Caro Langton and Rose Ray are two stylists and designers specialising in transforming urban interiors with high impact, air-cleansing greenery.

They started their business, Ro Co, in the summer of 2014, with a stall on Broadway Market in Hackney, East London. With their range of exotic indoor plants, hand-cast pots and other original gardening products, they tapped into a community of similarly plant-enthused people who felt, like them, that a life more green was a life better lived.

Over the following four years, they developed a future-focused planting design studio, and have helped to transform many homes, hotels, restaurants and workplaces around London with bespoke designs to suit each unique space.

Root, Nurture, Grow is their second book. Their debut book, House of Plants, has been translated into 8 languages and continues to help young urbanites choose, nurture and style cacti, succulents, air plants and tropical plants.

Caro and Rose are based between London and Margate, where they continue to grow their business together, and ultimately hope to encourage more people bring the wonders of the natural world into their lives.  

Caro explains how House of Plants work their magic...

When Rose and I begin a new indoor planting project, our job is to work with a client to bring an interior, quite literally, to life. Around London, where most of our clients are based, we are seeing first hand the increase in demand for air-cleansing plants in the workplace. Because life is better with a potted plant.

There is a growing community of young urbanites who have steadily been investing in plants to decorate their homes, and it seems that this approach has filtered into working environments too, where people typically spend so much of their time.

Whilst many tropical plants significantly improve the air quality and absorb harmful chemicals found indoors, they also have a calming effect that has been proven to reduce blood pressure levels, improve breathing and boost psychological wellbeing. The emotion we bestow upon these organic forms often goes much deeper than basic beauty; for many people, plants embody progress, optimism, and an urge to celebrate a simple love of life.

For people and plants alike, daylight is a crucial element of everyday wellbeing. We recommend keeping cacti and succulents on south-facing windowsills or below roof window, where they can bask in direct sunshine, and styling those shade-loving tropicals further back on bookshelves and bedside tables.

We lean towards a dense, jungle aesthetic with our installations, but you truly don’t need lots of plants to transform a space. And, even better, you certainly don’t need lots of space to live with plants. We recommend starting with low maintenance species such as Aspidistra, spider plant, dracaena and peace lily.

A home, more than just a sheltered space, should be a sanctuary. And indoor plants, with all their fundamental benefits, ultimately satisfy the very basic human need to feel connected to nature.

Check out Ro Co's beautiful Instagram page for further inspiration: @studio.roco

Ready to get some plant pals of your own? Check out our post How to bring the outside in with houseplants.