I took down all of the Christmas decorations on the 28^th. What is your tradition? Do you wait until Epiphany (January 6)? Or do you want to get all the old energy out of the house before the new year starts?

I don’t really have a superstition or tradition around it. The main reason I cleared everything out when I did is that my kids were away, and the tree had stopped drinking water before Christmas, and I just sort of get tired of ornaments falling off and turning into cat toys, and all the needles and the boxes and whatnot.

So the tree and the greenery are out of the house, but what do we do now? The sconces and chandeliers look bare without their little candle wreaths. What about the topiaries on the mantle? We got used to all of that, didn’t we?

Well…do you need to up your houseplant game? The answer is yes. The answer is always yes. Plants are good for your home’s air quality and your mood. But also, they are a great design choice. I have plants all over my house. Here’s a pic from the world headquarters of Sallie Hess Interiors.

I was showing pictures to a friend before I updated my website and he kept saying, “This looks like you, but this doesn’t, but this does, but this doesn’t…” Finally, he said, “Look, some of these have life in them and some don’t.” I realized that the ones he said looked like me have plants in them. Life. Houseplants add actual life to your home.

They also add softness and layering, another descriptor a friend used to describe my style–layered.

Fun cache pots are a great way to add color and interest to your decorating scheme.

These big ones above are antiques waiting for something new to fill them, but you can find them cheaply at thrift stores and yard sales, or buy matching ones at the garden center or hardware store. These green ruffled ones I got at Ikea a couple of years ago. Between the kids and the dog, I do go through more breakage than I should, so it doesn’t feel like quite such a loss if I got it for two dollars at Goodwill.

If you’re feeling a little post-holiday blah, pull out some of those bulbs you meant to put in the ground in the fall (surely it’s not just me who flubbed it this year). Go find an article on bulb forcing. Some of them (paperwhites for example) you can just put in a tray of pebbles and water and they’ll take off.

Or go for the long-term and get some new plants. It really matters whether they have the right light and water, so don’t assume you have a black thumb if you’ve had failures in the past.

Enjoy this photo of my cat lounging in my 90s jacuzzi tub near the orchids, which are very happy in my east-facing bathroom.

A few quick pointers:

• Ferns need a lot of water and orchids need ambient moisture and air movement. Most plants need watering about once a week. When they start looking wilted, you can save them. If they’re crispy, you can’t.
• Light requirements are variable. You might be able to move something and it will be more happy in a new spot. Don’t wait until it looks like it’s dying; it’s not thriving if it’s not growing bigger.
• If a plant starts looking a little off-color, make sure you are feeding them. Do a weak solution every time you water and keep them healthy. Plants in pots can’t reach out into the ground to find trace nutrients.