Quick, inexpensive art spruce up

Now that I finally have some energy (hooray, 2nd trimester!), I’ve started getting project fever during naptime again. We’ve been slowly moving Virginia into her new big girl bedroom, so little decorating projects have been popping up left and right.

Most of the art that is in the nursery is staying put, so Virginia’s walls are a fresh canvas. I wanted to put up something that looked like art but didn’t cost like art, so when a friend of mine and I were browsing drooling in a paper store, I kept my eyes peeled. I snagged a big sheet of colorful, feminine paper for $6.

I’m sure you’ve seen updates like these pop up all over the internet, and the premise is simple: use an existing frame, spray paint it the color you want (or not), and stick a pretty piece of paper in it. Here’s my quick take on it.

A long time ago, the Hubster and I picked up some large frames at Costco, and they had been housing music paper in the guest room. Down they came. One would get repurposed for Virginia, and the other for me!

I started by removing the mat and glass. If you’re like me and you keep the picture that came inside the frame when you bought it behind your photo forever, you’re in luck. It’s the perfect piece to put into the frame to protect the inside when you’re spray painting it. Notice the model child and marketing piece about to get white washed. 🙂

I used Rustoleum’s 2x Ultra Cover in Gloss White. It was such a sunny, nice day, and I thought I would have no trouble spray painting, but I encountered the weirdest problem. As soon as I would spray paint the frames, these little bugs jumped all over the frame! It was so weird. Maybe they liked the bright color. Who knows. It was weird — and annoying. I had to pick the bugs off and do a second coat. Seriously, it’s always something.

Pop in your art, and voila! You have a fresh new look to keep you satisfied.

Here is my oh-so-exclusive artwork in their final places.

I love this whole idea because the options are endless between the color you choose from the frame and the content you put inside. If you don’t have a paper store near you, you can find gorgeous paper on Etsy. You could splurge and go for the hand painted stuff, find a pretty greeting card that speaks to you, pretty wrapping paper, use paper from an old treasured book… get creative! I mean, how gorgeous is this? And a lot of the stuff on Etsy can be downloaded and printed and used this very minute! Or you could paint something! You don’t need to be an art prodigy or earless man to paint beautiful art that makes you happy. You can also try searching Pinterest for “free printable art” and get lost browsing until you find something you love.

Have you ever done an art spruce up like this? What path did you take? Post pictures!