DIY Wall Art Projects
Pretty works of art don't always have to come from the pros. Check out these creative, do-it-yourself wall art ideas to spruce up the bare walls throughout your home.
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To make this tree-motif string art piece, coat a piece of plywood with black interior latex paint. Sketch a tree lightly in pencil. Begin pounding 1-inch white nails into the plywood along the design at random intervals. Tie nylon cord to the lowest, left-most nail and begin looping the cord around the surrounding nails. Keep the nylon taught at all times. Work your way up the tree and extend out to each branch, ending at the top. Tie a tight knot at the top-most nail. Finish by tying 2-inch pieces of color cording to a few nails at the tips of the branches. Display in an oversize frame, or cut and miter molding to border the plywood.
A blank white wall in this dining room gets a boost of color thanks to a brightly colored stenciled canvas. To get the look, stencil an ikat pattern (or any other pattern you like) onto canvas and stretch it over 1x2-inch boards at the top and bottom.
Watch this video and learn how to photo transfer.
Recreating this small art piece is as simple with this free download. Simply download, print and frame, or use a photo transfer method to put the print on canvas or a block of wood.
Go to the next slide to see how to photo transfer.
A play off of the light fixture, the artwork in this dining room depicts deconstructed dahlias. Simply print the images (link below) on veneer paper and sandwich them between two sheets of plexiglass. Find sheets of clear plexiglass at a home center, where store associates can help you cut them down to the proper size.
Unlock the secret to creative wall art with this quick and easy project. Apply white acrylic paint in vertical brushstrokes to the entire surface of a stretched canvas. While the paint is still wet, add a few thin gray lines and blend using vertical brushstrokes to create a striated appearance. When the paint is dry, use twine to tie a vintage key to the front of the canvas.
A contemporary take on whitewashing, these canvases are sure to add a splash of subtle color to your blank walls. We coated blank white canvases with cream paint and then worked in blue paint while the base coat was wet. After each swipe of the brush, wipe it clean with a paper towel to prevent overblending.
Create a graphic statement with a canvas outfitted with oversize wooden buttons. First, paint the buttons with crafts paint; let dry. Apply white acrylic paint to the canvas in vertical brushstrokes. While the paint is still wet, add a few gray lines and blend the colors to create a striated appearance. Tie the buttons to the canvas with twine. Staple the twine to the back of the canvas stretcher frame to secure.
Keep vacation memories fresh with this easy and inexpensive wall art project. Cut a map to standard printer-paper size (8 1/2x11 inches). Use a word processor to create words, phrases, symbols, or photos that remind you of the special places you've traveled. Print your design on the map. Use spray adhesive to affix the map to a store-bought art canvas. Brush on two coats of decoupage medium, allowing the canvas to dry between applications to seal it. To give a newer map a weathered look, soak it in extra-strong coffee or black tea for an hour, then hang it up to dry.
This pretty project can be recreated using inexpensive watercolor.paints. Create a light wash by mixing water with one base color. Paint the entire surface of the stretched canvas with the color; let dry. To make flower stems, use a thin brush to paint a single line of light green watercolor paint. The lines need not be perfect; watercolor looks best when it’s applied organically. When the light green is almost dry, highlight it with a line of darker green; let dry. To create the flowers, place a nickel-size puddle of watercolor paint in a light tone onto the canvas at the top of one stem. Hold a straw vertically, straight over the top of the puddle. Blow into the straw to spread the paint into a sunburst pattern and let it dry. Repeat the process with a deeper, more saturated tone of the same color and let it dry again.
A stenciled wall treatment creates a spunky backdrop for a collection of crisp white-painted frames in this living space. Several of the frames were outfitted with shelves to create display space for art and other treasures. Purchase floating shelves with keyhole screw backs, or cut lengths of medium-density fiberboard shelves to size, then secure with blind shelf supports. For quick wall art, print a favorite lyric or quote on letter-size veneer sheets – available at most crafts stores – and frame.
Even if your art skills are elementary, doodle on! With a marker in hand you can create one-of-a-kind wall art and unexpected updates for basic home decor in a matter of hours. Write a favorite quote, song lyric, or poem on a fabric scrap then frame, and enjoy. Draw a simple picture, then employ a blending technique to make it something truly special.
To create nature-themed wall art, use a miter saw to cut a slice of wood. Print an image of birds or other wildlife onto iron-on transfer paper, then follow the package instructions to apply the image to the wood. To protect the transfer, glaze with gloss sealer.
Practice your A, B, C's with this quirky art piece. Prime a piece of scrap wood and paint the background the color of your choice; let dry. Scour a junk drawer for small- to medium-size items that could work as letterforms. Disassemble or rework the items as needed to create new shapes. Remember, once the pieces are painted the same color, the form will be much more recognizable. After the pieces are selected, prime and then spray-paint them with a contrasting color; let dry. Apply a second coat and, once dry, attach to the background using contact adhesive.
Purchase a sunflower stencil or make one yourself by cutting an image of a sunflower from a clear stencil blank. Use the stencil and a foam pouncer to apply crafts paint to an artist's canvas. Overlap the design, and layer various shades of the same color. Let dry, frame, and enjoy!
Blooms made from aluminum screen – sold by the roll at home centers – become a focal point in any room. To make a flower, wear work gloves and use old scissors (cutting screening will damage new blades) to cut four 8x50-inch strips, four 8x40-inch strips and one 8x30-inch strip. An 8-inch cork mat (also available at home centers) forms the back of the piece. Loop one 8x50-inch strip into a petal; use a staple gun to secure both ends to the cork mat. Rotate the mat 90 degrees and repeat with the remaining 8x50-inch strips. Follow the same process with 8x40-inch strips, but staple those petals so each is between two larger petals. To create the flower's center, fold the 8x30-inch strip in half lengthwise, then crumple it into a loose ball. Position the ball in the center of the flower, hold the entire piece on the wall, then drive screws through the center and the cork mat into the wall, arranging the center cluster to hide the screws.
It’s hard to miss the writing on the wall with these showstopping frames sketched in black marker. Model the frame shapes after ornate versions of the real thing, using antique portrait frames for inspiration. Add diagonal lines at the corners to suggest depth. To highlight the differences in dimensions between your frames and art pieces, hang a three-dimensional sculpture or vase within one frame.
Perfect for a dorm room or rental, wall decals are a fun – and removable – way to add interest or define a space. This floor lamp and bookshelf decal gets a personalized touch when the book spines are embellished with bits of pretty scrapbook paper, held in place with double-stick tape. Decals work best on smooth walls. For a large decal like this one, begin applying the decal to the wall at the bottom of the design and work your way up. Follow package instructions for smoothing out bubbles and sealing edges.
Thick yarn in natural colors makes this botanical wall art a standout piece. Use crafts paint and a foam brush to paint a store-bought canvas. Sketch a botanical design into cardstock. Position the cardstock in the dry canvas and lightly tape the edges to secure it. Use a heavy-duty needle to poke evenly spaced holes along your design through the canvas. Remove the cardstock. Thread an embroidery needle with yarn. Beginning at the back of the canvas, use the existing holes to embroider the design. Use a thinner yarn or different color to highlight various areas of the design. Frame the canvas in a weathered-look frame to continue the rustic nature theme.
Whimsical butterflies rest upon a graphic tree in this woodland scene atop a vintage door. Use double-stick tape to tile the door’s inset panel with old book pages. Cut several pages of scrapbook paper with a faux-bois motif into a tree shape. If you’re uncomfortable cutting freehand, snap a photo of a tree, then enlarge, print, and trace it (or search for “tree images” online). Adhere the tree shapes to the book pages using double-stick tape. Sketch, then cut out butterflies from several colors of cardstock paper. gently fold their wings upward and tape their bodies to the door.
This simple starburst can be recreated in a matter of hours. At a home center, select free paint chips in colors that coordinate with your space. Cut them into 1/2x2-inch strips. Use a compass to draw a 2-inch circle in the lower left-hand quadrant of a stretched canvas. Draw a 4-inch concentric circle around the first one (these will be your guides for applying the paint strips). Beginning in the upper right-hand quadrant of the canvas, adhere the strips to the canvas with a decoupage medium. They should appear to radiate out from the center of the penciled circles. As you work your way toward the circles, begin adding the darker strips. When you reach the 4-inch circle, attach only one end of the strip, allowing the other end to pop off the canvas to create depth. Finish in the center of the 2-inch circle with the darkest color.
Get favorite photos out of the attic or off of your digital camera and onto a wall with a photo collage. Choose images from a special vacation, shots of your garden in bloom, vintage family photos, or any other images you enjoy. Mount the photos to colorful blocks using spray adhesive. Lay out your desired pattern on the floor (we chose a heart) and use picture hanging strips to hang the blocks onto the wall.
Using black acrylic paint and a thin paintbrush, paint several vertical twigs and birds on a stretched canvas. Find a real twig that roughly matches the size of your hand-painted ones, then paint it with a bright color (we chose fiery orange). Hot-glue a bird, painted the same color, to the twig, and then hot-glue the twig to the canvas.
Arranged in an organic line that seems to bubble up from the baseboard, these paint-dipped lids are a quick and easy way to amp up the interest on a blank wall. Purchase new paint can lids at crafts or hobby stores. Clean the lids, then use painter’s tape to mask off a section of each lid. Simply paint the exposed section in the color of your choice; let the lids dry overnight. When they’re dry, attach them to the wall using removable poster hanging strips.
This striking art project is sure to grab attention in any room of the house. In pencil, lightly sketch several loose, abstract flower petals on a stretched canvas. Begin filling in the petals using acrylic paint in bold colors. While the paint is still wet, use a complementary color to add and blend highlights to the center of each flower. When all of the paint is dry, outline each flower using a thick, black marker.
To recreate this project, start by adhering masking tape of various widths in straight, random, graphic patterns to a stretched canvas. Squeeze four colors of acrylic paint onto a palette. Dip your brush into the lightest color and apply it to the top left-hand quadrant of the canvas with short, choppy brush strokes. When you have a portion of the canvas colored in your first color, dip the same brush into your second color. Apply the paint in the same manner. As you continue working with the second color, it will become the dominant tone. Repeat that process with the remaining colors. The result will be a gradient that blends from the top left to the bottom right. Let the paint dry overnight. Remove the masking tape.
Elevate ho-hum floor-stripping pads by displaying them in an abstract arrangement on the wall. Add a splash of color to the display by spray-painting one of the floor pads with latex paint in the color of your choice (we chose brick red). Affix the pads to the wall with a couple of small nails or picture hanging strips.
