Houseplants are possibly the greatest home decor items out there.
Not only do they look good and bring some organic life to a man cave, but they freshen the air, provide more color and vibrancy, and reduce background noise.
So, drive down to your local plant store and pick yourself up some greenery.
Fresher Air
Although not cleaning the air as much as some may think, houseplants do play a role in purifying the air, making rooms fresher, and even removing trace amounts of dangerous toxins.
The sansevieria plant, also known as the snake plant, does an excellent job at converting carbon dioxide to oxygen, especially during the nighttime. Even NASA has found it to reduce levels of formaldehyde, toluene, and xylene.
The money tree improves air quality by removing synthetic chemicals commonly found in cleaning products.
The Areca palm is another option that plays a similar role to the plants above. It is also widely available in plant stores and thrives when left in filtered light.
More Color
Us men tend to not think about the role color plays in interior design as much as our female counterparts. Of the hundreds of man caves we have seen at this point, the biggest commonality is their one to two color palettes (usually a mix of brown or gray).
There is a classic rule of home decor that helps make the most of the space. That is the 60/30/10 rule, where a room should be 60% a primary color, 30% a secondary color, and 10% an accent color.
Plants are perfect for that last 10% and really make a room stand out.
Reduced Background Noise
Aside from actual wall insulation, plants are a great way to reduce the surrounding sound.
The first way is through absorption. Stems and fleshy leaves literally absorb sound waves due to their structural makeup and uneven surfaces.
The second is through refraction. By placing a plant in front of an annoying noise source (such as a busy road or neighbors house), the sound will hit it and be refracted in different directions. Obviously, this effect will be minimal, but it is better than nothing.
Reduce as much noise as possible by having more plants and positioning them strategically around your man cave.
Free Medicine
Aloe vera. The miracle medicinal plant that is now found in everything from body wash to lip balm.
It helps with soothing light burns and cuts, improves oral hygiene when used in toothpastes, helps your digestion when consumed, reduces annoying acne, and much, much more.
Harvesting is as simple as removing a few leaves (cutting them close to the stem), separating the interior from the exterior membrane, and letting the sap seep away from the aloe gel.
Improved Mental Wellbeing
With more people now than ever glued to their phones and computers, our general mental health has plummeted.
One study aimed to find the psychological benefits of interacting with indoor plants versus technology.
Participants were split into two groups where one transplanted indoor plants and the other did a computer-related task before switching activities.
For those unaware, transplanting is the act of digging up a plant and moving it to another location.
The main finding was that transplanting indoor plants led to the participants feeling more comfortable, soothed, and natural (seen in significantly lower blood pressure) compared to when they were dealing with technology.