Colour the universe green, one home at a time

It’s a green revolution of a different kind. For, it is not happening in fields or forests, but inside our homes, with our house plants. The idea is to live green, quite literally, surrounded by a profusion of plants that not only look good but make you feel good as well. The idea is to spread the message through as many people as possible around the globe with styling and décor tips, eventually colouring the universe green, one home at a time.

Also read: Power of Plants: Top seven plants to harnessed once home

The brainchild of London-based plant parents Igor Josifovic-Kemper (43) and Judith de Graaff (42), Urban Jungle Bloggers has steadily grown into a community of plant lovers running into millions. One look at the hundreds of photos uploaded every day by members from all corners of the world, each celebrating the joys of plant parenthood, is enough to tell you what a revelation, and revolution, is currently underway.

“It all started almost a decade ago when we met over coffee in Paris chatting about favourite blog topics like interiors, travels and greens. We soon realised we shared a common love for house plants and decided to turn this into a monthly series on our own blogs. We called it Urban Jungle Bloggers. From the first month, our readers loved it and fellow bloggers and other plant lovers asked to join in,” recalls Josifovic-Kemper, a social media consultant from Berlin, Germany, specialising in interior design, home décor and travel.

Thus began their verdant voyage, a journey of discovering ways of turning concrete jungles into green oases. Knowledge was shared, inspiring DIYs were featured, and styling tips were exchanged.

New blog posts were gathered on the Urban Jungle Bloggers website and via Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. The community kept growing and the #urbanjunglebloggers on Instagram quickly became one of the most popular houseplant-related hashtags.

So much so that in 2016, the two decided to document projects from their green community, which resulted in a book, Urban Jungle: Living and Styling with Plants, in both English and German. It sold out in a week and is currently in its 14th edition. It has been translated into 13 languages.

“While meeting so many plant lovers from around the world during talks, workshops, plant trips and conferences, we couldn’t help but notice that plants also do so much for us. Not only do they make our homes look good, but they also help us feel more present and develop different skills. This is where the idea of our second book, Plant Tribe, Living Happily Ever After with Plants, sprouted,” says de Graaff, a freelance interior designer.

Aimed at a wider audience, unlike typical house plant books, each chapter combines easily understandable plant knowledge, style guidance via real home interiors, and advice for using plants to increase energy, creativity and well-being.

Spurred by their success and the growing interest in going green, the duo also started an online course in February this year on Domestika (the largest online community for creatives) and called it Home Styling and Decoration with Plants. Here, they share professional styling techniques to transform your interior spaces into your own urban jungle.

Also read: Where lotus comes to bloom

As for the journey thus far, they both agree it’s been exciting, sometimes challenging, but above all, a lot of fun.

“Our goal has always been to make everyone interested in living a greener, plant-filled life. And to share the benefits of living with plants through the inspiring stories of fellow plant lovers. With our two books, a global community, an online course and daily enthusiasm, we believe we have achieved that. And like plants, we just keep growing,” they say.