Free botanical printable art for spring and summer and a simple wall hanging hack to make hanging frames quick and easy
It’s been quiet here lately because life has been full. Between buying a house, traveling for work, and repainting several rooms, keeping up with blog posts has been a challenge. Some weeks you have to accept that you can’t do it all, and that’s been my reality lately.
In the past month we moved into our new house, traveled to Austin, Miami, and Chicago for events, and painted five rooms from top to bottom. With so much going on, I’m grateful for family who helped with childcare so we could keep everything moving. After unpacking, we finally left my parents’ house and spent our first night in our new home together, which also happened to coincide with my 30th birthday. It felt wonderful to have a space that’s ours again.
The first thing I did after moving in was make a gallery wall. Decorating makes my heart happy, and this gallery is simplicity itself. I printed large botanical images as economical color engineering prints—each print cost about $3—which made this project affordable and impactful.
Botanical art has always been a favorite of mine. There’s an elegance to botanical prints that warms and softens a space, especially useful for a living room that needed a gentler touch. I could have tried something different, but when you love a style, embrace it.
I hung six frames by myself while my partner was at work using a simple trick I’ve used for years—no measuring and no guessing. The secret? Toothpaste. It sounds odd, but it works every time to mark exact nail placement without extra tools or help.
Supplies used:
- Six 18″ x 24″ color engineering prints
- Six botanical art files (available in my subscriber printable library)
- Six 16″ x 20″ frames
- A tube of toothpaste
- Hanging nails and a hammer (or alternative mounting tape if you prefer no holes)
- A small level
To order the large color engineering prints, use a print shop or online printing service that offers color engineering prints. Upload your botanical image files, choose the appropriate size (the images here are sized for a 15″ x 20″ print but ordered as 18″ x 24″ engineering prints), select portrait orientation, and make sure not to select any automatic “size to fit” option if you want the artwork to print at the intended dimensions.
My prints were slightly smaller than the frame opening on the sides, so I simply centered the print on the clear front, pressed the backing into place, and closed the tabs. The small white margin looked like an intentional aged border—problem solved.
Buying a coordinated set of six botanical frames can be expensive—many ready-made sets are well over $200. By printing my own art and shopping sales for individual frames, my set came in at a fraction of that cost.
To use the toothpaste trick: dab a pea-sized amount of toothpaste into the frame’s hanging slot or screw hole on the back. Hold the frame against the wall in the exact spot you want it, press so the toothpaste touches the wall, and remove the frame. The toothpaste leaves a visible mark showing precisely where to drive your nail or screw. Hang the frame and adjust with a small level for perfect alignment.
The botanical images I used are public-domain style high-resolution illustrations. There are many free public-domain botanical images available online if you prefer to source your own. If you don’t want large prints, you can resize the images to print at home for smaller frames such as 8″ x 10″ or a matted 10″ x 13″.
Above our bench—an old Craigslist find that I adore—these botanical prints add a feminine, natural touch to an otherwise sturdy, masculine piece. The spot sits beside our back door, making it a practical place for shoes, bags, and daily comings and goings.
These botanical prints feel perfect for spring and summer, and I’ll likely swap them out for autumnal artwork later in the year. For now, they bring light, warmth, and a classic botanical elegance to our entryway.
Other items in this vignette:
- Baskets (found affordably at discount home stores)
- Striped throw blanket
- Artificial ZZ plant
- Cream oblong pillow
- Cream square medallion pillow
- Wood bench
- Comfortable metallic sandals
- Paint colors: walls – Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee; trim – Benjamin Moore Simply White; doors – Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron
You can download these botanical art prints from the subscriber printable library. If you’re already subscribed, the download links will be in your email. If not, sign up to get access to the printable files and other subscriber-exclusive resources.
Between this gallery and a recent banister wall planter, I’ve decorated a couple of walls—leaving plenty more to tackle. If you have suggestions for future walls or styling ideas, I’d love to hear them.
If you want to save this post for later, pin it to your inspiration board.
