Throughout the COVID-19 quarantine, we had 45 colleagues that waited patiently in our studio for things coming back to normal. And I’m talking about office plants! Did you know that keeping some greenery in your workspace is super beneficial? Here’s my story, why! 

How it all began

My name is Dovilė, and I’m a creative copywriter here, at Stepdraw. And my hobby is taking care of our little-green-jungle indoor plants. 

It all started about 3 years ago, with a few sad-looking plants left after one filming - I gathered them and decided to recover their vitality. Then I brought some plants from my apartment because I no longer had a spare space to keep them. Even a tomato plant (it provided some great addition to my lunches!). The other time, I cut the top of a simple edible grocery store pineapple, put it in the ground, and now I have a little pineapple tree. So our open-space is continuously filling with plants in every possible way. 

Stepdraw - production life - pineapple - office plants

The lockdown coincided with the change of Stepdraw studio premises, so in March we brought all the plants to an empty loft and left them there to wait for better times. Of course, I patiently took care of them throughout the quarantine, I used to come and water and sprinkle down two times a week, rain or shine. 

And they all survived! Now I’m trying to expand this green oasis, and fingers crossed, hope to see a lot more greenery here in a year. My latest project - growing a date palm tree from a seed, so wish me luck! 

Altogether, I have noticed that the work environment really improved with those green buddies around. And now I can honestly say that this green space is one of my primary sources of inspiration here, creating a balance between work and rest.

Basically, there are 3 reasons to have plants where you work: 

#1 Plants keep you healthy by cleaning the air 

They absorb toxins, produce oxygen and increase humidity. After 10+ plants appeared in our studio, the air situation has improved noticeably. A healthier indoor micro-climate reduced headaches, drowsiness, fatigue and other unpleasant sensations.

#2 Plants make you feel good

They bring nature closer to the working space. Admittedly, lunch breaks are not always used for relaxing walks in the park, so you can take benefit of indoor green spaces to reduce stress, boost mood, productivity, concentration and creativity. Even a single plant on the desk can provide these therapeutic effects. 

#3 Plants look good

A healthy, green plant is an excellent interior goal. This visual beauty magically transforms a sterile office space into a creative workplace, full of life, ideas and motivation. More plants also can make live partitions between office areas, giving privacy, reducing noise levels, but at the same time keeping the space united. 

Drawback - someone has to take care of them

And that means watering regularly and according to different plant needs, fertilizing, choosing the right compost and soil, knowing how to lay drainage and when repotting time is just right. It takes time to master these processes. Sometimes even if you take great care, plants die with no particular reason. For example, I, myself kill about 2-3 plants a year because of repotting mistakes or some strange fungi, pest infections.  

Things like that can ruin all your hard work, so you need to like the process of plants-maintenance itself with all ups and downs of this journey. 

Stepdraw studio plants gallery

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To summarize

Office plants keep you healthy, reduce stress and makes you feel good, so it’s definitely worth growing them in your workspace. Assess your environment, how much time you can devote and start with one little plant on your table. I'm sure you find the right one, that is easy to take care of, beneficial for your health and looks great!

This story is a part of Stepdraw production blog post series Production Life, which are dedicated to stories about production people lifestyle and creative inspirations.