, helping you to breathe a little easier while working from home. Spider plants are one of the best air-purifying plants safe for dogs and cats. And just as well—they send out dangling spiderettes (the cute name for baby spider plants) that hang from the main plant, and look very enticing to curious pets.
Cast iron plant: the best for easy maintenance
Once a favorite in Victorian homes, the aspidistra (or cast iron plant) has fallen out of fashion since then. We can’t think why—these easy-care houseplants are almost impossible to kill, making them a great option for plant lovers with a brown thumb. Its glossy leaves are sometimes complemented by purple flowers at the plant’s base. Plus, they’re one of the best low-light indoor plants that are safe for pets.
Photo by Nino Barbieri, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Maranta: the best for inner peace
Transform your workspace into an oasis of calm with the stunning maranta. The prayer plant’s colorful oval-shaped leaves fold together at night, as if in prayer. Best of all? This plant is nontoxic to dogs and cats, so you won’t have to worry about your furry friends getting sick—place one of these near your desk and feel the stress slip away.
These gorgeous plants look good enough to eat, so we can’t promise your pets won’t want a taste. But these pet-friendly home office plants won’t harm your furry friends—even if they have a nibble.
Maranta is a great desk plant. Available now in the Plant Store.
Plantclub.io provides you and your colleagues with the benefits of plants, wherever you work. Rent office plants and transform your space into a green oasis, with flexible monthly membership options to suit your size. Diversify your employee perks with a dedicated company store, where you can give green gifts and your team can buy plants for their home office. Book a time to chat with us today.