Kentia Palm

If you want one plant that instantly makes a room feel finished, the Kentia Palm is the one to reach for. It's elegant without being demanding, safe around pets and perfectly happy in the corners other plants sulk in. Basically, it's the houseguest that shows up looking fabulous, asks for almost nothing and never overstays its welcome.

It's also refreshingly low effort for something so impressive. Naturally slow-growing, it won't outgrow its spot or stage a takeover of your living room, and it forgives the odd missed watering without holding a grudge. New plant parents get an easy win. Seasoned collectors get a classic. Everyone gets to say "oh, that? It basically looks after itself."

Known botanically as Howea forsteriana, the Kentia hails from Lord Howe Island off the coast of Australia and has been lending interiors a little grandeur since Victorian times, when no fashionable parlour was complete without one. Some trends deserve to last. It's happiest in bright, indirect light but copes brilliantly in shadier spots, only asking for water once the top of the soil has dried out. Living room, hallway, bedroom or that awkward empty corner: this is the plant that makes it all look intentional.