Cheap DIY Wall Decor

The supplies for this project (which will coordinate with the shower curtain)

It's time for the Fall makeovers to happen around the rooms of my home.  With each new season, I like to change up the things that are simple and cheap to change.  New (from the closet) bedding and curtains, new household seasonal decor, a newly decorated mantel, and new looks in the bathrooms.  I reuse things from year to year, but once in a while I actually purchase a new set for a bathroom or bedroom.

As I've mentioned in past blog posts, I use new room sets several years until I'm tired of them, then pass them on to my children for their homes.  When they are done using them, they donate them to a thrift shop or to the Salvation Army.

As I was working on giving our upstairs bathroom its Fall makeover, I kept hitting a dead end when it came to some wall decor.  There is a long neutral colored wall across from the sink and shower that usually needs some sort of decorations.  Otherwise it just looks too bare and sterile in there.

Although I shopped and shopped, trying to find something to go along with my plum and burnt orange color scheme, I wasn't finding anything that could coax the amount of money out of my wallet that it wanted.

Painting the background of the first panel

I decided to go the Do It Yourself route, and act craftier than I really am.

I purchased two 11 x 14 inch canvasses to paint on, and dug out my collection of craft paints and paint and foam brushes.   The decision was made to paint the backgrounds of my artwork a light turquoise and burnt orange.  Those colors stuck out to me as I looked at the pattern on my shower curtain.

First I painted the canvas backgrounds with large foam brushes.  I left them sit to dry before continuing with the design.

See how it "matches?"

Using the shower curtain as a guide, because I'm really not that overly creative, I began painting shapes to somewhat match the curtain, using the same colors.  I waited until the shapes were dry before adding another color onto them.

The inspiration for this project

When the two panels were all dry, I hung them on that wall in the bathroom.  I'm pleased with the way they turned out, and how they "match" the shower curtain and the towel colors.

This project cost me about $5.00 total.  The two canvasses were about $7.00 at Michael's and I had a coupon.  The small bottles of paint usually run about $1.00 or so at Wal-mart, but I had them and the brushes on hand from previous projects.  It really only took about one hour of organizing/painting time, not including the waiting-to-dry time.

Fall doesn't officially start for about another twelve days, so I am happily ahead of schedule.

I'm ready, especially ready for the adventures that are right around the corner!