One easy way to decorate any room is to put up wall décor. However, decorations like paintings and artworks might get a little expensive, and displaying photos and sketches might not be your taste. There are a lot of simple do-it-yourself wall art ideas you can try to make your space unique and personal. Here are some cheap and easy ideas:
Bubbles canvas art
If you simply like to add a pop of color and shapes to liven up your room, here’s a wall art you can try. It’s primarily made of canvas, tissue papers, and glue, so it would cost you almost nothing but if done properly, it will surely look amazing.
Procedure:
- Get a stretched canvas, tissue paper in three solid colors (use primary colors for better effect), Mod Podge glue, white acrylic paint, scissors and paint brush.
- Paint your canvas with white acrylic paint, especially if you’re buying cheap canvas. But even if your canvas already looks nice and white, coat it still with white paint so the art can pop better. Set aside to dry.
- Cut out three circles from your tissue paper, one for every color. Play around with sizes. It is better if you would use the cheapest and thinnest tissue paper you will find, but make sure they are bright in color. The thick and expensive tissues won’t be translucent enough.
- Plan the positioning of the circles on the canvas. Let some parts lay on top of each other to create secondary colors. It would also look nice if some parts of the circles go off the edge.
- Once you have figured out your arrangement, spread a coat of Mod Podge on where you want to place the first circle. Slowly lay the circle down while smoothing the air bubbles and wrinkles with the paint brush. Once you have smoothened it out, put another coat of glue on top and scatter with the brush – but be very careful because the tissue is wet and can easily tear apart.
- Repeat Step 5 for the other two circles. Take your time to smooth out the paper every time to avoid wrinkles as much as possible. Let dry.
- Once all the circles are glued in place, add another coat of Mod Podge for the whole canvas to make it look uniform. Let dry and display.
Framed fabric
A piece of colorful fabric instantly creates a striking piece of art in just a few steps. It’s perfect for embellishing plain walls or concealing stains and imperfections on walls and even windows.
Procedure:
- Gather a colorful fabric, canvas stretcher frame, stapler, and scissors.
- Assemble the frame by sliding the corners into place.
- Wrap the fabric around the edges of the frame and staple.
- Fold the corners of the fabric around the edge of the frame then again to the back of the frame. Staple the fabric into place.
- Attach hanging hardware through the back of the frame then hang on the wall.
Cut-out ombre canvas art
Create your own wall art that makes use of shadows, shapes, and colors. It is simple and it totally fits the bill. It’s great for decorating the walls of your children’s rooms, and you can also ask them to make it with you.
Procedure:
- Get a canvas, craft paper that can cover your canvas, acrylic paint – one in a bold color of choice and one in white, cardboard, scissors, cutter, pencil, ruler, and glue.
- Cut the craft paper to the size large enough to fit over your canvas. Using the pencil and ruler, create equal stripes on the paper.
- Paint the first stripe with the solid color. Pain the next one with the same, and add a touch of white so it looks a bit lighter than the first one. Keep doing that until you paint the last stripe with pure white. As you go along, you’ll get to add color to white instead of adding white to the color. Hang the paper to dry to lessen the “curling corners” effect.
- On the cardboard, trace cutout shapes. Create triangles, arrows, zigzags, circles – anything you like. This will help you create shapes that are of equal sizes.
- Measure and trace the shapes on the back of the canvas. Mix and match the shapes in any manner you like.
- Using a cutter with a sharp blade, cut out the shapes traced on the back of the canvas. Place the face of the canvas on top of a cutting board so you can cut more precisely and carefully.
- Attach the ombre painting to the back of the canvas using glue. Add glue to the sides of the canvas, on the un-cut surfaces, and also add just a bit in between shapes. Carefully put the craft paper in place and straighten out any wrinkles.
Bead strands
An easy way to fill a large wall is to hang strands of beads from a rod. It’s simple yet elegant.
Procedure:
- Get around 20 strands of beaded garlands, a cheap café rod, paint, and paintbrush.
- Paint the curtain rod so it blends in your wall color. Prime it first so the color would stick better.
- Attach brackets to the wall.
- String the beaded garland on the curtain rod then put it on the brackets you attached.
- Hang your creation to the wall.
Shoebox wall art
Shoeboxes can be recycled into so many art projects, but the lid is always left out. In this wall décor idea, you only need the lids of your shoeboxes.
Procedure:
- Get some shoebox lids, decorative paper, decoupage medium or Mod Podge, scissors, pen, tape, ruler, foam brush and thumbtacks.
- Cut two 4” x 4” squares from the corner of the shoebox lid. Use a pen and a ruler to mark where you have to cut.
- Slide both squares to each other to form a box with four walls. Tape the corners to keep them in place.
- Cut the decorative paper a few inches larger than the box. Make sure all sides of the paper can cover the entire box.
- Apply a thin coat of decoupage medium to the box starting on one side of the lid, and lay the decorative paper on top. Just be careful in gluing the paper on to avoid air bubbles and wrinkles. Let it dry completely.
- Add a thin coat of decoupage medium on the top of the decorative paper to make the surface glossy and finished. Wait for it to dry.
- Punch in the thumbtacks as you like.
Fabric panels
Fabric panels add color to the walls and textural contrast. It’s perfect for neutral walls that need a splash of color for added charm. Fabrics can be treated as art on a canvas, and this is one way to do it.
Procedure:
- Get a foam core, double-sided scrapbooking tape, pieces of fabric, wall putty.
- Cut the foam in a size that your piece of fabric will fit, while giving a few inches of allowance to the sides.
- Place the double-sided tape along the edges of the foam core. Gently place the fabric on top of the foam core, then let it fold over to the back side. Gently pull down the fabric over each corner, and tape the loose fabric along the sides. Press down onto the tape, so it would stick.
- Dab a bit of wall putty on every corner of the back of the foam core, and use it to put up the fabric panels to the walls. This way you don’t need to add holes and nails to your wall.