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Dumpster Texture Art

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There are multiple ways of reading that title.  It’s not dumpster-texture art.  I don’t know if dumpster-texture is a thing.  Unless your name is Laney Boggs and you are one pair of glasses away from winning over Freddie Prinze Jr.

I really should have named this Textured Dumpster Art.  Or Texture Art from the Dump.  Or Old Art from the Trash that I Texturized and then Painted.  too far?  accurate though.

So here’s what happened.  About a little over a year ago I was pregnant with Weston and driving home from the grocery store.  You know…melting ice cream in the hot southern sun in the back and a cranky kid in the carseat.  And then I saw it….the holy grail of DIYers….a trash pile.

I pulled over into the grassy median and crossed two lanes of traffic to inspect the freebies.  In it…one giant canvas.  I don’t know much but I do know that canvases this size run close to $80 if you hit an awesome sale with a great coupon.

But I also know one other thing…art is a touchy subject.  I did a lot of research on protected images when I started doing photography and I know that a lot of certain art falls under copyright guidelines for protection.  It’s so that galleried or exhibited art or artists don’t find their pieces altered or some masterpiece is forever destroyed.  It’s a very confusing and convoluted law (what is protected?  what isn’t?  what do I have?) and I wanted to be more safe than sorry.  So I listed this piece on Craigslist first.

Fast forward one year.  No bites.  No offers even with my $80 OBO listing.  I was fairly certain that that would happen but I figured that someone out there might feel like this just what they were looking for…and worth the drive out to my neck of the woods.  But alas…no dice.

The other thing that made me believe that this was not a piece that fell under the ‘protection’ laws was that it did not have a signature or number anywhere.  The art actually appeared to be painted and then had a ‘faux finish’ applied to it…very similar to what you would see in mass produced pieces (what I call hotel-art).  But I wanted to clear my conscience first before putting anything over the art or just as reusing the canvas for it’s raw material status.

Speaking of putting something on it…I pulled out my thinking cap to get more texture on the surface.  The original canvas was very textured on the flowers.  You can kind of see where the edges of the petals stand out a little.  So I went into our ridiculously junked up workroom and dug out a tiling trowel and some all purpose joint compound (the stuff you use when you punch a hole in the wall…I mean…accidently knock a hole in the wall never in anger).

And then I just troweled it on over the surface.

This is really really easy.  Even a three year old can do it…and did.  First you get a big dollop and push it onto the canvas trying to keep the tool as flat as possible.

Then you hold the trowel at an angle and scrap lightly the excess off in long straightish strokes.

After you get your lines all done, it’s time to let it harden and dry.  Mine took about two days to fully harden but I waited four till I had to paint because I’m lazy like that.

For the excess on the edges, use a rough grit sandpaper to clean it off easily.

I then took a dust brush and cleaned the entire surface because I wanted to be sure no dust was in the crevices.

And it’s not crucial that those crevices are perfect.  Mine was far from it.  I had a ton of spots like this…(where there were drips or weird variations)…

Since this project was already running me $0…I decided to keep with that theme and run to my paint supply to finish it up.  Remember when I tested a TON of options on the exterior of our house before choosing?  All those Sherwin Williams samples were still sitting in my office so I just grabbed the whitest one and ran with it.

I did two coats (paint with the grain) and it was immediately talking sweet nothings to me.

My drying station…away from little fingers.

The texture really has a chance to stand out here.

Then came time for more paint.  At first I was gonna do drippy art…like watered down colors that flowed down the valleys and blended all together.  But in the end, I wanted something a little more bold (and little colors all blended together would still be cool but not as high impact as what I imagined).

Then I just took another sample and painted a band in the middle.  I didn’t want it to look perfect or super straight…something more ‘painterly’ in style.

I hung it over the couch in our sitting room off our bedroom.  The walls in there are muted turquoise and so the brownish-gray band really goes well with the whole muted look in there.  And the texture really makes the whole thing pop.  I think overall it is a huge improvement over the waterfall flower art.  And for $0?  yeah….#winning.

 

Update : Looking for more info on something you see in our house?  We have a Shop the Bower House page with paint colors and links to accessories, furniture and decor!

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Comments

  1. I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but I absolutely love this! And so amazingly simple to make. Where, oh where, could I put one in my home? hmmmm

  4. OK, I really love this! And I actually have two fairly large canvases that were just prints from Ikea. A friend didn’t want them anymore, but I haven’t gotten around to painting over them yet. You have just given me much to ponder, because I think the very textured look would be so fun!

  6. That looks gorgeous! I love art like that. You did a great job. I would love to do something like this one day. Right now, though, it wouldn’t cost $0 because it we don’t have any of those supplies! 🙂 Someday though…

  9. Awesome! I have a bunch of canvases in my house (all white, accumulated at hl, nat) and have been trying to decide what to do. Love this idea!

  14. LOVE IT!!! What a cool idea. I wish I had the creativeness (and time) to do something like it. By the way, did you guys move the furniture around in your bedroom sitting area? Please don’t think I’m weird, but I could’ve sworn their were windows behind the couch when you did a post about the room’s transition 🙂

  15. This is really neat! I couldn’t help but notice the green headboard in the garage, though. 🙂 I love that so much. Where did you find it??

  16. omg! LOVE IT!! I have some small canvases that I painted a few years ago and now hate and have been thinking about what to paint over them. Texture is the perfect solution! Thanks for the awesome idea!

  19. That looks great! Although I don’t have a single artistic bone in my body, so I doubt I could pull it off. If I find a big canvas like that will you come over and make it into “art” for me? 🙂

  20. That is so creative! I would have never thought to use a tiling trowel and all purpose joint compound!! It turned out so so so good! I am jealous! I want to make one now! Thanks for the idea!!!

  25. I do not know why I like this so much, but I do. It almost looks like really rough wood grain. What made you think to cover the canvas with joint compound? Wish my brain worked that way.

  27. Holy Moley!!

    I LOVE IT!! No, I mean I FREAKING LOVE IT!! Nice Job Katie!! I have a canvas that Im not digging anymore that I bought at a yard sale 2 years ago!! Its ready for a change!!

  30. Love this!! I have a canvas I dug out of the trash as well and this would be fantastic to do on it. It has already had many lives. I painted the whole thing black and then silver leafed it. I got bored with that and took 3 paint samples I got for free at Lowes and created an ombré effect. My sure that is working for me either. I may copy this project. Lo e that its so simple but has lots of texture.

  31. Wow! I really like it. I didn’t appreciate how big it was until I saw Will next to it. Great find!

  33. Love this! Question – Could you do a tutorial on the ‘drippy art’ you mention above? It sounds really cool.

    Thanks!

  36. I love it! I am a huge sucker for gray and might just have to use this idea in my light gray bedroom.

  37. I have been dreaming for the last two years about this beautiful piece of art I saw at a dr’s office. While my friend was getting seen (she is fine), I stared at this magnificent piece of art. Forty minutes later, still staring. I even looked up the artist to see how much her art was selling for and let’s just say it’s out of my budget (no one should have to cash in their 401k to be able to purchase art – even if it haunts your dreams). Did not see any art that was similar on Pinterest, art web sites, etsy, etc, that I could either create or purchase. Still dreaming about this art – sigh. THEN I SAW YOUR TEXTURED ART AND I NOW HAVE THE ART OF MY DREAMS! Imagine the same texture and size of your painting in different shades of cooper and gold metallic – that is my dream art! So excited about realizing how to make my piece of art that I might even pay full price for the canvas! Forever your fan for making my dreams come true!

  39. Love it!!! For some reason, the first pic is not coming through. Might want to check it. I checked on two browsers. Great DIY PRoject!!!!

  40. I love this. The first thing I thought when I saw it was that it looked like tree bark laid out flat. It even looks like it has some knots in it and such. Very neat idea! I might have to try this. Maybe when the compound is still wet using my finger to draw a heart and initials like I “carved” it into the tree???
    Inspiring for sure =)

  41. I’m loving the bright green metal headboard and oval mirror that are in the background of some of the pictures! Those must be waiting their turn for something special. Looking forward to their reveal 😉

  45. Really beautiful. You could sell those.

    Is that rug from West Elm? I’ve been coveting it since seeing it in Emily Henderson’s living room. Is the white impossible to keep clean?

  46. Like everyone else, I love it! I honestly didn’t think I would be into it, but it looks great. I’m so impressed with your creativity.

  53. Love the art! I might try to do this on 3 smaller canvases I have lying around…! Maybe have them stagger the pattern?

    Where’d you get your sofa? love it!!

  58. HAHA! Not much to tell! I saw it in an antique store and fell hard! I don’t know where I’ll use it but I love it!
    xo – kb

  65. Just wanted a solution to cover up the bumps…what I do with a wall is use joint compound so I figured I could do the same here.
    xo – kb

  66. It looks great on the wall. Definitely looks like something from an artist not a dumpster dive. Not that you’re not an artist! You know what I mean!!

  68. That looks awesome – and seems so simple!
    I wish it was still warm enough to DIY top less…uuugh, or at least in shorts. I started refinishing a dresser in August and it has been sitting in my garage, half sanded ever since.
    I like the pretty green headboard in the background too – what’s the plan for that? Don’t think I’ve seen that before?

  70. This turned out great! I love all the possibilities for this! It would be so neat to paint it a solid color and dry brush a metallic over it or even make it look like wood grain. And I love the green headboard as well! That would be super cute with the legs cut off and hung on a wall over a couch or buffet as artwork! 🙂

  71. I knew this post was going to be amazing when I saw Laney Boggs!!!!!! Thank you Katie another great post.

  72. Nice! I think it looks great on that wall…
    We might have the same rug? Rugs USA gray lines? (cant remeber th name) Do you like it? I’m putting ours in our bedroom and im afraid I’m going to hate it because it’s not what I expected from seeing it online. It seemed more plush and full online…

  77. Love the art! Also….I bought that rug MONTHS ago and it still sheds like crazy! Does yours?? Any advice on how to stop the shedding? Thanks lady!

  78. Ours has definitely cut back. We used to get it CRAZY but now it seems like it’s less…maybe we vacuumed a lot?
    xo – kb

  83. I still don’t know why your pictures don’r show up in my feedly or when i click to go on your actual site!

  85. I might be crazy for not being able to tell, but is this canvas or wood? I really want to try!!

  87. I love how it turned out! Off to scour our local thrift store for a similar sized canvas. I have an idea that’s inspired by this-excited to try it out!

  92. I think this is the best, most sophisticated project you have done in the past two years! please share with apartment therapy–they are going to love it. (that’s where I first learned about your blog, fyi)

  94. You went through a whole lot of trouble to avoid painting a canvas that was in a trash pile!!! The final product is 6,000x better than the original.

  98. I feel like I might be crucified, because I am clearly in the minority here, but I just wanna stick a tile on it. Haha. I LOVE LOVE it from far away. It looks very upscale and way out of my budget, but then the up close shots just make me want to lay tile.

  101. Grrrr! I vacuum everyday and still. It’s such a nice plush rug but it’s just too much! Well thanks!

  103. We haven’t announced yet! We need to still tell my grandparents and are very excited to see them at Thanksgiving.
    xo – kb

  104. Oh my word… I didn’t read the entire post just yet but had to write right away when I saw the very first picture of Laney.

    I think I was around 18 or 19 when this movie came out. The first time I heard her name I KNEW that this is the name my very first daughter will carry.

    So 6 years later I was pregnant for the very first time and was expecting a girl and I now have an almost 8 year old Laney here with me 🙂 Luckily my husband liked the name as well. Although I did tell him on one of our first dates that that’s how it will be if we ever have a girl 😉

    It makes me all mushy seeing that picture from the movie and knowing that that’s where my Laney “comes” from. (well, the name of course, not actually her, duh ;-)).

    Now off to read your post, ha!

  106. So yeah, I love this. It reminds me of a print I wanted really bad from Crate & Barrel a while back called creamsicles. Thanks for sharing!

  107. My daughter’s name didn’t come from anything particular but I knew one day I would name my future daughter Hannah and told my husband up front. He was OK with it. He wasn’t on board for my potential boy’s name so I said fine you get to pick that then.

  109. Just caught this one now Katie…Another great idea! I stage all my own flip property and always try to do it on the “cheap”. I’m currently doing all mid century modern styled homes now and this canvas overhaul is a terrific way to get large wall art on the $0!
    Thanks again for sharing…..becoming your biggest fan!
    Don

  110. Everything about this is gorgeous! Could you fill me in on the amazing paint color in the walls?! Thanks 🙂

  112. I don’t have a piece of canvas but a thin wooden board…any one known if the joint compound can stic to the board after application…

  114. I’ve been looking for something to put over our couch for so long! I recently decided I would make my own since I wasn’t having any luck. This is exactly what we have been looking for! I’m just wondering what the measurements are of the canvas since our couch looks very similar to yours!

  115. Wow, after giving up finding some subtle and muted art prints to hang over my bed, I found this via Pinterest, searching for wall art. I have a spare canvas or two out in the garage. I used them as backboards for photographs, and now they are just sitting around doing nothing. I am also known for having lots of sample pots in my garage, and every other material you used, ha ha. I am also the owner of a few of those peacock headboards, so I’m a bit worried that my garage and yours are very similar, even a ride-on mower. I think it’s a sign, I’m on to this, so will be making one of these very soon!

  116. I’ve had this post in my head since you originally posted, and now I am getting ready to do. Wanted to ask how it held up over time. Did it ever start to crumble?

  118. I saved this post of yours for a little while now and I came across the perfect canvas at my local Goodwill the other day…its 50″ x 40″ and lets just say it was uglier than yours to begin with…some kind of fan design with peaks of joint compound or Jesso…yikes lets just say it was a very “ugly duckling”

    I scraped off the high peaks with a spackling knife, and dusted it off and went to town with my joint compound and trowel…things I also had around my house. Now I’m “impatiently” waiting for it to dry…like watching paint dry…sigh…

    Once it’s dry in a couple days, I will also be doing a band of subtle gray/brown, and I may throw in a metallic small band over that…not quite sure what color metallic yet.

    You definitely inspired me and this project was so easy!

  119. So fun! I hope you tag me in a photo on Instagram or send me a pic so I can see the finished product! I bet it will be awesome 🙂
    xo – kb

  120. Super late to the party, but so excited to give this a shot. Our neighbors moved and left a huge (almost 5’ wide) canvas print for us if we wanted… the print is definitely not my style, but you can’t pass up free!
    Going to start working on it this holiday weekend. Now just need to figure out what colors I want to use!

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