In a small home the two scarce things are light and floor, and hanging is the only arrangement that buys you the first without spending the second.
That is the entire case for it, and it is a strong one. What follows is where a hanging position is actually worth having, and where this page stops.
Say the boundary first, because it matters here
This page does not cover how anything gets hung. Not hooks, not brackets, not anchors, not what a ceiling will carry, not weight, not the options for a rental where you would rather not make a hole.
That is not squeamishness. A pot of damp soil is heavy, ceilings and walls differ enormously in what they will hold, and the failure mode is a heavy object falling from height. It deserves a proper treatment from people who cover fixings and loads, not four confident sentences at the end of a styling article.
So: settle the position using this page, then get the fixing question answered properly somewhere that treats it as its own subject. Do not let a plant site talk you into a hole in your ceiling.
Why a hanging position is worth having
The University of Illinois Extension puts Bright Light at an east or west window directly in front, or a south window up to 5 feet away, and Medium at a north window directly in front, an east or west window a few feet away, or a south window 3 to 10 feet away.
Notice what those descriptions have in common: they are about distance from the glass, not about height. A position beside a window is in the band whether it is at floor level, table level, or above your head.
So the airspace next to a window is real estate in the same light band as the windowsill, and nothing is competing for it. In a small apartment, where every surface is spoken for and the floor by the window is usually where the furniture went, that airspace is the last unclaimed bright space in the room.
The positions that are actually worth it
Directly beside a window, at or above head height. The best of them. Full band, no floor cost, no surface cost.
In front of a window, off to one side. Works if it does not block the light reaching everything behind it. A hanging plant in the middle of a window is a curtain.
In the corner beside a window, using the vertical space of a corner that is otherwise dead above waist height.
Over something you cannot put a plant on. A radiator, a heater, a hallway with no surfaces at all. The plant occupies the air above an unusable space.
Not in a doorway or a walkway. In a small home the routes between rooms are narrow, and anything at head height in one gets walked into. This is the most common hanging mistake and it is not about the plant at all.
What to hang, in habit terms
The plant has to look right from below and beside, which is a different requirement from a plant on a table.
Trailing habits are the obvious fit, because the growth falls into view rather than going up out of it. Trailing plants for shelves covers which habits actually fall well, and the same reasoning applies overhead.
Upright plants generally look wrong hung. You end up looking at the underside of a pot with something poking out of the top.
Consider what it looks like from the sofa, not from the door. A hanging plant is seen mostly from wherever you sit, which in a small room is one fixed place.
The window trade nobody mentions
A hanging plant beside a window takes light for itself, and depending on where it hangs it may take some from whatever is behind it.
In a room with one window, that is a real trade. The plant in the air is standing between the glass and the rest of the room, and in a small apartment the rest of the room is not large.
The practical version: hang to the side of the window rather than across it, and if you must hang in front, keep it high and toward one edge. An east window in particular delivers its strongest light early and at a low angle, which a high hanging plant intercepts less than you would expect; what an east-facing window supports covers that pattern.
In a studio, the airspace argument is strongest
A studio has one room doing everything, so surfaces are contested constantly and floor near the window is usually where the bed or the desk went.
Hanging is often the only way to get a plant into the bright band at all in a one-room home. What works in a studio apartment goes through the surface problem that makes this true.
Practical things worth thinking about before you commit
How will you reach it? A plant you cannot reach comfortably is a plant you will not attend to. In a small apartment that usually means standing on something, in a room where there is nowhere to put the something.
Does it swing? Near a door that opens, a window that opens, or a walkway, it will.
Is it over anything? Anything hanging is above something, and soil in a pot above a bed, a sofa or a desk is a decision rather than an accident.
Can you take it down easily? Seasons change what the best position is, and an arrangement you cannot undo is one you will not adjust.
If you have pets
Height is not the protection it appears to be with cats, which climb, and trailing growth hanging into a room is at reach for animals on furniture. Check any plant, by botanical name, against the ASPCA's toxic and non-toxic plants database before it goes up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why hang a plant instead of standing it somewhere?
Because it buys light without spending floor, which in a small home is the best trade available. The University of Illinois Extension's bands are set by distance from the glass rather than by height, so a position beside a window is in the same band whether it is at floor level, table level or above your head. That makes the airspace next to a window the last unclaimed bright space in the room, and nothing else is competing for it.
Where is the best place to hang a plant?
Directly beside a window at or above head height is the best of them: full band, no floor cost, no surface cost. In front of a window but off to one side works if it does not block the light behind it, since a hanging plant in the middle of a window is effectively a curtain. The corner beside a window uses vertical space that is dead above waist height, and hanging over a radiator or a surfaceless hallway puts a plant above space you could not otherwise use.
Where should I not hang one?
In a doorway or a walkway. In a small home the routes between rooms are narrow, and anything at head height in one gets walked into. It is the most common hanging mistake and it has nothing to do with the plant.
What kind of plant suits a hanging position?
A trailing habit, because the growth falls into view rather than going up out of it. Upright plants generally look wrong hung, since you end up looking at the underside of a pot with something poking out of the top. Judge the effect from wherever you actually sit rather than from the door, because in a small room that is one fixed viewpoint.
Does this page cover how to fix a hanger to the ceiling?
No, and deliberately. Hooks, brackets, anchors, what a ceiling or wall will carry, and the no-drill options for a rental are all outside this site's ground. A pot of damp soil is heavy, ceilings and walls differ enormously in what they hold, and the failure mode is a heavy object falling from height, so it deserves a proper treatment from people who cover fixings and loads rather than a few confident sentences here.
The part worth remembering
Hanging buys you light without spending floor or surface, which in a small apartment is the best trade available.
Choose the position with the light table and your own sightlines, keep it out of walkways, and then get the fixing question answered by somebody who covers fixings. The position is the part this page can settle. The hole in your ceiling is not.