how to hang plants from ceiling without drilling

7 Ways to Hang Plants From Your Ceiling Without Drilling Holes

Plants are a great addition to your living space, but they can start to look slightly boring after a while if you don’t find unique ways to display them.

Hanging them from the ceiling is one way to do it, but you want to do it without drilling holes in the ceiling that you have to go back and patch after.

Hanging plants provide beautiful visual interest by your ceiling level, and they help you save up floor space at the same time.

How to Hang Plants from Ceiling Without Drilling

You can use adhesive hooks to hang your plants from the ceiling without drilling, or you can use high-strength magnets, clamps, tension rods, and more. There are adjustable hooks that allow you to quickly and easily hang your plants securely to the ceiling when drilling isn’t an option, but you need more space for your plants.

No matter which option you choose to take, we’re going to outline several viable options you have available to you.

We’ll help you save your ceiling while giving you plenty of space to hang small, medium, or large planters, and you can remove them again without any damage.

Which Plants Work Best for Hanging

One of the first things you want to do is decide which types of plants you want to hang in your home because there are huge varieties that range from very small and light to big and heavy.

Some of the methods we’re going to get into can’t support more than 10-pounds at a maximum, and mid to large-sized pots with the plant, soil, and water can easily exceed this amount.

Maybe you want a mix of small air plants and large vines, or you have no idea which plants you want, but you know you want things that are easy to grow.

If this is the case, the following shortlist will ensure that you get plants that will do well in virtually any growing condition, and they come in a decent range of sizes for you to choose from.

  • Boston Fern
  • Devil’s Ivy
  • English Ivy
  • Heartleaf Philodendron
  • Mistletoe Cactus
  • Orchid
  • Pothos
  • Prayer Plant
  • Spider Plant
  • String of Hearts
  • String of Pearls

1. Use Adhesive Hooks

Adhesive hooks allow you to hang your plants from the ceiling without drilling or making holes, and there are adhesive command hooks available that are adjustable and perfect for hanging plants.

You can get them online or from most office supply stores, and all you have to do is peel your adhesive backing off the hook and stick the back directly on the ceiling to anchor it in place. Slide the hook or twine on your pot over the loop of the adjustable hoop and suspend it.

This process also works with standard command hooks if you want to hang them from a portion of the wall or trim that doesn’t have drywall under it.

You do want to make sure to check the weight limitation of the hooks before you buy them, as most top out at 5 to 10-pounds at a maximum, and overloading the hooks can cause the containers with the plants to fall.

2. Magnetic Hooks with Wall Magnets

You can get a high-strength magnetic hook that is just a magnetic plate with a hook attached to it.

Attach the hook to your air duct, ceiling air vent, or metal fixture to secure it in place. Loop the hanging plant over this hook and suspend it from the ceiling.

If you already have a strong magnetic hook, you could potentially attach them to the drywall since there are plenty of nails in the studs.

There are also magnetic pots available, but most of them have a magnet in the side of the pot that allows you to quickly and easily attach them to a refrigerator or other metal appliance.

3. Suction Cup

If you have a tall window or a skylight and a few lighter plants, you can get a suction cup hanger pot and put smaller plants inside it.

However, you can only use a suction cup to safely hang your pot from glass, so you’ll have to have a skylight in your window for this to work.

Suction cups also can’t hold anything over five pounds without increasing the risks of letting go, so consider both the wet and dry weight of your pot.

If you’re someone who has a very large skylight in your ceiling, you can easily hang three or four plants up around it to create a living garden and a modern look. They work very well for lightweight vines and air plants too.

4. C-Clamps

You can quickly and easily attach c-clamps to fixtures or anything that sticks out of your ceiling to create a modern look and feel.

Open doorways, arches, or anything with a lip will give your c-clamp something to hold onto, including a thin portion of drywall that is between three and six inches thick.

Turn the handle clockwise to tighten the handle until the pads of each jaw attach firmly to the wall.

This works exceptionally well if your home has a more industrial feel to it, and you can do it with exposed rafters or strong fixtures that get built into your wall.

Don’t tighten your clamp all of the ways, and you should stop once you feel a small amount of pressure from the handle as you tighten it. If you keep tightening it, you risk damaging the wall.

5. Tension Rod

If you want to hang your plant near the ceiling, you can do so using a tension rod across your window frame to give yourself a very subtle look.

Tension rods use pressure to hold themselves in place, and they’re very common in closets or to hold shower curtains.

Pick up the extension rod and hold it while extending it out inside the window frame until the two ends are pushing on opposite ends of the window frame.

Put your tension rod between three and six inches from the ceiling to hang your plants on, and this will support small, medium, and large-scale plants without a problem.

If you have plants hanging on a rope instead of hooks, make sure you take time to thread the rope over the rod before you hang it up in the window.

It would be a pain to go back and take the rod down to string the rope through it before hanging it back up.

6. Over the Door Hooks

Although this won’t attach your plants directly to the ceiling per se, it does get them up in the air, close to the ceiling, and off the ground.

If you have a door that isn’t used much in your home, you can put up a few over-the-door hooks by hanging them over this door and hanging plants on the hooks.

The hooks usually work for towels, but they can hold medium-sized plants without bending or breaking.

If you choose this option, you want to get hooks that have an actual hooking portion that sticks out slightly more at four to six inches to give your pots room to hang away from the door itself.

This way, you won’t interrupt their growing pattern or accidentally smash any against the wall when you open and close the door. Also, make sure they hook securely over the door, so they don’t let go.

7. Consider Getting Creative

If none of these options work for you, but you still want to get your plants off the floor or table, you have to get creative. There are a few ways you can go about this.

For example, if you have an old coat hook sitting around that no one uses, consider hanging a few plants from it. However, make sure to balance the weight, so you don’t accidentally pull it over when you water the plants.

Another option you have is to take an old ladder and lean it up against the wall. Once it’s up, secures it in place and screw a few hooks into the different rungs and hang your plants on these hooks.

You can easily make a nice staggered display of plants in the corner of your room, and they can reach right up to your ceiling level if you have a tall enough ladder on hand.

Bottom Line

When it comes to hanging plants on the ceiling without drilling holes, you have several viable options you can choose from to ensure you have enough space for all of your plants without causing any damage.

We invite you to mix and match the methods we mentioned to see which ones work best for your situation. Doing so will allow you to enjoy cascades of plants all year round.

Similar Posts