sm-ART

Now, I like a nice expanse of blank wall as much as the next person, but it's getting a little ridiculous around here.  Only one room in my entire house has anything hanging on the wall, so I thought I'd better start doing something about it.  Here comes my favourite DIY (and cheap!) wall art...

First I purchased and assembled stretcher bars (from an art supply store) in the dimensions to best fit my space (this is a great way to get a custom-sized piece for that hard-to-fit area!).

Then I found a piece of fabric in a bold, modern print (the bolder the better, if you want fabric to function as art), and simply stretched it tight over the stretcher frame:

Really bold prints can be tough to find, but I'm a huge fan of Marimekko prints, so I immediately knew that's what I wanted to use and just had to wait to find it for the right price (like lots of desiger fabrics, Marimekko pieces can be a bit pricey).

*The number one rule of thrift, (in my opinion, anyway!) is patience.  I searched places like Ebay and Etsy for a couple of months before I eventually found this print (called 'Tuuli' or wind) as a remnant, for a great price!  Total cost for this piece of 'art' was about $30 (fabric + stretcher bars), and it's 24"x36"!

It's hanging in my upstairs hallway, right above the stairs.  I love how the grey echoes the colours of my bedroom.  And I believe this is also the first time I've posted pics of the new paint in the hallway (upstairs + down), but I'll have more on that later!

For one last take on the 'fabric as art' idea, some of you may remember catching a glimpse of the other Marimekko print I have, which is currently hanging in my kitchen:

This print is called 'Unikko', and it's travelled with me for a few years now.  Not sure if it'll stay in the kitchen, but for right now it's one of the few things I like about that room, so it stays! :)