Watercolor Botanical Prints + Vintage Books

If you are looking for watercolor botanical prints on a budget, this is the post for you! Botanical art makes beautiful and classic wall decor, but it can be expensive. Did you know that old botany books are full of drawings and watercolor illustrations for a fraction of the price? You can use vintage botanical book pages with or without picture frames, and they fit a variety of home decor styles. Keep reading for inspiration plus the best vintage books for decor!

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Vintage Books for Decor

You have probably noticed that I like to use old books for decor, and there are many good reasons for that!

1. Books are classic and versatile. You can stack them on a coffee table, display your favorite titles on a shelf, or even turn them backwards for a more neutral look.
2. You may already have them! It’s likely that you have old books laying around, which means you can simply “shop your space” for decor without spending money.
3. Used books are inexpensive. You can often find them for only a few dollars at thrift stores and garages sales.
4. Vintage books match any decor style. Whether you like farmhouse, coastal, or modern decor, there are ways you can incorporate old books.

I recently shared a book bundle tutorial for old paperbacks, and I’m excited to share another way to use vintage books for decor today!

Watercolor Botanical Prints

If you have ever shopped for botanical art, you know that prints can easily sell for hundreds of dollars. But it is simple to create the designer look on a budget with old book pages!

Related: Vintage Tree Wall Art

I found this vintage botanical art book used on Amazon for under ten dollars! Such a great deal when you divide the cost of the book by the number of beautiful pages. I loved the classic look of the watercolor botanical prints and knew that I could use the book pages as seasonal decor. Let me show you how!

Fall Watercolor Botanical Prints

For affordable fall decor, I chose some of the botanical illustrations of berries and flowers. I carefully tore them out of the botany book and after that, styled them on our white ladder shelf.

Choosing a color palette helps keep the look cohesive! For example, here I focused on cream, orange, and purple.

Winter Watercolor Botanical Prints

During the winter months, I wanted to swap out my botanical prints for the season. So, I chose paintings of red berries, evergreen branches, and pinecones which seemed fitting for Christmas.

In addition to changing out the pages, I simply shuffled my decor around, added a wooden reindeer, and tada! Our ladder shelf is decked out for a new season. This look is very cottage farmhouse, but you could easily dress up your book pages with frames for a modern look.

Framed Vintage Book Page

Related: Vintage Art Gallery Wall

My botany book also has an index of plant species in addition to the watercolor botanical prints. This section describing holly seemed perfect for Christmas and winter!

More Vintage Books With Botanical Art

Finally, if you are looking for vintage books with watercolor botanical prints, here are some more ideas:

• Wildflowers of America by Mary Vaux Walcott (my book!)
• Clutius Botanical Watercolors by Claudia Swan
• Rosie Sanders’ Flowers: A Celebration of Botanical Art

Bonus: I also found the following books with paintings of birds!

• Audobon’s Aviary: The Original Watercolors for The Birds of America
• Audobon’s Birds of America (Tiny Folio)
• Audobon’s Watercolors 2023 Wall Calendar

I do not own all of these books, but they look promising. Be sure to check Amazon for used copies, or find them on the website of your favorite used bookstore. And of course, visit your local thrift store for books as well!

Do you enjoy decorating with books? If so, I would love to hear your tips in the comments below!