I'm right there with your wife, as I have a LOT of plants that come inside during the winter, and they definitely make our lives better and healthier.
My husband can't wait until we have some good-sized greenhouses, so that not all the plants need to be in the house, but I LOVE the plants being inside during the winter, as I grew up in the Sun Belt, and the long, cold, grey winters can definitely get me down.
We're in L.A., so we have no grey winters, but regardless, having the plants in our house makes us happier daily!
LOL, I was born and raised in L.A., so I can relate.
Then I lived for over twenty years in Tampa Bay . . . and then I moved to Tennessee, originally Zone 6b, which was updated a few years back as now Zone 7a. Way colder than where I grew up.