Have I mentioned before how indecisive I am? I am a horrible decision-maker. Before making a decision, no matter how big or how small I consider every outcome I can think of. Just ask my husband, whether it’s choosing a paint colour or picking out new pillows I drive him crazy weighing every pro and con before finally coming to a decision.
So it’s not surprising that it’s taken me over a year to choose artwork for our powder room.
About a year and a half ago we took our powder room from dark and enclosed to a bright and beautiful bathroom. I’ve talked before about how we were looking to try out a dramatic look in our home and decided the powder room would be the best place to try something different. Given it’s small scale we thought it would be easy to infuse some drama. So we painted our beige bathroom Kalamata Olive – a deep, dark purple. And boy was it dark!
It was too dark. With no natural light, it made our tiny powder room feel small and enclosed. It was a learning process. I was still discovering what my style was and what I’m drawn to in home decor and design. If you’ve taken a look at our home tour you’ll know I’ve quickly discovered that I love light, bright and white.
We lived with the dark paint for a while, but it wasn’t flowing with the rest of our house. So we decided to give it another mini make-over.
We wanted to add some character to this boring little room. Nick installed wainscoting and I painted it in our trim colour, Albescent by Benjamin Moore. Then my mom and I put up a gorgeous geometric print wallpaper in creamy beige and taupe colours (you can read all about the paint colours we’ve used throughout our home here). I’m always amazed at what a little paint (and in this case, wallpaper) can do. Our dark little powder room was now gorgeous, bright and sophisticated.
Then came time to choose artwork. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to do something traditional, like a framed photograph or something a little different, like a grouping of wicker baskets on the wall. I had a hard time deciding what would look good against the wallpaper without looking too busy. I also hesitated hanging anything before I was absolutely certain because I didn’t want unnecessary nail holes in the wallpaper if I changed my mind later on.
So that’s why the powder room sat with a blank wall for so many months. Every time I walked past it I knew it was missing something, but I just couldn’t decide what I should put on that wall. And then last week it dawned on me – vintage botanical prints.
I’ve been so drawn to these vintage prints recently and our powder room was the perfect place for them. They fit perfectly with the farmhouse style of our home. So I decided to make my own prints and I’m sharing them with you today as a set of free printables.
I love how these prints turned out. They are dainty and feminine with a vintage feel. I printed these on a matte cardstock to add some texture to them. And they look beautiful framed in these creamy beige picture frames from Ikea.
You can download your free copies of these printables by saving the images below. Please remember these are for personal use only.
In the end, I’m glad I waited until I decided on the perfect art for our powder room. I hate rushing the design process and choosing items you aren’t completely in love with. That is something I’ve struggled with in the past as well. I have to remind myself not to rush to get a room done, but to choose pieces that I love over time. That will ensure you truly love your home and every item in it. And for me, that’s an important element to ensuring you are happy in your home.
Dee says
Alicia, this is so funny, you would think that I had written your words, I see so much of me in what you said! I think it’s a bit of the perfectionist in us, but it’s also wisdom to take your time, right? Less regrets that way!? I just happened to be searching out botanical prints because I want to add them to my vintage farmhouse frame over my fireplace, and I saw your Pinterest post but didn’t know it was you until I was reading it! Can you imagine my smile when I saw it was your post? ? They look beautiful in your powder room! I’ll print them out too, now I just need 10 more! Love your blog post, and you! Kindred spirits! XO
Alicia says
That is so neat, it’s such a small world and I am always amazed at how things work out. I’m so glad you found our prints and I hope they work in your farmhouse frame! Lots of love! xo