When people ask Shayla Owodunni why she loves plants so much, her answer always starts at home. She grew up around plants, but the Minnesota native admits that they weren’t hers, they were her mom’s — and back then she didn’t get it either. But when a need to feel at home in Seattle brought a few plants into her apartment, it was the start of something big. Now back home in Minnesota, the former accountant-turned-business-consultant and chief creative behind The Plant Penthouse has turned her loft-style condo into a verdant escape all her own.

When Shayla first found her loft, it was move-in ready. “The previous owners cared for it very well,” she explains. “Thankfully, there was no structural work to do, so I focused on cosmetic work, including removing gray carpet tiles, installing shelving and changing the paint colors.” The consultant even credits the previous owners for helping start her hometown plant collection. “When they moved they left a fiddle-leaf fig, which I’ve named, ‘Felipe’,” she says.

It’s safe to say that a home with more than 80 plants in it is looking to make a statement. For Shayla, that narrative begins in the living room. “The living room design serves to center the overall style of my loft,” she begins. “It can be seen from the moment you open the door, so I wanted this quadrant of my space to reflect an amuse-bouche of my personal inspiration.” That inspiration includes travels in Southeast Asia as well as pieces sourced closer to home, such as her orange armchair, hanging basket chair and canary yellow sofa. A treasured find, she’ll only say she loves the sofa, “because of the tears it took to get it.”

It’s not surprising that Shayla’s massive collection of plants is one of the first things people notice when they visit her home. “My use of plants is always the first talking point,” the blogger admits. Yet their presence in the home is about more than providing a surefire conversation starter. They’re also a great way to keep a warm and lively feeling all year round. “I find that my plants breathe life into the space,” she explains, “transporting me to far-away tropical destinations — even in the snowiest of Minnesota weather.”