Whether you spend too much time in the soul-sucking gray of an office cubicle or live in a white-walled apartment, you’ve suffered from maddening boredom. Like the human spirit, our home – our sanctuary – needs color and life.
While a pleasant neutral tone is just fine in many circumstances, taking a risk with a strong color inspires us to take risks in our life and live largely. If you are looking for a way to occupy spare time that can involve the whole household or desperately need to add some spice to your abode, here are seven fun ways to add a pop of colorful art into your home.
Photo Collage
The perfect do-it-yourself home decor option, photo collages grant you a great deal of flexibility in terms of theme, size, color, and shape. There’s no need to stick to a square when you can design original shapes and patterns with your photo placements. Pay attention to your colors: honing in on a theme creates a coherent look, but keep enough contrast for images to pop.
If adding a personal touch to your home is a priority, gather photos from vacations or life’s special moments. If you don’t want your face on a wall, browse the internet for images that soothe or inspire you and print your favorites. For a retro look, use polaroid photos or cut out pictures from old magazines or books.
Another way to change a photo collage’s effect is with your choice of frame. By skipping the frame, you can zero in on a minimalist, modern look. If you want to combine warmth and dimension with a more personal touch, experiment with engraved photo frames.
Stencils
For those of us that like to feel crafty but lack the artistic skill to actually design and paint original shapes on a wall, stenciling is a life saver. Although wallpaper provides a similar visual effect to stencils, stenciling comes without the cost and difficult removal process. Additionally, stencils give you a license to place designs exactly where you want them, meaning you don’t have to cover your entire wall with a sheet of paper. Instead, put a design on just one section of a wall for an accent and determine spacing between shapes.
After you find a stencil design, add more personalization with a choice paint color. If you have plain white walls and desperately need to break up the monotony, go wild. This is also an opportunity to bring out the subtle hues of a rug with a complementary paint shade.
After stenciling, you may feel the urge to put an artistic design on your nails. Unleash your inner painter!
Wallpaper Flowers
If discovering stencils has you tearing off wallpaper, don’t throw it out just yet! In addition to being eco-friendly, recycling wallpaper has an artistic purpose. Were you an origami wiz as a child? Do you want to join the plant craze but can’t keep a rock garden alive? This one’s for you.
You can find petal templates online, but if you have your own ideas, this is the perfect time to experiment. Since we’re using old wallpaper, the cost of wasting materials is minimal, and risk-taking is encouraged. Try folding a flower from one single section of paper, or cut out individual pieces for the petals and glue them together. With adhesive or a pushpin, place them on the wall.
Wooden Shim Wall Art
In keeping with the DIY theme, consider putting some old wooden shims or scraps to use. They won’t look like a carpenter’s leftovers if you give them a little TLC. You are free to paint them any color and arrange them creatively. If your home has an earthy, rustic aesthetic, go for a wood stain.
Like stenciling and photo collages, wooden shim art gives you the flexibility to place pieces wherever they fit. Got an empty wall that needs some dimension? Post some wooden shims. Want to accent a window with a minimalist or no frame? Try shims. This is another opportunity to embrace your creative spirit and come up with your own shapes and placement patterns.
Hanging Garlands
Another great way to fill up empty sections of wall is to hang garlands. To create a floating illusion, use push pins or an adhesive to stick them to the wall. For a curtain-like effect, attach the pieces to a rod and nail the rod to a wall. If you want to hang these over an entryway, skip the nails and landlord complaints by getting a tension rod.
The good thing about this technique is that it can be used to hang just about anything. Think colorful lights, beads, yarn, paper cutouts, or anything that can be strung and hung. If you host a party, bring out the lights!
Dipped Paintings
Yes you’ve heard of dipping your nails, but how about dipping paintings? Perhaps you dropped a frame and scuffed the corner. Maybe the top half of a picture is perfect but the bottom is lackluster. A fun way to cover up imperfections or add a splash of color is to dip part of the picture in a bold color paint.
This doesn’t require you to literally dunk a framed picture in a vat of paint. Instead, you can use tape and paper to block off the parts that should remain untouched and create straight lines. Then, paint over the rest of the picture and frame. In a couple easy steps, you can create a new painting for your wall.
Gallery Art
While it’s certainly fun to get your hands dirty with DIY crafts, let’s not forget the old-fashioned way to add color to your home: fine art paintings. By visiting an online art gallery, you can shop for top-notch paintings without having to leave your house. While DIY art is great for bedrooms and kitchens, many living rooms and foyers require a more formal painting. If you’d rather emphasize a familial environment, have your kids color some pictures and frame those!
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