What to do with a big blank wall | How About Orange

November 14, 2006

What to do with a big blank wall

This topic came up in a conversation with friends this weekend. It's a problem, all right, especially if you don't have big bucks. And that's pretty much everyone I know. So here are some ideas. If anyone has more, let's hear them!

1. Stretch fabric over a wooden stretcher frame and hang as art. A good way to cover up that canvas you goofed up. If you don't have something already goofed up, get something from a thrift store or purchase supplies from an art store. Choose fabric with a large-scale print; Ikea is a cheap place to find interesting ones, and some of them are really huge. (I went once thinking the polka dots I saw online were the size of quarters, and when I got to the store, I found they were as big as my head.) Wrap the fabric around the frame and staple gun it to the back. Here's how to do it using inexpensive stretcher bars from an art store.

2. Decorate with hanging wall panels. Put up a few sets of these funky room dividers from CB2 to add some color and texture. Or try a couple of curtain panels from Ikea and use one of their rail systems.

3. Make an interesting configuration of wall boxes and put something decorative in them, like this. You could also paint the boxes or add a giant rectangle of color on the wall behind the whole grouping.

4. Paint your own huge canvas. Yes, you can do it! Pencil some simple geometric shapes or dots on it and fill them in with acrylic paint. You can make something clean and modern and very cool. Browse here for some inspiration. Or make a lace painting using this tuturial. The nice thing about stretched canvas is that it's really light and easy to hang.

5. Hang a series of posters.
Use hangers like this for a more grown-up look. Goodbye, college dorm room. Check out design*sponge's affordable art guide to find something to display.

6. Make an arrangement with these Wallter "paintable wall applications." Could get pricey, but it would look really striking.

7. Stick on some wall decals. They're easy to put up, and removable when you're sick of them. We just did this, and it was SO much fun. Blik is a good place to start. You can also get some from Domestic right here.

Good luck, friends!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jess, you are so creative so it's fun to hear design ideas straight from a guru herself...it reminds who to go to for future design dilemmas! Great blog!

Jessica Jones said...

Thanks, Kristen :)

Unknown said...

Jess, what great ideas! Maybe I can get John to agree to one of them. We have too many blank walls!

Alfred T. Mahan said...

You know, these ideas inspire me to change my wall as well. Of course, it'll be in shades of blue and grey, for the most part, but at least that will match the color scheme I currently have.

Jessica Jones said...

You should do a wall of shelves
like this to hold all your books. You could paint the wall a dark version of one of your civil war colors. :)

Alfred T. Mahan said...

Now those are some snazzy looking shelves! Given that I have finally learned how to paint on a grand (i.e., living space, as opposed to fiddly little metal guy/ship/whatever) scale, I may just have to engage in this project!

What are you DOING to me??? :D

Jessica Jones said...

(Sinister laugh.) Same thing I did to Alex, apparently, because now he wears orange shirts. My diabolical plan to make you men aware of aesthetics is working...

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