Best Large Indoor Plants and Faux Trees to Gift New Homeowners

Most housewarming gifts end up on a shelf. A large plant or a well-chosen faux tree ends up in every single photo of the living room for the next decade. That's the calculus here: a room-filling, instant-impact gift that makes a new house feel finished the moment it's unwrapped — or delivered to the door.

The tricky part is matching the right pick to the right person. Someone with a sun-drenched entryway and a free weekend? Go live. A new homeowner with two toddlers, a curious cat, and zero interest in plant care? A high-quality faux tree is the right call, full stop. Below are the best options in both categories, ranked by versatility, ease of gifting, and the kind of staying power that earns you the title of best-gift-giver in the group.

1. Faux Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree

The single most universally gifted faux tree on the market right now, and for good reason: the fiddle leaf fig's oversized, waxy leaves and single architectural trunk read as expensive and intentional in almost any interior style. The Keeplush 6-foot version on Amazon includes 106 variegated green leaves made from rubber-silk fabric and comes pre-potted in a white ceramic-style pot, no assembly required, for around $70 to $90. The Sill's faux fiddle leaf fig steps things up with planter options that include a natural bamboo stand, making it a genuinely styled gift that arrives looking like it came from a boutique, not a warehouse. Whoever you're gifting, check one thing first: faux fiddle leaf figs photograph beautifully but take up real floor space, so this is the right call for a new home with an entryway, reading nook, or open-plan living room to fill.

2. Faux Olive Tree

The olive tree is having a moment in interior design, and a high-quality faux version is one of the more style-neutral large-plant gifts you can give. Nearly Natural's 82-inch artificial olive tree features slender brown stems branching into delicate bright green leaves, and it comes with a jute basket planter that eliminates any need for a separate pot. For a larger statement, the Costco Faux 8-foot Olive Tree includes a round artisan-style planter and wire stems you can actually bend and shape. On the budget end, DR.Planzen's 6-foot olive tree at Walmart uses a genuine natural wood trunk paired with lifelike fruits and silk leaves, a significantly more convincing look than its price suggests. This one's for the new homeowner who follows design accounts, who calls their aesthetic "Mediterranean" or "organic modern," and who would genuinely love a Tuscan-countryside-indoors vibe without the overhead of a real tree.

3. Faux Palm Tree

For the new homeowner who wants their space to feel like a permanent vacation, a tall faux palm is an instant room transformer. Nearly Natural's Golden Cane and Traveler's Palm varieties are the most realistic options in this category, crafted with input from horticulturists who study actual palm frond structure before producing the artificial version. These are ideal for larger rooms, bright entryways, or sunrooms where a tropical feel is the goal. The category skews toward people who want a statement, not subtlety.

4. Bird of Paradise

Among live large plants, nothing makes a new space feel more considered than a Bird of Paradise. Its banana-like leaves and bold vertical shape symbolize joy and abundance, which makes it an almost too-on-the-nose housewarming choice in the best possible way. Costa Farms ships Bird of Paradise plants in the 2-to-3-foot range as a ready-to-gift option, though large specimens that truly fill a room can reach 5 or 6 feet indoors over time. The catch: this plant genuinely needs bright indirect light and won't thrive in a north-facing apartment. Confirm the recipient has a sunny window before committing, and you've got one of the most visually striking live gifts on this entire list.

5. Monstera Deliciosa

The "Swiss Cheese Plant" remains one of the best live plant gifts because it grows fast, looks dramatic, and thrives on relative neglect. Those iconic split leaves, called fenestrations, develop naturally as the plant matures and bright-light conditions allow, which gives the recipient something to watch and root for over time. Monstera Deliciosa does well in medium indirect light and only needs watering when the top layer of soil dries out. It symbolizes growth and longevity, which is exactly the kind of energy you want to bring to someone's new home. Spend in the $50 to $80 range for a specimen large enough to make an immediate impression.

6. Snake Plant

The NASA Clean Air Study identified the Snake Plant (Sansevieria Trifasciata 'Laurentii') as one of the most effective household plants for filtering airborne toxins, and it produces oxygen at night, making it an unusually practical addition to a bedroom. Its tall, upright leaves with green and yellow contrast read as sculptural rather than fussy, and it tolerates low light, irregular watering, and general neglect better than almost any other large plant on this list. A large Snake Plant in the 3-to-4-foot range costs roughly $35 to $60 and is the right pick when you genuinely don't know the recipient's plant experience level.

7. Rubber Plant

The Rubber Plant earns its place in any housewarming shortlist on the strength of its architecture alone: deep burgundy-to-green leaves on a clean, upright form that feels more interior design object than houseplant. It handles lower light better than a Bird of Paradise and forgives stretches between waterings, which makes it a realistic choice for busy new homeowners still unpacking boxes. Plant in the Box includes it prominently in their curated housewarming collection, and it pairs particularly well with rattan, warm wood, and earthy ceramic planters.

8. Braided Money Tree

The Pachira Aquatica, sold universally as the Money Tree, carries genuine cultural symbolism around luck, prosperity, and fresh starts, making it one of the few plants where the meaning behind the gift is actually legible to the recipient without explanation. The braided trunk form that most people recognize was first cultivated as a deliberate aesthetic choice, and a well-sized specimen in a quality planter sits comfortably in the $45 to $75 range. It handles medium indirect light, tolerates occasional neglect, and grows slowly enough to stay manageable.

9. ZZ Plant

The ZZ Plant is the right answer when the new homeowner in question openly says they kill everything. Its thick rhizome roots store water like a reservoir, meaning it genuinely thrives on infrequent watering, tolerates low light, and still produces those clean, glossy oval leaves that look polished rather than incidental. A large ZZ in the $30 to $55 range makes an honest and useful gift rather than an aspirational one, and there is nothing wrong with that. It's also one of the only large plants that works in a windowless hallway, which is worth knowing.

The best plant gift is ultimately the one matched to real conditions, not idealized ones. A gorgeous Bird of Paradise in an apartment that gets three hours of light a day will be dead before the holidays. A quality faux fiddle leaf fig in a minimalist living room will still be standing twenty years from now. Know your person, know their space, and the choice practically makes itself.