Shelf Decorating Idea: Propagated Plant Shelf

Today I’m sharing a super simple shelf decorating idea using propagated pothos. This propagated plant shelf is one of my absolute faves and I think you’ll love it too! 

I love this live edge shelf that hangs behind our dining table. It’s a great focal point in the room, but sometimes I run out of shelf decorating ideas. I actually never got around to redecorating it for the holidays and had been staring at the fall decor from last year until last week when I was finally hit with some inspiration. I had been trying to think of something simple because I’m on a mission to simplify the visual clutter in my decor. So when the idea of propagated plants came to mind, it checked all the boxes.

I was looking for a simpler design, because I was getting tired of coming up with 10-15 items to layer and stack on this shelf. It’s actually a pretty big shelf and it’s on an even bigger wall, so coming up with enough stuff to keep the shelf at the right scale with the rest of the room can be a challenge.

A simple shelf decorating idea

This isn’t the first time I’ve decorated this shelf with plants. Plants are just so simple and organic but full of texture that they make the perfect statement here. Last spring I filled different sized terra cotta pots with different types of plants and I absolutely loved the textured simplicity it brought. Unfortunately, some of the plants preferred a little more sun, so I gradually moved the plants away from that design.

The one plant that continually finds itself on this shelf is my pothos. We have sliding doors to the left of this view and a skylight in the kitchen, so this shelf gets a little sun and the pothos seems to really love this spot. Filling the shelf with 6 pothos seemed like a bit of overkill, but starting new pothos here is perfect.

One of the best parts of the this shelf decorating idea is that it only cost me about $12. I knew I wanted to place the propagated leaves in glass jars and vases of varying sizes, so I hit up a couple thrift stores in my area and easily found what I was looking for. I just made sure they were different heights and widths. There’s always multiple shelves of glass ware at thrift shops, so it was no problem to find. And  I’ll just re-donate them when I’m ready for a new look.

I also got lucky and found that adorable basket at one of the thrift stores. I wasn’t specifically looking for one but I never go to any store without searching the baskets for something to put plants in.

And I already had that picture on hand. It’s one of my favorites!

How to propagate a pothos plant

This is my first time propagating a pothos, but I see them all over in different sized vases and jars. I followed the instructions in this video.

First I cut off a few of the vines of my pothos.

Then I trimmed the stem off on either side of each leaf.

Then I just stuck a few leaves in each vase that was filled with water. The video says you should put them in a warm spot to grow, but not a window. You also need to change out the water every 2-3 days. Your leaves should have roots within 2-3 weeks and then they’ll be ready for new soil.

I am really hoping ours grow some roots! I did this project with my 3-year-old, and he’s really excited to see them grow. It was a super simple project to do with him and I love his excitement to learn how these things work!

Even if these don’t grow, I’m still super happy with how it looks! It is exactly the simple uncluttered look I was going for and you can never have too much plant decor in your home. I’m always looking for new shelf decorating ideas and new unique ways to display my plants. This is the best of both worlds!