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.
-
Peace Lily Spathiphyllum wallisii
Toxic to cats and dogs Medium indirectTolerates low light AND humid air; the white blooms are a bonus.
-
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.
-
Parlor Palm Chamaedorea elegans
Pet-safe Medium indirect Drought-tolerantMost palms hate low light; Parlor Palm is the exception. Pet-safe too.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Rattlesnake Plant Calathea lancifolia
Pet-safe Medium indirectRattlesnake Plant is pet-safe.
Honorable mentions
More plants in our database that fit this criteria but did not make the top 7.
- 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.