Sometimes when you're trying to figure out what to hang on your walls, it makes sense to come at it from an abstract angle first. Rather than just shopping for what you like or hanging what you might already have, sometimes I think it's best to imagine what would be right for the room and for the wall space. Especially in a room like a laundry room where things can and should be a little more light-hearted and not so serious.

 photo Art.jpg

The long stretch of wall to the right of the storage cabinets was crying out for a big statement piece of art and the small bit of wall to the left of the window also needed something. I think every room needs a mirror - it adds light and a different dimension to the space. So I set off to IKEA with my wall dimensions in hand to figure out my options.

I found this little oval mirror for about $15 and a pack of bright red clothespins.

 photo IMG_4445.jpg

And I found this giant 55" tall canvas on sale in the art section.

 photo dIMG_5961.jpg 

(More after the jump...)
For the large art, I picked one of the canvases that was the most mono-chromatic. 
 photo IMG_4407.jpg
And then I painted over the image just with some of the leftover paint from the cabinets in the laundry room. I didn't want any of the old image peeking through the final product.
 photo IMG_4409.jpg
I was going to leave the frame silver, but decided to paint it out black at the last minute to give the space some dark contrast.
 photo IMG_4411.jpg
I found an image online that I liked (this one is by Phillipe Halsman and I used the file found here). You don't need to be too worried about finding a high-res image with this printing process - the highly pixelated look sort of works here. Also, I don't really want to bring up the subject, but I think it's worth mentioning that I felt okay using this image for this project since it is a really old image and I'm just using it for personal use in my own home. If I were selling these prints, I would definitely be more sensitive about copyright laws. I'm sure we all fall on different spots on the spectrum here, and this is where I felt comfortable. :)
 photo IMG_4397.jpg

I carefully cut out the print (which I had printed to exactly match the size of the canvas). And then once the paint on the canvas was dry I used a strong spray adhesive to adhere the paper to the canvas.

 photo IMG_4419.jpg

I don't have a photo of the next step, but I used mod-podge to glue down the edges, so everything is glued down nice and flat. The only tricky part was getting the seam right, but I don't think it's too noticeable in the end.

 photo dIMG_4462.jpg
There were a couple of spots that I touched up with some dark gray paint and that worked well.

 photo dDSC_0445.jpg

 photo fIMG_4478.jpg

And then for the mirror, I just super glued the red clothespins right to the surface of the glass. I used a super glue that said it would work with glass and I think that really helped. 

 photo dIMG_4447.jpg

Also, I let the mirror sit untouched for a full 24 hours. I usually get impatient with superglue projects and move them too soon, but this time I think letting the glue sit for a good long time did the trick. :)

 photo dIMG_4449.jpg
I love how the overall effect is a bit like a sunburst mirror.
 photo dDSC_0459.jpg
It's fun to have wall art in here that is really unique and that only cost about $60 for everything. Success!
 photo ddDSC_0518.jpg
Have you done any cool DIY art projects lately? I'd love to see!          

 photo LR2.jpg

0 comments:

Post a Comment

 
Top