No-Cost Wall Art

DIY & Home

We have lived in our home for 11 years. One of our first purchases for this home was three canvas wall prints from Ikea. The colors were perfect as we had just had the massive walls painted a latte color. (Ah, remember when brown was all the rage?) I love trees so the leaf design worked. I loved the look of them grouped together and since the wall is so huge, we need something to fill the space on the wall.

I remember being at Ikea and looking at their art. They were a good height, but one canvas would look so lonely on that big wall. I grabbed two more to show my husband we could group them together. Another couple was next to us looking for wall art, too. The husband, overhearing my suggestion, said to his wife, “I like that idea!” Done! His comment sold the idea to my husband and we purchased three of the same canvas print.

Then the trend went from browns to grays and we jumped on that bandwagon. My husband painted all the walls gray and the leaf prints still worked since gray was part of their color scheme. But I have been growing tired of the things I have in our home and was ready for a change.

Since those pieces fit so nicely and new wall art wasn’t in the budget, I decided to try to repurpose them. I had several paints from previous projects, so I tried to just use what I had and repaint them.

I first tried covering the leaf design with some white furniture paint I had leftover from painting my dining room table. I did two coats, but you could still see a hint of the leaves. I learned from my brother—a tattoo artist—that when he does cover-ups, he has to create a new design that distracts the eye from seeing what was originally there. So, I figured some randoms brush strokes would distract from the original leaves.

Leaf design covered with white paint. First brush strokes added.

I continued with the random brush strokes switching up the colors a bit. Layering until I got the look I was going trying to achieve.

Now, I am no artist, so something abstract seemed like it would work. I am so excited with how it turned out! Not only did this update cost nothing, but what I ended up with reminds me of birch—which falls in line with my love of trees.

If you have some canvas prints that are screaming for new life, don’t be afraid to grab some paint. In no time, you will once again love your walls for no cost.