Affordable Art Pieces for Those Empty Walls
I can’t believe this is true, but it took a pandemic to hang the wall gallery in my bedroom. It took enough long, repetitive days for me to finally crack and do it.
Top left: watercolor painting by Brie Walter, frame from Target / wedding photos / watercolor painting by brother-in-law, frame from Amazon
I don’t believe I’m alone in this, but I was transfixed with having the perfect art and perfect setup for our bedroom, even if that meant waiting FOUR YEARS. A lot of times, we associate art with a big price tag (not that many art pieces aren’t worth it). However, as I began to survey my room, and the pieces I already had, I found that there was a sufficient amount already in my home that I could use.
One thing that I have learned as well, is that sentimental pieces can mean just as much as an expensive art piece you purchase. A lot of times, it’s what brings character, depth, and interest to an area -- this could be a nostalgic photo, or art done by a friend or child (or you as a child!) … the list goes on.
A couple months back, I finally had the nerve enough to lay out all the pieces I owned and hammer a few nails in the wall. I already have a few photos from our wedding framed, and so I knew I wanted to incorporate those. One was a rather big frame, so that became the anchor of the main gallery wall. From there, I found an old sketch my good friend drew during an art night in our city. It was done in about 15 minutes or so, and I’m not sure how we ended up with it, but I thought it added some fun, raw, flair that contrasted with the still photographs (note, this was later replaced by the watercolor painting above, gifted & made by G’s brother!). The other art piece on the wall we just recently had commissioned by a local artist -- it’s a watercolor painting of my actual wedding bouquet! The detail is so beautiful, and I love the square shape of it. This was a really meaningful piece to have done, and it felt only right to have someone local do it, especially during COVID. I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out!
Basket is vintage, flowers from Target / Sign below was made by a friend / Watercolor prints by Kinship Design.
On our second wall, we had this fun basket that brings more of a 3D element to the gallery, filled with dried out eucalyptus stems (I recently just replaced with faux cherry blossom stems). Below the basket is a cute sign my friend made us when G and I got engaged, and beside those two elements are two watercolor prints from a friend’s etsy store.
Whatever you may have in your home already, I challenge you to see what you can do with it. For me, I had a hard time justifying spending a lot of money at this time to get my “perfect gallery wall” -- but honestly, I’m pretty impressed with how this one turned out, and that I was able to be creative enough with the items we already had to make this work! I think that was the biggest lesson I learned through this -- decor doesn’t have to hurt your wallet. Sometimes it’s the sentimental things you already own that really is the perfect solution. Anyway, I hope this little post gives you the encouragement you need to finally check something off your own list, and not spend too much time thinking about it. Happy hammering!
