DIY Art for the Home

There is no excuse for boring walls.  Especially if your walls are white, art is a MUST! The good news is, you don’t actually have to spend all your savings or wait for a rich aunt to leave you her prized Mary Cassatt.

I paint as a form of stress-relief, so art is always in great supply at our home.   I have acrylic paintings on mounted canvas, framed watercolors and framed digital art.  Because I love things to match, I use all white frames from Ikea so that no matter if they’re different sizes and shapes, there will be one unifying theme. Sometimes I switch them around when I get bored (which is pretty often). Home decorating yields such happy results that I re-decorate every time I need some happy juice.

Seriously, if you can’t afford to buy art, make it yourself! Use colors you love and paint subjects that you like.  You can even match the colors to your furniture! Honest!

Regardless of your level of creativity or painting skill, there is such a huge variety of options out there for DIY home decorators (like me). Here are really easy ideas on how to decorate your walls.

1. Frame a fabric or wallpaper sample.

You can purchase pretty scraps or the ends of wallpaper rolls from interior design shops for almost nothing.  Try to choose patterns with coordinating colors, or a similar theme.  (Nautical? Pink? Gold? Damask?)  Pick a few frames (preferably the same color), glue or tape the fabric behind the board that usually comes with the frame, and voila!

 

2. Create a Pixel Painting.

 

This is genius! Amanda Wright of the blog Wit and Whistle turned a photograph she took in Iceland into a watercolor pixel painting.  I’m totally going to try this! 

3. Use printable art.

Create your own digital art using Photoshop or buy printables from online shops, and either print them yourself, or have a pro do it for you to make sure the quality is good. Shutterfly, for example, can print your design in several formats, even pillows!

4. Spray paint wooden letters and glue them on canvas or a wooden board.

 

This is really easy!  The instructions by Laura of Inspiration for Moms are so simple and easy to follow.

5. Create a gallery wall of family photographs.

Have them printed in black and white  and use similar-looking frames for a cohesive look.  Or go all out with color photographs but choose only one neutral color for the frames. It would be nice to get frames with a thick matting – they will make your grouping look more stylish.

 

The styling in the room above  by Elizabeth Metcalfe Interiors & Design works because even if they used so many photographs, they used the same frame and a wide matt around each picture, making it look like an art gallery wall instead of a crazy collection of random family pictures.

Again, you don’t have to spend big bucks on this. Just get your pictures printed and buy frames in the same neutral color (Ikea is a great source for inexpensive wall frames).

 

6. Make a really simple abstract painting.

This was so much fun to paint! Buy canvas that’s already stretched and framed gallery-style. Use acrylic paints as they are water-based and you won’t need any solvents to clean up. Choose your favourite colours, and slap them on in vertical strokes. Get happy crazy.

(In Singapore, I get my art supplies from Art Friend at Bras Basah, or Straits Art on North Beach Rd.)

 

Because I’m feeling generous and happy today, I’m giving away 2 free printables that you can download, print, and frame for instant wall art! Click on each image to download. And feel free to share the link to this post with your friends!  Each image is free for personal use and must not be redistributed commercially.