How to style a faux olive tree
at home

The faux olive tree has become one of the most searched interior styling pieces in Australia — and for good reason. It brings warmth, texture and a relaxed Mediterranean elegance to any room. But a great olive tree styled badly looks ordinary. This guide covers everything: placement, pot sizing, height matching and the finishing tricks that make your tree look like it's always been there.

Why the olive tree works in almost every interior

Unlike most statement plants, the olive tree has a naturally soft, neutral quality. The silver-green foliage doesn't dominate — it complements. It works in coastal homes, contemporary apartments, Hamptons-style rooms, Japandi interiors and classic Australian homes equally well. The irregular branch structure and fine leaf texture give it visual depth without heaviness, which is why interior designers reach for it so often.

The faux version specifically solves the single biggest problem with the real olive tree — it's an outdoor Mediterranean plant that genuinely struggles indoors in Australian conditions. The faux version gives you all the look with none of the growing frustration.

Step 1 — Choose the right height for your space

Getting the height wrong is the most common mistake. A tree that's too short looks like a shrub. A tree that's too tall in a low-ceilinged room looks crammed. Use this as your guide:

Step 2 — Placement makes or breaks it

Where you put the tree matters as much as the tree itself. These are the placements that consistently look best:

The corner placement

The most classic and most effective. A corner gives the tree a backdrop on two sides, making the branch structure stand out clearly. The tree fills the empty corner without blocking light or traffic. Leave at least 30–40cm from the walls so the branches can spread naturally.

Beside the sofa

Placing the tree at one end of a sofa creates a layered, styled look — like the tree is part of the seating arrangement. For 180cm trees, position it so the foliage starts slightly above the sofa back. This creates a beautiful framing effect.

Beside a window

Natural light coming through the fine olive leaves creates beautiful shadow patterns on the wall. Even though your faux tree doesn't need the light, the visual effect is stunning — it looks completely convincing and alive.

Entryway statement

A single tall olive tree at a front entrance immediately signals a considered, styled home. Choose 180cm or taller. The narrow profile of a multi-branch tree works well in entranceways where floor space is limited.

Step 3 — The pot size guide

The pot is 50% of the final look. Too small and the tree looks unstable. Too large and it looks like the tree is swimming in it. The general rule: your pot diameter should be approximately 1/5 to 1/6 of the tree height.

Step 4 — The finishing tricks

This is where the difference between a good result and a great result lives. These finishing steps take five minutes and transform the look completely.

1. Cover the nursery base. Every faux tree comes in a plain black nursery pot. Cover it with decorative white stones, bark chips, preserved moss or coconut fibre. This single step transforms a "fake plant in a plastic pot" into something that looks genuinely planted and considered.

2. Drop the tree into a decorative pot. The nursery pot sits neatly inside most decorative planters. No repotting required — just drop it in. The gap around the sides can be filled with stones or moss to hold it stable.

3. Spread the branches. When your tree arrives, the branches may be slightly compressed from packaging. Take five minutes to gently spread and reposition each branch outward. This doubles the visual fullness of the tree immediately.

4. Vary the angles. Real olive trees never grow perfectly symmetrical. Tilt a few outer branches slightly downward or upward to create natural asymmetry. The more natural-looking the branching, the more convincing the tree.

5. Place it where people pass by. The real-touch foliage on our premium trees rewards close inspection. Put it somewhere guests naturally walk past — beside a hallway, at the entrance to a room or next to a reading chair. The closer they get, the more impressed they'll be.

Pot material and colour — what works

The olive tree's silver-green palette is warm and neutral, which means it pairs well with most pot colours. Here's what works best for each interior style:

The one mistake to avoid

Putting a statement tree in the wrong scale pot and leaving the black nursery base showing. It's the single most common issue and the easiest to fix. Spend five minutes on the base — stones, moss, a decorative pot — and the whole thing transforms.

Everything else — height, placement, branch spreading — you can adjust over time. But that first impression when guests walk in is set by the pot and base. Get that right and everything else follows.