Oct 30 2009
Budget Decorating – 3 Easy Ways to Add Artwork
One of the most popular ways to decorate a home is with artwork, but most people believe it has to be expensive to look good. This is not the case, as inexpensive art can result in a wonderfully decorated room. If you want to include art in your home décor but don’t have a lot of money to spend, then here are some great ways to add interest and character to your home on a budget.
Find Free Artwork around the House
With a quick look around your home, you are sure to find many pieces that can easily be framed to create a beautiful addition to a room. Some examples of what you might find would be: hanging calendars with pictures, postcards, greeting cards, and perhaps even a decorative flag. You can even add something special to some of these pieces to make them look more professional: simply matte them with matting board in the frame.
Look to Nature for Art Pieces
Quite a few different things from nature can be framed in a shadow box or even a matted frame. For instance, you can frame a collage you’ve created from pressed flowers and leaves. Other items from nature such as sea shells, seeds, pinecones, branches, and flowers can all be used as pieces of art. It may take a little creativity on your part to come up with a collage of these items, but it is well worth it, for you’ll end up with artwork that fits your style perfectly.
Take Your Own Photographs for Your Artwork
If you have the ability to take photos, either with your own camera or one borrowed from a friend, then the possibilities of art you can come up with are virtually endless. After all, you can take pictures of just about anything: from flowers and trees, to houses and the sky . If you really want to get creative, you can use a photo editing website and develop the pictures in black and white or sepia. Have the photographs developed in the proper size, regardless of whether you enlarge them or print them in normal size.
A creative way to display them is to buy matching frames in different sizes and arrange the photographs on an empty wall. You you can also collect the photographs into a book and place it as a center piece on oak end tables or wood coffee tables. If you find that creativity is not your thing, then enlist the help of a friend to take photos. You can also go the traditional route and hang pictures of your family on the walls.
By getting creative, you should be able to find any type of artwork for your home without having to spend a lot of money. It’s easy to turn everyday objects into pieces of art. Find some old illustrated books and see if there’s a picture that would look great in your room that can be framed and displayed. Items like fabric swatches, buttons, magazine clippings, and other small things you run across can be used to make a collage for a shadowbox or frame. If you take the time to look around your home and use what you have, you will discover many possibilities for inexpensive artwork.