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Ideas for inexpensive (and DIY) art for your walls |
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by mdhaworth  (September 2007) (rank 3rd) |
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After moving, painting, buying furniture and landscaping, it's easy to run out of time and money when it comes to decorating your walls. Here are a few quick, easy and cheap alternatives to bring a little style to your space.
Almost anything looks good when grouped with like objects. Inexpensive frames are fine when you cluster enough of them. In the photos at right, you can see some of the cheap and personal displays I have up in my home.
The black and white images are pages cut from a calendar purchased after January 1 for just a dollar. I then cut squares of scrap wood (mdf) and painted them with black acrylic. The calendar pages are affixed with upholstery tacks in the corner. Probably $5 total spent and they really dress up the room.
In the bedroom I used close up flower photos my dad took and had them enlarged to about 11x17 at Costco. I then used cheap plastic frames and wrapped the photo around the cardboard insert so it has a three dimensional effect. Each probably cost $5 for the frame and photo so $20 total for the wall.
Finally, if you're like me, you may want to decorate your living room with family photos. I used inexpensive clip frames that come in standard sizes and don't require mats. Even snapshots looks good clustered in modern squares and spread across the wall and it's easy to update the photos when the mood strikes.
If you don't have access to photos or old calendars, a textile, quilt or even a piece of fabric can really dress up a wall. Quilts and textiles can be hung from a rod (behind a bed a hanging quilt can stand in for a headboard). If you have a beautiful piece of large-scale fabric (or wallpaper) you can frame it like art or stretch it over a piece of canvas. Large frames (and sometimes large paintings) can be found cheap at thrift stores and dressed up with paint as needed.
Of course you can always buy canvases and paint and create your own masterpiece but if that's too intimidating, check out
Etsy for fabulous original pieces and prints by many up and coming artists. Etsy is a great resource for other decorative items as well such as pillows or housewares. It's like eBay for handmade goods and you buy directly from the maker.
What are your ideas for decorating your walls? I'd love to hear more suggestions in the comments!
