Best houseplants for bathrooms
Bathrooms are an underrated place to keep houseplants. The shower steam pushes humidity up to 60-80% — the rainforest range that tropicals love — and the bathroom is usually the only room nobody minds you over-watering. The catch: most bathrooms have one small frosted window or none at all, so the plant has to tolerate medium-to-low light without sulking. These picks handle both.
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Peace Lily Spathiphyllum wallisii
Toxic to cats and dogs Medium indirectTolerates low light AND humid air; the white blooms are a bonus.
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Boston Fern Nephrolepis exaltata
Pet-safe Medium indirectThe bathroom plant. Boston Fern struggles in dry living rooms but thrives next to a regularly-used shower.
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Parlor Palm Chamaedorea elegans
Pet-safe Medium indirect Drought-tolerantMost palms hate low light; Parlor Palm is the exception. Pet-safe too.
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Bird's Nest Fern Asplenium nidus
Pet-safe Medium indirectCleaner-looking pet-safe alternative to Boston Fern — solid wavy fronds in a rosette, no daily debris to sweep up. Loves the 60-80% shower humidity.
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Heartleaf Philodendron Philodendron hederaceum
Toxic to cats and dogs Medium indirectHeartleaf Philodendron is very easy to grow, handles dry indoor air, listed by NASA Clean Air Study.
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Satin Pothos Scindapsus pictus
Toxic to cats and dogs Medium indirect Drought-tolerantSatin Pothos is easy to grow, drought-tolerant, handles dry indoor air.
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Chinese Evergreen Aglaonema commutatum
Toxic to cats and dogs Medium indirectChinese Evergreen is easy to grow, handles dry indoor air, listed by NASA Clean Air Study.
Honorable mentions
More plants in our database that fit this criteria but did not make the top 7.
- Rattlesnake Plant (Calathea lancifolia)
- Dieffenbachia (Dieffenbachia seguine)
- Watermelon Peperomia (Peperomia argyreia)
- Baby Rubber Plant (Peperomia obtusifolia)
- Polka Dot Plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya)
Final word
If your bathroom has no window at all, stick to Pothos and ZZ — they survive on incidental light from the bathroom fixture.