Redecorating doesn’t have to cost a fortune. You don’t have to buy new furniture or even repaint. It’s possible to change the ambience of a room simply by changing the art on the walls.
Transforming the mood of a room with art doesn’t require a trip to a Sotheby’s auction or even buying original artwork. Old prints, such as those from magazines and newspapers from the Victorian era, can transport you to a different age and allow your imagination to take flight.
Say that you want to redecorate your sunroom using old prints. You could go with a botanical theme, and surround yourself with antique prints of botanical gardens. For example, you could take an illustration of the Palm House Royal Botanical Gardens from an 1852 issue of “The Illustrated London News” and pair it with a 1902 old print of the Coronation Bazaar Botanical Gardens from “The Graphic.” Or, you could opt for botanical prints from James Sowerby, which are hand colored. A wonderful and inexpensive way to use botanical prints in budget decorating is to create a triptych (a set of three) of Sowerby’s detailed drawings that are matted and...