We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.

Plant Mama at home in Melbourne
Courtesy of Bed Threads

Bed Threads founder Genevieve Rosen-Biller takes us inside the homes of Australia’s top designers and creatives. 

If you’re not a green thumb (but have aspirations to be), you may want to look away. The thriving indoor jungle Plant Mama founder Jenna Holmes has created in her spacious Melbourne home and studio might turn you green with envy. Three years ago, after discovering a gap in the interior plant styling market, Holmes left her teaching career to launch her design studio—transforming homes, workplaces, and event spaces into spectacular works of living art—and she’s never looked back.

It comes as no surprise, then, that her own home is a stunning celebration of all things potted and planted. In the dining room, hanging ferns cascade from above, while colorful pots and planters boasting brilliant leaves line every surface. There’s a retro, European-inspired aesthetic throughout the space, with pops of terracotta and gold complementing the vintage artwork on the feature wall. In her pastel blue bedroom, glass bottles entwined with vines catch the light through the window. Holmes is a lover of vintage wares, and her home oozes character and originality—just as Plant Mama does.

Hallway with plants
Courtesy of Bed Threads

Plants and art
Courtesy of Bed Threads

How did you know this was the space for you?

I moved in with friends who initially had the space, and I just had a bedroom here and my studio off-site. Then when they moved out, Plant Mama was expanding, so I took on the whole space.

Blue bedroom with plants
Courtesy of Bed Threads

Did you make any big changes after moving in?

Luckily, it had all been painted white before I got here, but I repainted some walls, hung plants, and did a big reno on the backyard, so now it’s a little paradise.

Why did you paint the floors white?

They came white but we have re-painted them many-a-time! Working with plants and soil and white floors isn’t fun all the time. It’s a lot of mopping and sweeping but it looks amazing. It just brightens and opens the room up a lot.

Plant on wooden dresser
Courtesy of Bed Threads

Travertine coffee table with books and plants
Courtesy of Bed Threads

What was your decorating thought process?

It’s the same as most of my creative processes—it’s just all visual. I’ll see things on my travels and know immediately where they will go in the house.

How does having lots of plants in your home make you feel every day?

I instantly feel relaxed when I am at home. I am a country girl at heart and grew up around a lot of nature so, when I moved to Melbourne, I was unaware of how overwhelming a big city can be—the immersion of bringing plants inside just made that feeling subside.

Dining room with plants and art
Courtesy of Bed Threads

What are your top tips for a well-styled home?

Don’t try and replicate what you see in other people’s houses, just be confident in what you like and use others’ spaces as a guide as to how to construct it. I think a lot of people miss the opportunity to be creative in their homes because they don’t trust themselves.

Plant Mama and her pup at home
Courtesy of Bed Threads

Which varietal would you recommend for first-time plant parent?

The easiest plant is hands down rubber plant (ficus elastica). I have several around my house and even if they get ignored for two weeks, they just keep trucking along. They are a great plant for most beginners as they don’t need too much TLC.

See more home tours we love: Art Is Furniture and Furniture Is Art in The Citizenry Cofounder’s Dallas Home I Completely Transformed My Childhood Home With a Few Cans of Paint Inside an Artist’s Bold, Rebellious Georgia Home