Thursday, March 10, 2016

Create a Botanical Wall Grouping

 Botanicals are a classic in home decorating and have been for years.  
Never out of style, they add a bit of garden ambience to the home.
For a while I have been wanting to create a wall grouping of botanicals.
You can purchase vintage or new botanicals online at Etsy.com or Ebay, 
or maybe you have a large garden book that you can color copy the pages
or even tear them out and use them for a coordinated grouping.
 My botanicals were issued in the early 70s from the Smithsonian Institute
 and are part of the Wildflowers of America collection.  My sister picked them
 up at a thrift shop for .50 cents for the entire collection of about 20 prints. 
 The prints were 9" x 12", and so I went on the hunt to find some frames, 
in hopes that I could avoid having to get them custom framed.
These Studio Decor frames are in a grey wash and are made from Ash.
They also came in natural and white, and I found them at Michaels Craft Store.
They were on sale and ended up costing $5.95 each, so I bought 9 of them
to give me the options of having a 3 over 3 frame layout on the wall, or do 4 over 4,
and because I really was unsure where I was going to hang them.
The size of the frame was hard to find, and it still wasn't perfect because
 I guess 9x12 is an odd size.  Most frames were 10x12 or 12x14.  
But this frame came with a matte, so I decided I would play around with it 
when I got home.  I could float the entire image over the matte, 
or hide part of it under the matte, and that is what looked best, although
 the text had to be hidden.  And that part of a botanical is wonderful, I know,
 but it looked much more professional using the matte.
Its super easy to do....just pry up the little metal clips and take out the back board 
and the matte, and then using the Glue Dots (also from Michaels)
on the backside of the print, I placed it on the board and 
checked to see how it looked with the matte on top of it and that it was centered.
It was a simple and fast process, and in no time at all I had 9 framed botanicals!
So many places these could have been hung, but in the end I decided to
 hang them on the narrow wall that leads from my kitchen to the front door. 
 We don't have wide hallways, so this grouping adds a pretty note
 without taking up tons of space.  
 I suppose I could add another row underneath, and I just might go back
 and grab some more of the frames before they are all gone.
 The view looking back into my kitchen...
 And this cute view looking towards the front door.


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6 comments:

  1. What a bargain on those prints. I framed some several years ago that I bought on ebay for a bit more though. Love this look.

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  2. These look amazing...and I love it that they cost so little to look so good.

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  3. So cute Amy! I don't know if you read it, but I did a blog post on botanicals a few weeks ago! Lamenting how I want antique ones and couldn't find them affordably. I'm going to do what you did though, and put them together myself. I found some on Ebay, and now I just have to find frames. Yours look really good!

    Sheila
    www.maisondecinq.blogspot.com

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  4. Such a classic, pretty look for so little money! Love it!
    Lynda @ Gates of Crystal

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  5. I love botanicals and have two areas in my home with them. I had 3 areas but recently switched one out for something else on that wall. ;-)

    How nice to have so many to work with. They look great!

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  6. I am so glad you posted where you found the frames. I bought botanical book a long time ago, but got stuck on the idea that I wanted flat black frames with burlap mats (because I had seen them done that way). The frames you used will look great in my house and I love the price!

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