Botanical Touches for any Home
Every home deserves some greenery, and home decor stores are filled with botanical-themed accessories that will bring the outdoors indoors.
02/11/2018
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It seems that we can't get enough of the trend for 'greening' a home, and botanical prints and leaf decor continues to be a hot trend here in South Africa. Whether you want to add a few botanical print cushions to your living room, or create a feature wall with leaf art, we've got some easy ideas that will inspire you.
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While botanical prints (fabric and art) used to be a bit boring and uninspired, today's botanical prints are anything but! From large leafy cushion covers to bold leaf wall art, there's something for every decorating style this summer at home decor shops.
Cushions are a great way to add a touch of botanical design to your living spaces. Add a couple of botanical print cushions to your living room or bedroom to bring the colours of Mother Nature into your home. Most home decor shops have a selection of leaf, flower or botanical print designs, giving you the freedom to select items according to your budget.
A selection of botanical cushions look great with a neutral decor scheme and will help lift the look of the entire room with a touch of nature-inspired patterns and hues. Try to select colours that already appear in the room if you prefer a cohesive look, or add a splash of contrasting colour for a bold statement that really pops.
Make your own leafy cushions
Using hues of leaf green are a great way to bring the outdoors indoors, especially in a neutral colour scheme, and you can easily make your own cushions covers using foliage that can be found in your garden (or a friend's garden), or botanical wall art using foliage and plants picked from your garden.
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HERE'S HOW:
1. Select a suitable leaf from the garden. Large palm leaves work great for this project, or other big tropical leaves. Choose a size that will cover most of the cushion cover surface.
2. Lay the leaf on a piece of newspaper and roll fabric paint evenly over the leaf with a paint roller.
3. Place the painted leaf face down on the cushion cover, place a paper towel over the top of the leaf and roll over with a (clean) foam roller. Remove the paper towel to see the printed fabric.
4. To set the design, place a paper towel over the painted print and iron on medium. Wash in cold water after 72 hours before inserting the cushion inner.
Make your own botanical art
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HERE'S HOW:
1. Place your choice of leaf between two pieces of paper towel. It's better to use plain paper towels as opposed to patterned, as the pattern could transfer onto the leaf.
2. Use a low setting on your iron and take it off the steam setting. Steam will make your foliage soggy. Leave the warm iron on the top of the towel for about 15 to 20 seconds. Let everything cool down before carefully lifting the paper towel to check. Continue this process until the leaf is stiff and dry.
3. Once you have dried enough leaves for your wall art, arrange these on a piece of card or paper and frame them up.
Pressed flower wall art
It's easy to make your own colourful wall art using fresh flowers from the garden. Select assorted colourful flowers for your wall art.
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HERE'S HOW:
1. Cut off most of the stems and leaves and arrange the flowers face down on a piece of watercolour art paper. Make sure the arrangement is centred and fills up most of the paper.
2. Place a piece of wax paper of the top of the arrangement and use a hammer to pound the flower, applying more pressure to the petals and avoiding the centre (to prevent pollen and moisture transfer). Repeat for each flower until you are happy with the transferred design.
