Creating large art for decor.
Let’s face it. Sometimes art can be expensive. If you want art for your walls, you have a few options:
Buy it full price or on sale.
Buy it at a thrift store/antique store/garage sale.
Buy it from a local artist.
Make it yourself.
Depending on the space I’m decorating, my budget for art varies. If it’s in my living room and going to be front and center, I may be more willing to pay a higher amount than if it’s for my bathroom in the basement.
Here’s my current scenario:
My daughter is transitioning from a toddler room, to a little girl space. She wants art stuff. She’s wants a desk. She’s just a little more grown. Do I want the decor on her walls to be beautiful? Yes. Do I want to spend hundreds of dollars? No.
With her bedding, rug, wall color, and lighting already set - she just needs this finishing piece. So it’s going to be an accent to what’s already there.
I debated for weeks over the right thing to purchase. And then it hit me. She doesn’t want me to buy something. She wants to CREATE it herself.
Here’s how:
PURCHASE 24X36 FRAMES
Michaels was having my favorite frame sale. Buy one get two free. That’s 3 24x36 frames for $40 or $13.33 a frame. I’ve used these frames over and over.
PAINT THE EXISTING PAPER
Once we opened the frames, I turned over the paper that’s already in the frame and we started painting! Did I buy a bunch of paint? NOPE! I always save the paint samples I buy when painting a room, so I dug out 6 colors and got to work. The bonus about this is that all of the colors in my home FLOW together - so using them all together for this project works super well.
DECIDE ON A DESIGN
Once we painted them a solid pink color, it was time to narrow down what the ‘art’ was going to be. We found these two pieces of art from Pottery Barn Kids and Minted that we wanted to recreate. If I would have purchased these, it would have been over $200 (and they are smaller art prints).
PAINT & FRAME
We got to work. Once they were dry, we hung them right above her desk. And they are perfect.
The colors in the art are the colors in her room already. She SMILED so big when they were finished. And she’s been spending SO MUCH TIME at her desk - creating away.
My mama heart is happy. And the total cost for this art was $26.66.
Until next time. From my studio to yours,
Courtney
SOURCES
Chair - Target
Rug - Wayfair
Desk - Antique shop
Lamp - Target
Art cart - Michaels
Frames - Michaels
Clock - Garage sale
Bedding - Target & Serena & Lily
Bed frame - Made it ourselves
Wall color - Socialite SW