finding art for your home on the cheap ~ Make Do and DIY

Art can transform a room! What you display in your home can totally change the mood and a simple print can often be the finishing touch that really pulls a room together and makes it "yours".

I love that I can change the paintings in my dining room and suddenly it feels completely refreshed, and I love finding meaningful little images or quotes that I can stick in a frame to add some fun to my decor. You know what I don't love? Paying good money for something when I don't have to! Yes, I have bought particular prints that I really loved, but in general I've found that when I want to jazz things up a bit there are plenty of very inexpensive ways of getting my grubby mitts on the art I'm after!

Whether it be a particular colour you want to pick up in your living room, a funny quote for your bathroom to make you smile when your brushing your teeth or just a bare wall you need to fill I've got a few ways you can do that without breaking the bank....

diy birch forest painting tutorial here

1) Edit and print your own photos

Cheap/free apps and sites like Picmonkey, Snapseed and Afterlight are great for editing your own photos and making them worthy of dressing your walls! Jazz them up, print them up and frame them for some instant, meaningful art. You can even turn them into canvases yourself very cheaply using a discount shop canvas and some decoupage glue. I've been meaning to do a post on that for a really long time so maybe now I'll actually get around to doing it!

2) Wrapping paper

Keep your eyes peeled for pretty paper that can be used to fill even the biggest frames. This is great if you like to change things up frequently as it's so cheap and easy. And there are so many different patterns and styles of paper that there will definitely be something to suit you. The paper I have framed above came from Penney's. It was €1.50 for a 5 meter roll and has a lovely metallic sheen on the copper sections.

3) Do it yourself

Grab some paints and a canvas from the discount shop or a sheet of paper if you want to frame it and go to town! Pick a limited palette of colours that compliment the room you are planning to display it in and let your artistic side come out to play.

4) Kids art

Same idea, just give you kids the colours you want to have in your room and let them spend a fun hour painting for you. The results will be pretty, and meaningful.....and you might get to drink a cup of properly hot coffee while they do it. Double win.

you other brother's can't deny

5) Free printables

Pinterest is an amazing resource when it comes to free art that you can download and print. Just search for the style you want e.g "free printable geo art" and browse through what's on offer until you find what you are looking for, then print and frame. Simples!

6) Anything with a print you like.

Old t-shirts? Pages from books? Greeting cards? Pretty much anything can be framed, so keep your eye out! The feather print above is actually a tea towel I got in Penney's for €1.50 (and fyi Irish and U.K friends, Penney's/Primark are usually a great source of both awesome tea towels and awesome wrapping paper!)

Sharpie, ruler, five minutes. That is all.

So there you have it, art doesn't have to cost much (or anything at all!) and there are so many options for cheap stuff available that there really is no reason for you not to have something completely beautiful and unique on your wall. Any other ideas for cheap/free art? I'd love to hear them!