The fresh, garden feeling that comes from living with plants indoors is never more marked than when vines are part of the picture. Their graceful, curving lines seem more natural than stiff, upright plants; they give more flower and foliage display per square inch of root space; and they are more adaptable, without unnatural strain and distortion, to many desirable effects. Vines and hanging plants create vitality and motion, actually seem to "breathe life into a room."

This is true in houses of all types of architecture or interior decor, and particularly true when the style is strictly contemporary. Planning for minimum maintenance makes use of building materials, fabrics, and finishes that are smooth and stark, but also sometimes monotonous and glaring. The clean, uncluttered look provides not only the opportunity but also the need for the kind of decoration vines can provide.

Straight, plain contemporary lines call for a softening effect. Large, bare areas are superb backgrounds for the play of light and shadow, for contrasts in color and texture. With the trend toward living, working, and eating areas instead of sharply separated rooms, vines can be used to give the effect of a screen or divider without actually closing off space. And the contemporary emphasis on "oneness with the outdoors" expressed in large windows becomes more emphatic when a vine makes a soft transition between inside and outside view.

Spanish or Oriental; Georgian, Tudor, or Victorian; Northern Colonial or Southern plantation - there is hardly a house that is not made more attractive by vining plants. By their very nature they are in character with the country cottage or farmhouse. To the prototype suburban home, vines contribute individuality. In many older homes they are useful in modifying, modernizing, or screening what we now consider defects in design, making all rooms more refreshing and livable.

A vine trained along certain lines can make a large room seem smaller and more friendly, a small room seem larger and more airy. Grown up or down a wall, a vine will heighten a low ceiling; horizontally, it lowers a high ceiling. Effective use of vines will pull the three windows of an old-fashioned bay into one homogeneous indoor garden decoration. Used in a single window where a variety of plants appear, vines help achieve decorative unity. Vines can be used to help balance a design for interior decoration, to give it rhythm, to create a center of interest or call attention to a focal point, to achieve any or all of the requirements of good design.

In the incredible variety of vining plants, there is almost unlimited choice of color, texture, structural form and size, and character with which to create any desired effect. Some vines make a dark room look brighter; others can be arranged for coolness and shade; and still others will produce either effect, depending upon how they are used. Today we have available a fascinating array of foliage vines that will flourish on indoor walls and in other places where the light is too dim for flowering plants, and we're learning to love the beauty of fresh green foliage, the intricate tracery of twining stems, and the fascinating effect of the shadows of both.

There are vines in tune with the restful mood of the living room, the happiness of a kitchen or playroom, the femininity of a bedroom. There are small vines in scale with small rooms, large ones bold enough for great drawing rooms; vines effective when used alone, or in combination with other plants, or both. Some vines grow fast, some slow. Some climb up a support, some dangle from a wall bracket or hanging baskets. In using vines for indoor decoration, you can indulge your adventurous spirit and ingenuity to the limit, and at little cost.

There is one obvious condition upon which this is all possible - that the vining plants are healthy, colorful, and fresh-looking. This may require making some provision for light and sunlight, humidity, and other cultural requirements just like how to care for an aloe vera plant. Some plants can adapt to indoor life more readily then others; some are of such rare beauty that pampering is more than worth the trouble. In addition to optimum cultural conditions, Chapter 5 contains suggestions for some easy ways to keep a constant supply of thriving plants for decorative use.

So much for generalizations; now, let's get specific. Here are a number of ideas for using vines and hanging plants for indoor decoration - in planter gardens, in windows, on walls and other vertical surfaces, in baskets and other hanging containers, and in small table-top compositions. Each idea is meant to be adapted to suit your house and your personal taste, and to inspire you to create your own completely new effects.