I love to be creative when it comes to putting a home together. I first start with drawing out my floor plan to include lighting outlets, cable connections, windows and doors. After I have the floor plan designed the next step is figuring out how I will position the furniture in the room. Once that’s completed, now it’s time to go shopping.
Now that I have gone shopping and meticulously furnished my home, there still seems to be something missing? Yes! It’s the artwork . Art is like the accessory to a plain black dress. Although the dress may look classic on it’s own, when you put on those red patent leather shoes, it makes the dress seem to come alive. So it is with your home; when you want it to reflect your personality, you must add the accessory of artwork.
Today I want to give you some really expensive ideas of how to either create your own art or build a very inexpensive art collection.
1. Purchase Unframed Prints – You may not be financially able to purchase a Norman Rockwell original at this point in your journey, but you certainly can choose some really great prints for less than $20.00. There are a lot of online resources you can go to in order to purchase your favorite Monet, Picasso or Georgia O’Keefe print. These prints are beautiful and add that something extra to your décor that you’ll love coming home to.
2. Frame your Kids Paintings – I got this idea years ago when I was watching a design show where the designer kept all of her children’s paintings that had been created at school on a bulletin board in the kitchen. She said one day she was thinking, these paintings are going to waste just pinned here on top of each other. Suddenly she got the idea to go and purchase sleek black frames and put all of her children’s paintings in the frames. Before she framed the paintings she matted them and built a little art gallery in the foyer of her home and to my surprise, they looked fantastic! These paintings really did look like professional pieces of art and she spent less than $100.00 to frame over 10/ 8 ½ x 11 prints.
3. Use a shadow Box – Shadow boxes really allow anything to become a piece of art. I once saw a woman put an old white communion gown into a shadow box for her daughter and looked so beautiful. I have also seen other keepsakes preserved in shadow boxes such as memories of weddings, anniversaries and even graduations. It’s a very inexpensive idea that will look wonderful for years to come and typically cost between $15.00 and $50.00 to do.
4. Create your Own Art – I am not much of an artist, but I like to do what I can. I decided one day to buy some canvas and paints and draw basic scenes such as fruits and flowers. t I realized that although they were not perfect renditions of the subject matter, that the colors were strikingly beautiful, so I decided to frame them. Once they were framed they looked like wonderful works of art and I think I spent a little over $20.00 for 4 canvas’.
5. Cut it Out – If you don’t like the idea of making your own art work or buying prints, why not clip your own art. You can go to many discount book stores or book fairs and find really old architectural books or design books that might costs you just pennies to purchase. These books typically include beautiful intricate drawings of buildings and would looked fantastic if they were framed. Or perhaps you are into pop culture art, you can find old books with billboards or stamps or just really funky art and have them framed to start your own pop culture art gallery.
It doesn’t matter how your create your art, it only matters that you add a piece of yourself in your home décor.
