botanical prints

Many weeks ago, I picked up a book on houseplants from the late 1960's.  It was full of the most beautiful vintage illustrations.  I have seen such prints used in home decorating, so my original though was to separate the pictures and sell them on Etsy.  But I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  They just made me happy and I wished I had a room with a botanical theme, so I could use them.  I toyed with the idea of decorating Nini's room around them (being the only room still undecorated), but it seemed wrong for a three-year-old (who has her heart set on a purple room).  So, after weeks of longing for a white on white, botanically themed room somewhere in my house, I decided to hang some in my room, despite the dark walls.  

First, I picked out nine prints with similar colors (blooms in complementary reds, since deep red has been our accent color in the bedroom) and hung them on the wall with sticky-tac.  It let me adjust the arrangement/spacing and see if I really could live with them in that room, before I did anything more permanent.  I also did a grouping of three green plants above my chair.  After looking at them for several days (and deciding I liked it, Beorn was sold on the idea early on, but I needed to let it simmer a while...), I picked up a dozen simple, matching frames at the dollar store, and trimmed the prints to fit. I carefully measured for each nail hole, so the grouping would be level and the spacings equal.  It's not a white, garden room, but I think they look good and I'm pretty happy with the result:

Oh, and I still have a bunch more prints if you're feeling inspired to do something similar....