Update: We are truly flattered that Country Sampler magazine published one of our photos from this post in their 2018 Spring Decorating edition!
As promised from our last home tour, I’m sharing 25 free printable vintage botanical illustrations that I used to add color and character over the fireplace mantle.
There’s just something about the casual elegance of vintage botanical prints that I’ve been drawn to since I was in my early twenties.
As soon as I graduated college, I moved out of my parent’s house and rented a small duplex in the historic district near one of the colleges.
Not having much money, I shopped thrift stores and consignment shops to decorate my new place. One of the first things I bought was a set of framed vintage botanical prints I found at the Goodwill for $20. The prints were yellowed from time and the frames were antique gold (which wasn’t in style at the time) but I felt like I hit the jackpot. To this day, I haven’t been able to let them go and still have them hanging in my hallway upstairs.
Since then, it’s much easier to find botanical illustrations on the internet. There are hundreds of free public domain websites that allow you to download prints, but I found that the New York Public Library was the easiest to navigate and find the prints I was looking for.
All the prints I’m sharing with you today are by the renowned painter and botanist, Pierre-Joseph Redouté, from his book Les Liliacées. Redouté was the official court artist of Queen Marie Antoinette. Lucky lady!
Instead of you having to scroll through all 495 images from the book, I selected 25 images for you to download as a PDF.
Click here to download or print the free vintage botanical illustrations.
To give the prints a more vintage look, as if the paper had become brittle over time, I trimmed the edges using Fiskars deckle edge scissors from Amazon.
Then, I staggered the height, overlapped the edges, and hung the pictures using masking tape.
Later, I can hang the art the same way I hung the vintage-inspired lithographs in my oldest son’s bedroom or I can frame them and add to the collection in my upstairs hallway.
Now it’s your turn! Tell me in the comments what you would use these vintage botanical illustrations for.
This fireplace used to look totally different before we gave it a makeover by reframing it, adding stone tile, and shiplap. Check out all the details and before and after pictures in this link.
Jaime
23 Jan 2019This is beautiful, great creativity.
Also, the doors beside, where do they lead to? I’ve never seen that setup, but looks wonderful.
Tricia
23 Jan 2019Thank you, Jaime! I’m so happy you like it. About the doors beside the fireplace…the one on the left goes to our walk-in closet. The door to the right is the entrance into our new master bathroom. They’re old church doors we found on Craigslist. If you’d like to see the rest of the master bathroom, it’s here: https://www.simplicityinthesouth.com/2017/06/turning-bedroom-bathroom-modern-farmhouse-master-bathroom-reveal.html
Shelli Haipek
23 Jan 2019I actually have all these prints in an adult coloring book I got years ago. I colored them all and picked my favorite 6 and framed and put in my hallway!
Tricia
23 Jan 2019Hi Shelli! I haven’t seen that adult coloring book. I love your idea for making your own art and I bet it looks amazing!
Shelli
23 Jan 2019It’s quite old. I had it way before adult coloring was a thing. I’d post pics but I don’t see a way. Also I like your idea with the scissors, I’m going to implement that into mine as well.
Tricia
24 Jan 2019I wish there was a way to post pictures in the comments but I can’t seem to figure it out. But, if you end up using these botanicals and the scissors, I’d love for you to send me a picture to my email [email protected] Then if you don’t mind, I can share the picture at the bottom of this post so others can see how it looks in your hallway.
Karen
23 Jan 2019These are exactly what I was looking for! I have some clipboards that I’m going to paint celedon green and hang these in my hallway. Thanks for sharing!!!
Tricia
23 Jan 2019You’re welcome, Karen! That’s such a creative idea! Have fun with your project 🙂
Debbie Yunger
8 Oct 2017Finally! Printable that I was actually able to download. I am going to print 6 of them and put them behind an old pane glass window I bought and put it over my fireplace. If you run across some vintage Christmas pro tables, please post on your site.
Rachel
26 Jun 2017THANK YOU!!! These are beautiful and just what I was looking for!