I had a fake bamboo, finally got rid of it not because I didn't like it, I did, but because it was pretty large and dusting it was becoming a chore.
It was silk and good quality, and to me it looked nice.

Ficus trees come in a wide selection of looks for them to all be out of style.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=ficus&tbm=shop&tbs=vw:g

What should always remain out of style are the poorly made ones - no plants is better than an eyesore plant.

Also not a fan of them being left in only the tiny baskets theyre often sold in - think they look crazy top-heavy when not placed in larger, more substantial base to balance them.

Also, you know how a lot of men like weapons... throw in a bow and arrow set.

I owned a silk plant store and was always amazed at the amount of dust held in the trees. They are not something you want if allergies are an issue in the home. I used a shop vac to blow the dust off the trees outside, then hosed them down and let them drip dry.

Also, if you grab the leaves or flowers on a silk plant or tree and they 'crunch' because they are dried out, they are way past their prime. Toss them. Nothing dates a home faster than bad silk plants.

Now there are some nice preserved foliage trees and greenery/grasses that be successfully used in homes & look fairly realisti.

I had one. Took it to our local community building to be used as a prop on stage.....and left it there.

I also had a lot of fake greenery and got rid of it all. Too much a dust collector.

Well, I like old things and have a lot of items in my house that would be considered "out" by the more trendy among us -- but I still can't abide fake ficus trees. For me, they are too much of a throwback to the 80s, and not in a good way. Memories of sneezing fits suffered while trying to clean those dust-laden beasts is enough to forever turn me off. Just tell your hubby he's wrong.
;-D

Get him a real one.

Oh, they're not so bad if you clean them up and squish them all together... in a room you don't go in very often... like hubby's library.

Thanks to all your great responses! I took them ALL out today and sprayed with hose. Only problem is mine are in brass pots with moss. It sort of looked bare in the house today. LOL. I love the attitude if you like it doesn't matter if it's in or out! I just think I'll keep a few.

If you grab the trunk and lift, they might come right out of the pots. If I remember, the "roots" are embedded in styrofoam, and the moss just sits on top of the foam, so you can take the moss off temporarily while you hose 'em down.

Funny the stuff you remember.

They're dust collectors.

Thanks for the advise on removing plants to clean! A couple of mine are in white styrofoam and do come right out. Most are glued into a wicker basket with moss on top so I just take them out of the brass pots and try not to get the baskets wet, then put new green moss on top when finished. Didn't get them done today but plan on doing first thing in morning. I got several bottles of the silk spray that keeps plants clean. So, after their "bath" and all clean, I'm going to spray them. Hopefully, they will look better and not get so dusty.

I have a large fake tree in my family room. I do take it outside and hose it off every couple of months. While I'm not crazy about fake, I did put it in a huge ceramic pot, the pot colors coordinate with my wall and fabric colors. I really only have it because I hate empty dead spaced corners.

When someone tells him they are "out," he will get rid of them and will probably never tell you why. He will probably make up some big tale like he saw big boa constrictors crawling through them and in order to save his family he wrestled the boas and in the process, destroyed the trees.

He will have an epiphany and rid himself of them. It may be that someone at the office mentions them to him or he tells the girls at the office that he is saving them and they will gently tell him how aged they are.

He will at that point get rid of them. Just don't ask why so he will not have to construct an amazing fairy tale of bravado as his reason for eliminating them. Just do an ahhhh...how sweet when he tells you his amazing story, should he need to.

Patricia, I love the way you think.

ROFL!

I'm sorry but I don't ever see a reason to have a fake tree in your house when you can have something real. Never can convince me a fake tree is a good look.

I had real ficus trees for a while many years ago. They dropped leaves, got spider mites. Were not so good for corners because the way the room was, the corner got very little light.
I know some people have great success with indoor trees, but it didn't work out for me.
Ultimately, the fake plants didn't work out either.
So now I have a pretty garden outdoors and I have a tall carpeted cat structure to give vertical interest to one of the living room corners.

i have a fake ficus in the living room corner that doesn't get much light and although i wouldn't say it looks beautiful, i love it because i keep it lit with led white lights on a timer all year and it provides a nice light in that room every night. (we usually aren't in that room, but it is sortof like a nightlight for the front stairs!)
i prefer real plants and have had a couple of nice real ficis trees, but they do attract mites and one would have some sort of sticky substance come from it onto the floor and nearby windows... and they grow, so they become much more cumbersome to move as they get larger and i get older!! (i like to move them outside for the summer)

I ordered a real one from of all places HD online. It was a reasonable price, a good size and very pretty! It is losing its lower leaves, though. That's probably normal although I don't have lots of light to give it.

Our home was built for views. It has very high ceilings. Windows everywhere. I have some huge fake trees near windows because there are no walls by which to place furniture.

When people come in, they don't seem to know that these trees are "out." They gasp at the beauty of the home. Maybe it's the decor. This interior is creams, beiges, browns, blacks and white. Green is the only real color except for the paintings on the walls. This is zen decor for sure.

The trees don't drop leaves like the real ones outside do. And, we squirt them off and let them dry in the shade every 6 months or so. We never worry about over watering or spider mites or fungus gnats killing them. I must say, I've lost many expensive indoor plants to fungus gnats.

My favorite view is standing by a big fake bamboo and looking out at the fake green lawn outside. Well, it's actually a putting green, but it's green, as opposed to my neighbor's brown spotted gopher ridden, rabbit chewed, water guzzling real lawn. Just past that putting green is a view of our citrus trees and the perpetually green citrus orchards below and the foothills and mountains that rise past them.

I think if you live in a dark home with a closed in feeling, the fake plants wouldn't have the effect they do here.

There are places for them... Just saying.

I absolutely love this post because it describes my husband and his need to have a fake tree (or 2) in every room. They were so covered in dust when we started dating, no matter how much I sprayed with the hose they never came clean. Now that we are married I started throwing them away. Had to bring them to the town dump because he would see them at the curb and return them to the house. The last 2 are living in his library but those will go too when I start decorating that room.
Rather than insult his taste, I blame it on the dust and our son's allergies. My son doesn't have allergies but he doesn't need to know that ;-)

I am one of those persons who loves "real" plants but have a few fake ones in high places like book shelves and etc. I have even been known to mix fake plants in my real plants to make them look fuller. A hint to people that have "bugs/critters" on their real houseplants....get some Systemic House Plant Granuals from Earl May and put it in the soil per directions. In two weeks the "critters/bugs will be gone. I do this every fall when bringing my house plants back into the house. Also a real ficus will drop leaves when moved to a different location. Usually with enough light it will grow and do well.

We've had a real ficus tree for twenty years or more. The dropping leaves drove me crazy, so my husband took it into the daylight basement. Every summer he takes it outside, and every October brings it back in. He's also got two orange trees that grew from tiny grocery store orange trees into actual orange trees. He takes them out in the summer and brings them back in the fall as well. He's got too much of a green thumb, so yes, our basement looks like a forest for most of the year! He picks up the leaves!

After reading these posts, I believe the fake ficus tree, with white lights, should be taken to the thrift store. They do make your house look dated, right?

The leaves are breaking off and dusty, too.

Fake plants are like public schools. Everyone agrees that in general they're poor quality and outdated, but their own is good. :-)

I'm in my 70's and have seen more trends come and go that I can count in all these decades of breathing air.

For me, I want my home to look nice, too, but I also want it to reflect us -- and no longer care what society now thinks a proper home should look like.

So, I've come to the conclusion that while it's advantageous to enjoy looking at beautifully decorated rooms -- and I do -- l will keep the what I like, dated or not. Our home is a reflection of who we are and what makes us comfortable and happy. Even if it has a couple of artificial trees and greenery. It just makes us in our happy.

Besides, I've also learned that after things become "out-dated" and undesirable they often becomes vintage and desirable again, more valuable. Granted, ficus frees, probably will never fit in this category. Even so, we're keeping ours, re-pot them in a to make them look fresh again large ceramic pot, to make them full and I hope natural again. Just because I like them. I still like their easy upkeep and convenience.

I think it's one of the perks of getting older. People look at us and are more apt to nod kindly, and smile graciously, accepting that we have become out-of-touch. In reality we probably know what is trendy now, but just like-what-we-like, and don't care what "they" think we should do, or need approval.

Aaahh, the freedom that comes from getting older. I guess there are perks after all. : - )