plates on a wall.

If you follow my Pinterest boards, you’ve probably realized I love when designers put plates on walls. It seems like a tacky idea, but when done tastefully (no pun intended,) plates can add personality and color to any room.

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I like this idea best when it’s implemented in dining rooms and kitchens, which showcases the plates in their natural environments. But when an unnecessary Target run led me to discover plates that just happened to match my living room decor, I couldn’t resist. (Oh, and did I mention the plates were only $2.50 each?)

Before: A sad, lonely living room wall.

After: A bright, happy wall.

Aren’t they fabulous? The plates I purchased were plastic, so 3M hanging strips did the trick. I live in a rental, which means I try to avoid putting holes in my walls when possible.

What are your thoughts? Would you hang plates or other unconventional objects on your walls?

One less lonely wall.

I’m not a Biebs fan, but I’ve had “One Less Lonely Girl” stuck in my head all day. I’m not sure why my mind is jamming to this dreaded tune on replay, but I’ll go ahead and embrace it. 15-year-old style.

I’ve been living in my new place for a little more than one month, and I’m happy to report my roommate and I love our new territory. Now that the Christmas decorations are gone and our belongings are finally settled in the space, we’re realizing what rooms desperately need a little TLC.

My 2012 decorating mantra is inspired by the Biebs himself: One less lonely girl wall. We’re living in a rental, which means every wall (with the exception of my room) is stark white. It could be worse (like the wallpaper that covered my first college apartment,) but I think we can all admit 1,000 square feet of blank white walls = boring. My roommate and I definitely aren’t afraid of color, but painting every room isn’t an option. We’ll rely on wall art to bring life to the space.

So without further adieu, here are the wall art projects I’d like to tackle in 2012:

Project one: Create a gallery wall in the dining room.

Our dining room is small, but it’s our favorite space to kick back, relax and eat some grub. Wainscoting brings a little extra flair to the otherwise dull space, but the empty wall could really use some lovin’. A mirror gallery wall would look fabulous, but mirrors usually don’t fit into my give-me-a-break-I-have-a-PR-degree budget. I see thrifting in my near future…

Project two: Find and/or create stairway wall art.

Since we have a bathroom downstairs, our guests rarely need to venture upstairs: giving us even more incentive to beautify the ground floor. Our stairway hosts a cute coat closet, which our visitors will use in Ohio’s cold winter months. The stairway opens up to the dining room, so whatever wall art we buy and/or make will need to match the room’s light blue and green theme.

Project three: Hang shelves in my bedroom.

I recently spruced up a bedroom wall with Ikea frames (see post here,) leaving the other walls looking sad. I’d like to add a few white shelves to this wall, showcasing some of my favorite photos and trinkets.

As always, I’m relying on Pinterest for some inspiration:

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I’m hoping to make some progress throughout the next few months, as January and February’s cold weather usually prohibits outdoor activities anyway. I’ll keep you posted!

P.S. Are you following me on Pinterest yet? 

project spotlight: diy stenciled wall art.

I usually let my fireplace mantle steal the spotlight, but the living room walls deserve a little love, too.  So instead of sitting around for an hour and pinning wall decor ideas on Pinterest, I decided to actually create something fabulous.

Once I came across this stenciled wall art idea at the Two Girls Being Crafty blog, I knew my next project was born. The whole “stencil” thing was a bit intimidating, but the blog post did say the project was easy enough for a caveman. That meant it would be easy enough for an artistically challenged chicka like me… right?

I started by painting a canvas yellow. I used spray paint, but I’m sure you could paint with a brush, too. I’m just too lazy to go through that much work.

(Note: Do not spray paint outside on a windy day. Especially when it’s autumn and leaves are falling. I learned this the hard way.) 

After the canvas dried, I positioned the stencil and went to work. The stencil did come with step-by-step directions, but I didn’t follow them. I just eyeballed it and hoped for the best.

I used antique white acrylic paint for a vintage look. I also used a sponge applicator, which kept the stencil design from looking too polished.

And voila! It’s not perfect, but I absolutely love it. The canvas fits in perfectly with the living room’s red/blue/green/brown/yellow theme.

I’d take a photo of the wall art hanging proudly, but the reason why it’s not hanging yet is another story for another day. Stay tuned!

Supplies:

24×30″ish canvas: $15

Damask floor/wall stencil: $17 (I had a 40 percent off coupon, so it was actually $10ish)

Yellow spray paint: $4

Acrylic paint, 2oz: $2

Paint applicator: $2.50

project spotlight: pinterest-inspired diy wall art.

Pretty prints, paintings and mirrors warm my heart.

I love browsing through wall art selections at my favorite home decor stores (like Home Goods and World Market,) but we all know this frugalista can’t afford a $150 painting.

Thank to Pinterest, I found the perfect DIY art project for an artistically challenged, budget-constrained chicka like me.

One random Saturday, I headed to the store and purchased two canvases, painter’s tape and green spray paint. (Sidenote: Did you know you have to be 18 to buy spray paint these days? Well, you do. And yes, I was carded. Looking like a 15-year old has its disadvantages.) 

First, I wrapped the painter’s tape around the canvases. I didn’t aim for a particular pattern; I kept adding tape until I was pleased with the overall look.

Next, I laid the canvases on a plastic surface and sprayed away. Feel free to laugh at the yellow squash and random cups holding down my garbage bag.

Once the paint dried, I removed the tape and voila! Beautiful wall art was born, and it only cost approximately $15.

Here’s the final product. What do you think?