The myth of social media is that most people have a perfectly curated home. I have felt so discouraged over the years seeing bloggers move to new (and bigger) homes and immediately share perfectly furnished photos. We’ve been in our house for 2 years and while we’ve made lots of progress – it is a work in progress.
The reason for the delay is simple – things are expensive and we have a budget. A budget that doesn’t include home decor.
When we bought our house our main bathroom was my least favorite room in the house – so much so I have ZERO before pictures. The walls and ceiling were painted brown, there were three hanging lights that looked dated and hung over nothing because the sink was a small dresser with a glass bowl on top with no space for a toothbrush. I couldn’t imagine how it could be improved upon but since it was newly tiled, I also knew there was no gut job to be had.
Fortunately, I used the tile as a guide and thought of a lighter, Venetian inspired style for the space. When we moved in we almost immediately painted ($40), changed the light ($100 fixture plus electrician because the bathroom needed and didn’t have a vent), vanity ($450 for vanity sink set and faucet) and towel rack ($30) and the bathroom went from being my least favorite space to my favorite.
After those changes I refrained from anything else and the empty wall space over the toilet has bothered me for two years. I wanted some piece of art but anything that was sized right was more than I could justify spending (the flower picture is $15 from Home Goods and I only know that because it ended up in storage until I more recently put it up).
Last weekend I decided to make my own art. I had a black frame in the basement from a bridal shower game Cara planned that was the right size. I bought a 99 cent poster board from Michaels and pulled out old paint samples we’ve collected over the years and Lucas’ art tools. I eye balled this masterpiece so much so that it got narrower as the lines went down but since I was mixing colors as I went I couldn’t go back to stretch out a line. Brilliant solution? Cut the interior of the black multi-photo matte and flip it over to create dimension and cover the uneven ends.
Out of pocket costs for this project $5 between the poster board and the white spray paint. The satisfaction of not having a big blank wall – priceless.
Some other DIY Art Ideas
My DIY project supplies were basic and with the exception of poster board and spray paint, all things I already had at home.
- Poster
- Scissor
- Old frame
- Spray paint
- Paint brush
- Paint
Here are some other cute, low entry art projects:
CarrieDaway 
Carrie, social media is a myth (in my opinion). I have been in my house 5 years and am still “getting settled.” Houses always needs something to be fixed or updated, so they are never really comopletely settled–at least in the real world. I love seeing what you have done with your house. It inspired me to think about painting my kitchen cabinets (I went so far as to get chalk paint chips, but not to actually paint yet).
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