Recent Articles
Design on a budget
The economy keeps falling and, as money gets tight, your plans to redecorate have run into, well, a wall. The redecorating window doesn't have to be closed, though. Interior decorator and TV star Christopher Lowell has seven tips for designing on a budget. He adapted them from two of his most popular books, “Christopher Lowell's Seven Layers of Design: Fearless, Fabulous Decorating,” and “Christopher Lowell's Seven Layers of Organization: Unclutter Your Home, Unclutter Your Life.” » More
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Take the award-winning installation “Lightshowers” put on by DuPont Corian at this year's International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Egg-like polished rocks and smooth slabs of Corian were underlit, with nature sounds generated from a hypersonic speaker. When a person crossed the sound wave's path, it essentially “woke” the sound.
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Do-it-yourself decor art: It's an idea that's not off-the-wall
By Mercedes M. Cardona
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
 SETH WENIG / Associated Press
Goil Amornvivat, a designer on “Trading Spaces,” advocates wall art that won't break the bank – everything from denim jeans to pots and pans. |
At home in New York, he has turned some of his own design sketches into art for his walls. It's one way to create inexpensive artwork that reflects his interests.
A chef friend, he noted, decorates her walls with pots and pans.
“I think your space is your collection of your stuff and your life, and what better place to put it than on the wall?” he said.
Homeowners without his design skills can also repurpose materials to make wall art that personalizes their home and won't break their budget. Designers suggest wallpaper, fabrics, even old T-shirts and foliage can be framed and hung.
“If you make your own, you always end up with something you're proud of,” said Goil, who goes by his first name.
A little imagination, some creative Dumpster diving, and flea-market and garage-sale shopping can help turn up materials, say the pros.
“Yes, Dumpster dive. Don't be ashamed,” said Kirsten Kemp Becker, a designer and real estate consultant in Santa Barbara and host of TLC's “Hope For Your Home.” She recommends art school and construction company Dumpsters as good places to find scraps that will make good artwork.
Noting that “art” means different things to different people, Kemp Becker said, “I've seen great art from materials like a piece of plexiglass.”
Frank Fontana, a Chicago-based designer and host of HGTV's “Design on a Dime,” said Dumpsters near old buildings being torn down are good spots to find vintage architectural details that can look good on a wall.
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“If you plead your case well enough, they are happy to give them away,” she said.
Old things in your own home, too, can be recycled. Fontana said framing old souvenir or concert T-shirts with interesting graphics does double duty: It's decorative and preserves memories long after the shirt itself is unwearable.
“I've done it with an old pair of blue jeans,” said Fontana. “For a teenager's room, it's fantastic.”
Wallpaper can be recycled, especially hand-painted or vintage wallpaper that may cost hundreds of dollars per roll. A single roll, or even a piece salvaged from another project, can be turned into art.
Goil likes to use wallpaper border in the middle of a large blank wall to divide it and create visual interest. He also suggests framing smaller pieces of wallpaper and hanging them.
Upholstering pieces of plywood with batting and an attractive fabric can dress up a large wall and also help absorb sound, Goil said.
Even the backyard can be a source of materials. Fontana suggested buying two pieces of Plexiglass from the hardware store and pressing an organic element, such as a beautiful leaf or palm frond, between them.
“That gives you that modern, organic vibe that is very popular now,” he said.
He visits nurseries to look for tree trunks and branches that are being thrown out but can be recycled as artwork. “Use it as organic artwork. It really brings a feel to a room,” he said.
He also suggested asking the nursery for a slice of tree trunk, then decoupage some family photos onto it, leaving areas where the rings on the wood will show. Then coat it all with shellac and hang it.
If you're not handy with a glue gun or staple gun, you can find paintings and posters at flea markets, garage sales, craft fairs and swap meets – even hotel sales can be a source of original artwork.
Local art and photography schools are another source. Many hold sales of students' work. And it's a good way to support your community, said Fontana.
“We have a photography school nearby, and they have sales,” said Kemp Becker. “You can go to a flea market and buy frames and frame them, and they look incredible.”
Goil has bought art at student sales sponsored by his alma mater, Yale University. It's a good source of one-of-a-kind art – and maybe a future masterpiece, he said. “These are the new waves, or the next big thing.”
Finding or making unconventional artwork, the experts say, just takes some imagination and the nerve to follow your own taste.
