Finding just the right wall art can be tricky and expensive but it doesn’t have to be! Since my house is eclectic I rarely find anything in the main stream stores that fits my needs. I also prefer to do my decorating on a budget. If I am going to spend a lot of money I want it to be on a cruise!
My home office was nothing but a white box when I started. I share the office with my husband so I had to be sensitive to his desires when it came to decorating. Since our styles can vary I went sort of middle of the road. I took his likes and mine and created art that satisfied us both.
Stickers as Art
I started collecting stickers when I was in grade school and I havenโt stopped since. I enjoy the show Supernatural and wanted to have something reminiscent of the show on my office wall. I looked around for just the right thing but could only find large posters. I had no desire for my office to look like a teen girlโs bedroom so I went another direction. I took three stickers featuring characters from the TV show Supernatural, a piece of scrapbook paper and a frame and voila! Art! The whole thing cost me less than twenty dollars.
Before we begin this next idea let me give a โFair Useโ disclaimer. You can use images for yourself if you do not resell them or claim them as your own. More information can be found here.
Prints as Art
I went on Pinterest and the net to find images I liked. I printed them out using a laser printer and then mounted them on canvas. You MUST use a laser printer because an image printed with an ink jet printer will smear when you are applying glue. Trust me on this one.
Spray adhesive is the best because it leaves no wrinkles in the paper. If you notice I learned that very hard lesson on the Tron art. I personally like Elmerโs Spray Adhesive. Be very careful to coat both the image and the canvas and donโt forget to allow it to dry just a bit. The small drying time actually makes the glue stickier and your image will not curl or move once it is placed.
Painted Canvas as Art
My kitchen is a throw back to the 70s and that requires a bit of creativity when decorating. It is easy to find items to fill a shelf but very hard to find anything amazing to hang on the walls. I solved my issue by taking four canvases and painting them chocolate brown, avocado green, orange and harvest gold. Once dry I put a simple wooden “Hippie” flower on the bottom corner with hot glue. I bought everything on sale and got unique art that is perfectly suited to my kitchen!
I had the privilege of decorating my brotherโs media room. I found a sign on clearance but found that it needed something more to fill the wall. We hit upon the idea of putting candy boxes around it. Once we finished the candy we opened both ends of the boxes and used thumb tacks to mount them to the wall. A little hot glue to seal the ends back up and you have floating candy boxes!
There is no end to where your creativity can take you. I hope that these ideas help to get you on your way to unique wall art. Enjoy!
Shelley Brian is a teacher, wife, pet mom and blogger. See more at Love Where You Live
