HOW TO CREATE INEXPENSIVE DIY WALL ART

When I purchased my latest fixer-upper, The House On Cottage Grove, it was filled with a whole bunch of dated and mostly unattractive art. One of the first things I did after we closed escrow on the property was to remove all of the art from the walls and gather it together in one location to store while we renovated the property.

I knew at some point I’d sort through it all to determine what was salvageable. I have proved over and over again that with a little paint and creativity, lots of ugly art could be transformed into something attractive to put on the walls of my renovated cottages.  So today I’m going to show you how to create inexpensive DIY wall art using old frames, embroidered linens, doilies, dishtowels, postcards and more.

A real bonanza that I uncovered in the House On Cottage Grove was a treasure trove of hand embroidered linens and various pieces of needlework. I filled an entire plastic tote with these attractive old linens.

Amongst the pile of needlework was a substantial collection of crocheted doilies which I laundered and ironed.

Sorting through my pile of old frames I found many of them with attractive frames but not so attractive art. I removed the art from the frames…

and determined how I could replace the art with the doilies.

I then painted the frames with the same green paint I’m using on many of the walls and trim in the house. The paint is called “YOGI” Behr Premium Plus Ultra from Home Depot.

Needing a backing for the doilies, I covered the cardboard which I removed from the frames with fabric.

I used painters tape to adhere the fabric to the cardboard.

Next I placed the doilies on the fabric covered cardboard.

After thoroughly cleaning the glass on both sides of the frame, I inserted the newly painted frames over the doilies. Reversing the frames, I then pressed the metal tacks down over the cardboard to hold it in place.

And this was the result.

Pretty impressive DIY art using things I simply had on hand. It didn’t cost me a thing except a little time and effort.

I also love to use teatowels as art and did a lot of that in my previous fixer upper, Stone Hill Cottage. I had this pretty bird teatowel leftover from that house which I wrapped around a cardboard backing…

and taped it in place.

I then inserted it into a frame that was attractive enough without paint and voila, I had another easy and inexpensive piece of art for the wall of my cottage.

I also had this “awesome” cellulose dishcloth from H & M Home that I framed as well.

And some vintage style wooden postcards (purchased at SkyPark at Santa’s Village) were put into freshly painted frames as well.

I uncovered 2 really attractive carved wooden frames that had what I considered to be unattractive and dated looking prints in them.

So, I removed the prints and replaced them with 2 cloth placemats I found in the cottage.

And I found 3 floral watercolor paintings that I almost discounted because they were in very unattractive frames. But, with the help of more green paint…

I turned the 3 watercolors into 3 pretty little paintings that I plan to hang in the main floor bathroom.

Hidden amongst the piles of stuff in the home was some impressive pieces of needlework that were housed in unattractive frames. Someone had spent hours upon hours creating this needlepoint and embroidery as gifts for their granddaughter.

And since I planned to have a room dedicated to young children in the remodeled House On Cottage Grove, I decided to give this handywork new life. So I removed the needlework from their frames and discovered that someone named Grandma Guestin had sewn these pieces for their granddaughter Donna back in 1963, 54 years ago. I’m sorry that Donna no longer owns them and almost feel a bit guilty having them. But at least I appreciate and value the work and love that went into making them.

And now, by painting their frames, I feel good about being able to breath new life into them.

And this was the result. I like how the green frames bring out the green that happened to be in each of the pieces of needlework. Soon they will be adorning the walls of the children’s room.

There were also a couple of original pen and ink drawings that were in drab frames. I painted the frames and now I think the art really pops, again bringing out the green in the drawings. Now I will begin the task of hanging this refreshed artwork on the walls of the cottage.

The House On Cottage Grove will go on the market soon. I hope it sells to someone who will appreciate these fine pieces of art and needlework because they deserve to be loved again.

So there you have it: HOW TO CREATE INEXPENSIVE DIY WALL ART

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All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are the original property of Celia Becker @ www.AfterOrangeCounty.com and may not be reproduced without specific permission.