When so many you fine folks made comments on the framed art above my “feeding station“, I knew that I had to share the nitty gritty. The frames themselves are about as exciting as a Miley Cyrus movie…as in not. But the art? Well, the art itself is exciting because it was absent of cost. That’s right. It was FREE. (can you hear the heaven’s bells ring when I say FREE? there they are again!)
So how’d I do it? Well, with my hands. And with a fan deck of Benjamin Moore paint colors. Also, a pair of scissors and a little scrapbook photo stickies.
All I did was tape the backside of the swatches to the piece of paper already in the frame until the entire thing was covered with a monochromatic scheme of colors. And since swatches usually list the colors in sequence from light to dark (from top to bottom), I simply put the lighter colors in the center of the frame and the darker colors closer to the edge of the mat. It didn’t even matter to me whether the names of the colors were upside down – afterall, you can’t really see them unless you get up close anyway.
The best part is that both pieces of art cost me zero dollars and zero cents while still capturing both main colors of our master bedroom scheme. I love being able to bring in a little more beiges (is beiges a word?) and blues to the boudoir.
although…I think most people see green when they think of the Bower bedroom…ROAR! heehee.
Ok. So there you have it folks. Some very VERY cheap art made from free stuff available at any local home improvement store and a bit of craftiness. And as much as I would love to take credit for this artsy-fartsiness…I’ve seen the swatch-art all over the blogosphere before. Which leads me to my next question….
What is the best (or cheap or fun or easy or chic) idea you’ve seen on the world-wide-web lately?
Kate at Centsational Girl says
OMG girl that is crazy brilliant. I am so inspired. Every home decorator and designer should have just those framed on thier wall. Unbelievable how awesome that is !
Kate
PS When are you scheduled to burst, er, I mean, welcome your wee one ?
Danielle says
I always love those paint chips! What a fab idea to actually use them for something besides picking a color!
Andrea says
Insanely smart and chic. I am ready to go to my BM dealer and pick up a deck.
Lisa @ lists in my pocket says
Um I love this idea! I might have to do this in my office. I love paint swatches but never had any use for them till now!
Elisa says
Katie, I’ve been reading your blog for a few weeks now and I finally had to tell you: You’re hilarious. Yup. Your posts make me laugh out loud.
Lauren says
for the bacon lover in all of us..
http://www.tanga.com/products/baconnaise-bacon-salt-3-pack-bacon-lip-balm-combo
Nicole says
So clever!!!!! I love to frame paper; this could be right up my alley!
Kelly says
Oh I love that!!! So clever 🙂
Anna kintigh says
Such fun artwork. Very creative! I enjoy your posts.
I made some free bookends for my little boy’s room the other day. Kid bookends are way too cheesy…so I cleaned up some brick that was in our wood pile and made some. The pictures are on my blog…maybe something you’d like to try for your little guy when he gets older!
Love, Anna
Here’s the link:
http://bananasanddamaskinteriors.blogspot.com/2010/03/brick-bookends.html
Jennelle says
It was actually on YOUR blog. The entry about the recap from the year. The art you made of your and Jeremy’s home states in Microsoft Paint. So far I’ve made one for me of the town I live in now, and one for my best friend in the town she lives in. I get lots of comments on mine, and I always tell them where I saw it!
Ashley Mutschler says
That’s what I thought those were, but I wasn’t 100% sure. What a great idea for a duo of home improvement DIY experts such as yourselves!
Mrs S says
I did that too for my wall art! I love paint chips.
sara says
That’s very smart! I think I might copy that idea, thanks! 🙂 🙂
candace says
Love it!
Rae says
Love the idea, but I must know where you found the glass lamp! Is it a recent purchase?
valerie says
are you still not in labor?!?!? i am waiting!!!!
allbowerpower says
Hi Rae,
I got that lamp at the Pottery Barn outlet. It was in the clearance section so obviously it had to come home with me. Here is a link to the post of where I posted all about it.
XO – Katie
thevitas says
Yes, seen that before, BUT you put an unique spin on it by how you arranged it, light in the middle, darker in the top and the bottom. Pretty!
I love this pillow by Bromeliad: http://bromeliadliving.blogspot.com/2010/02/diy-wednesday-make-a-detacher-inspired.html
Miss E says
Best idea ever! I’m so going to steal (ahem, borrow) it! No baby yet??
Kim says
I love, love, love this! I’m totally going to copy this.
littlehouseonpenderbrook says
i love this idea! simple and a great piece of art! genius thinking.
Jenny@AnythingPretty says
I must have been living under a rock because I have not seen this before….and I love it! Definitely going to have to whip up something similar for our bedroom.
Rebecca says
Katie- I was checking my local news website today and immediately thought of you (strange when we don’t know each other…)
It’s BACON FLAVORED BABY FORMULA!
http://www.wcpo.com/content/news/saywhat/story/Bacon-Flavored-Baby-Formula/qXrJE9luqkGIlUh7WvFTlg.cspx
doahleigh says
I collected paint swatches for awhile, planning to do something like this. But then I didn’t do it. So thanks for showing me what it looks like!
joanne says
any contractions or anything yet?!?!
Sarah Sarniak says
Love this idea. It looks great.
Rachael Ensom says
Wow, so creative! Love it!
Meghan Moulton says
The suspense is killing me! Any Baby Bower yet??! (love, meghan: i never post comments but have just checked here like 200 times to see if he’s still in the oven or maybe, just maybe…..out!) Good luck and cheers to you all!
Katie says
This is such a great idea. I just got done doing my own version of this project and I am in love with it!
Elise says
Probs waaay too late to leave a comment on this 2010 post, but I love this! We used paint chips and a heart-shaped paper punch for some of our wedding decorations. Hooray for cheap/free and easy crafts!
Katie says
Hip hip hooray! I love punches – what a fun idea 🙂
xo – kb