10 terrarium ideas for a beautiful plant display

Terrariums offer one of the easiest ways to combine growing indoor plants with interior decor. Sleek, modern, and minimalist, terrariums fit into most home decorating schemes and come in lots of different shapes and sizes. Here we explore the many different ways you can style your terrarium, from the simplest single-plant designs to elaborate miniature gardens and even seascapes. 

Find out how to make a terrarium in our guide and consult out best indoor plants buyer's guide if you want even more house plants. 

1. Start with simple, single-plant terrariums

The easiest way to get into designing your own terrarium it to purchase simple kits that include one plant per terrarium. These will typically be succulents, which are very low-maintenance and will hardly need any watering. Single-plant terrariums also look contemporary and sleek and look good displayed on desks and coffee tables. 

2. Add lights to a simple terrarium 

If you want to make a simple, single-plant terrarium a little bit more special, then micro LED lights are the way to go. Look for micro LEDs specifically, because ordinary fairy lights are likely to be too large; you'll also need something battery operated, and the battery pack is best covered with moss. 

Alternatively, consider the lovely Terrarium Glass Vase from Lights4fun – it has an LED light and battery pack built into the cork lid. 

3. It's not all about succulents

Not that keen on succulents? There are quite a few more plants you can successfully grow in a terrarium, including some tropical plants, ferns, carnivorous plants such as the Venus fly trap, and, perhaps most spectacularly, orchids. Orchids love growing in rocks, sand, and open moss, so a terrarium is actually a pretty good environment for it. Just make sure it has ventilation and access to bright indirect light. 

Learn how to care for orchids in our guide. 

4. Experiment with micro terrariums

Tiny terrariums are a thing now, and they make for excellent gifts, or are a great choice for keeping on a small desk or a shelf next to your workspace. They're a bit like tiny landscape capsules and really stimulate the imagination: you can daydream about walking in the woods while taking a break from your computer screen. 

5. Recreate a sea landscape in a terrarium

If you have a nautical theme going on at home, or even if you just miss being by the seaside in summer, creating a seascape in your terrarium couldn't be easier. Opt for white sand instead of pebbles and add seashells. You can also choose moss that look like seagrass. Both succulents and air plants will happily live inside sea shells. 

6. Add miniature figures for a cute fairytale effect

If you want to start taking your terrariums to the next level, you can build whole miniature scenes with figures. It can be something as simple as a forest scene with little mushrooms (see above), or a complex urban park landscape with figurine of people. There are infinite combination to choose from; the only downside is that the miniature figurines tend to be made from plastic.

7. Create a mini rock garden in your terrarium

If you're fond of rock gardens but can't have one in your garden (or don't have a garden), a Zen rock garden terrarium is very easy to make. All you really need is moss and miniature rocks or pebbles. The rest is up to your imagination and taste – and remembering to keep your moss well watered. 

8. Create a hanging terrarium display

Hanging terrariums, with loops for rope, look stunning displayed in a bright kitchen, living room, or, in the summer, on your porch or patio. The best plants for a handing terrarium are air plants – they require no soil and only need to be watered once every couple of weeks.

9. Consider open terrariums

Not all terrariums are closed or even semi-closed; in fact, for succulents, open terrariums are a far better environment that allow for air circulation. Tropical plants will thrive in a humid, closed terrarium, but if you're only growing cacti and succulents, consider open containers. You'll still have the minimalist look of a glass terrarium, but the plants will grow better and look nice when they've grown taller than the terrarium walls. 

10. Christmas terrarium ideas

Restyling your terrarium for Christmas is so simple: just add a few mini Christmas baubles and a kalanchoe, which is one of our favourite winter flowers and is a succulent, which makes it perfectly suited to the terrarium environment. Go for white or red ones for a really Christmassy look.