Tip for Tuesday: Fake it



Chair from Arhaus furniture


I decided that I am sick of buying generic wall art even if I get it cheap from somewhere.  I figure... even though I don't really know what I am doing.... I can fake it.  I recently made a series of wall art for my kitchen makeover.  I was inspired by a new chair with a unique pattern that my husband let me get for our anniversary.  I really wanted to tie in the pattern, colors, and feel of the chair into my whole living space.  I started by taking pictures of different "pieces" of the pattern that I liked.    I got these photos printed in the size of the canvases I was going to paint on.  I got a cheap 10 pack of canvases for about $10 at Michael's for this.  I probably could have achieved the same look by just framing the prints, but I love the texture that canvas and real paint add.

I then traced the larger shapes and parts of the pattern onto tracing paper in order to make a stencil.  I used an exacto knife to cut out pieces of my homemade stencil and then traced the overall shapes onto the canvases.  For example: in the following picture I first cut out the "meat" of the bulb and the stem shapes.   You can see on the left where the red arrows are pointing on the photo.  I after I had the basic shapes traced on the canvas I added in the details by hand.  As you can see the patchwork pattern on the largest part of the bulb is not remotely the same, but it still gives the overall appearance and feel of the original pattern.  

For paint I had already purchased sample interior latex paints from colors in the pattern to decide what colors to carry over onto the kitchen walls.  I used the sample paints to paint in the details of the patterns.  I ended up doing at least two coats of each color.  The paints cost about $3 each for a total cost of $39.  I would have used regular acrylic paints, but didn't want the sample paints I had already purchased to go to waste.  In total the project cost me $49 and gave me a large statement wall in the kitchen.

It took me about 2 hours to complete each canvas.  The latex paint dried fast and I was able to start the second coat as soon as I had finished the first coat.  When I finished all of my canvases I just arranged and re-arranged them on the floor in front of the wall they were going on until I had what I wanted. 

For those that will look at this and say, "I am not artsy at all.  I don't know how to paint."  Try this for a similar look.  Get stencils of patterns at your local art/craft store.  Stencil the patterns on various canvases and then paint them in.  (If you want to do it really fast you can use spray paint or roll one color on with a mini roller!)  You can do the same pattern with the canvases facing different ways like above or you can really mix it up and paint the pattern in a variety of colors and color combinations to make your own one of a kind wall art.  

You don't have to be a trained artist to have original art hanging on your walls - just fake it with confidence.  If you have any suggestions of DIY wall art add it in the comments!