Nursery Progress: Adding Some Art
Waaaaay back when we mentioned that we’d be converting our third bedroom into a nursery, we admitted that we loved the asymmetrical wall of frames too much to remove it. But we did plan pretty much from the start to switch out some of the randomly framed prints and pictures with more kid-friendly and cheerfully toned art that’s fitting of a little girl’s nursery. So here’s what it looked like before our big art-swap-fest:
And here’s the same asymmetrical arrangement of frames after the big switch:
Now we’ll zoom out so you can see it in context with the rest of the nursery. Don’t the blues and pinks and greens work nicely with everything from the patterned curtains to the soft aqua ceiling? We think it’s fun and mismatched but it still feels like it goes together without anything feeling too overpowering or clashy.
And true to form we didn’t want to break the bank when it came to our little art 2.0 project. So we hit up Michael’s for some almost-absurdly-priced craft paper to repurpose as wall decor. And when we say almost-absurdly-priced, we mean that it was no more than 99 cents a sheet- and most of it was just 60 cents a pop.
In fact we got all of the decorative paper that you see above for just a total of $4.99. And we framed some of it on it’s own (like that cute paper with house illustrations on the bottom of the pile) and used some of it to layer underneath other items that we planned to showcase- like the bean’s hospital bracelet. Of course we don’t have one yet, so I made a little paper placeholder until we come home with the real deal.
John also came up with the idea to tape some pink heart printed paper behind a glass shadow box full of butterflies that we already had hanging in that very spot. It definitely took them from science-y specimen-looking things to cheerful nursery decor in about thirty seconds.
We also already had that cute black cut-out silhouette of Burger (which John got me a while back) so we carefully untaped it from the white paper backing that it was mounted on and replaced it with some fun pink & white striped paper instead. It’s instantly more playful and beanette-appropriate, right? Not bad for 69 cents worth of scrapbooking paper. We also decided that we’d love to someday incorporate a similar black cut-out silhouette of Baby P, so we framed another sheet of playful squiggly line paper and whipped up a quick placeholder silhouette that we’ll someday switch out for a real one of our little girl.
And do you see that “Feel The Love” print to the left of the Burger silhouette in the photo above? We couldn’t help getting a little DIY after we saw this adorable Skinny Cow ad in a magazine that we were reading. We loved the message, the typeface, and even the color…
… so we scanned it and used Photoshop to remove the ice cream bar and move the cute “lovebirds” up closer to the voice bubble. Then we printed it and popped it into the frame. Voila- free magazine inspired art (check out another idea for free magazine art right here and here).
Next we trolled Etsy for affordable art that would work with our palette (we love supporting small businesses and handmade goods almost as much as DIYing things ourselves) and found that sweet aqua-toned girl & her dog print that you see in the photo below (right next to the “Feel The Love” frame). It was actually a limited edition print for just $12 and it featured a girl with her dog and a bunch of hearts floating up into the sky. We thought it was a perfectly reminiscent of Burger and Baby P’s undeniable future-friendship, and the price was definitely right so we snatched it up. Good thing we did because it later sold out (see it up close and learn more about the artist right here).
We also sprung for another print that we thought was too fitting to pass up. It’s actually a print of peas in a pod, but when you get closer you realize that the peas are made up of the letter P… as in Baby P! It’s kind of a hidden monogram of sorts- and we love that it also works perfectly with our color palette. This print actually hailed from Wall Blank and was ours for just $25. We think it was well worth the personal-ish slant that it adds to the whole arrangement. Note: Wall Blank was going to be under construction this week but they reopened their vault just for YHL readers today! Feel free to check out all the affordable art while it lasts!
So that’s how we used some 60 cent craft paper and two playful prints to give our nursery’s asymmetrical wall of frames a fun dose of color and pattern. And although it could easily cost well over $100 to deck out 15 different frames with art, we pimped ours in just $42 ($5 craft paper + one $12 print from Etsy + one $25 print from Wall Blank). And the whole room just feels infinitely more happy and fun. We keep walking in there just to look at everything. And we can’t wait to hold the bean up so she can take a gander at the wall of art that we tossed together in her honor. Especially the part where we compare her little face to our baby pictures to see who she looks more like (John’s gunning for giant cheeks like he had as a baby- which would definitely be cute).
Oh and you might notice that there’s a little celery-toned upholstered bench that now lives under our art wall. We found it for $7 at a thrift store, painted, and recovered it a while back, and slid a big basket for toys that we also already had underneath it. We love that the setup worked so seamlessly with the rest of the nursery design, and we definitely welcome the added storage space and the padded ouch-proof bench top.
So that’s where we are with the nursery these days. We’re definitely rounding home plate and actually plan to share the full monty reveal next week. Time flies when you’re having fun (and having a baby apparently!). What do you guys think about our little art swap fest? Have any of you framed something that’s not necessarily art (like an ad torn from the pages of a magazine or your baby’s hospital bracelet)? Have you perused all that fun printed and patterned craft paper at places like Michael’s and Ben Franklin in hopes of gaining some cheap wall decor? Have you snatched up any great Etsy prints as of late? Let’s talk about DIY or homemade-by-someone-else art on the cheap.
Psst- Wanna see our nursery progress from the very beginning? Here’s our painting post, our big shopping spree, our crib hunting rundown, our curtain-making tutorial, our fun little chair search, our mirror-painting extravaganza, our DIY faux sheepskin project, our big dresser makeover (and subsequent drawer lining project), our closet makeover, our homemade crib skirt undertaking, our DIY mobile adventure and our shelf building project. Fun, fun, fun…
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Comments
I love cheap art! I have a few canvases in my house that my daughter & I have painted on…nothing fancy, just simple images or geometric patterns to coordinate with a specific room. And when they don’t work anymore, we just paint over them! I also have a framed shadow box that I’ve had hanging for many years. I just filled it with some random things from each member of the family…my hubby’s varsity letter from HS, my son’s kindergarten plaster handprint, a pair of my daughter’s satin baby shoes, and the quirky baby announcement that my parents sent out when I was born.
I love everything about your nursery! The beanette is going to be so happy there!
I want to do something like this in our dining “room” – connected to the family room. We have a huge wall right now that is totally frame and I want to something unique and fun with different size frames… not sure exactly what yet though. It looks great guys! :)
I love all this art, but I LOVE the skinny cow ad. When I saw that a few days ago I was trying to think of something to do with it bc it’s so cute. I never thought of photoshopping a scanned image, Wonderful!
I love the magazine picture idea! I did something similar in our living room-I found some red flower closeups in Clip Art, printed them out & glued them to wicker plate chargers. They are the perfect pop of red for the corner they hang in. Gotta love free art!
I am sorry to say (I’m usually a big fan of you guys!) but I personally don’t think this works at all… I get the look you were after (mismatched but not clashy) but I just think this looks random and boring. Maybe it’s just the photography and it looks better in real life!? (just my humble opinion, please don’t crucify me for it!). :-)
great idea – love the cheap art idea! Might have to become a new project…..will add to the list!
I’m so happy you left your and John’s baby pics in the mix! I framed my two lil’ boys footprints (the ones you get at craft stores and actually press their foot into) on linen fabric and it’s my fave baby momento. They can’t believe their feet use to be that small. Your wall collage looks so eclectic yet put together at the same time – how do you do that?!
I loved that collage wall before….but now it is even more perfect than before. What creative ways to get beautiful (and cheap) art!
Don’t forget to show us what you did with the chair – I seem to remember you had some ideas that were going to be a later reveal…
Hey Dusa,
Here’s the post all about the chair. We basically just tested it for lead paint and then primed and painted it a glossy white color (with a brush, applying thin and even coats) for a nice refreshed look. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I am in love with your asymmetrical wall of frames – do you have a template you could share with us on how to do that on a blank wall? or up a set of stairs? Love reading your blog!
Hey CC,
We actually whipped up a handy frame arrangement video full of tips and tricks for creating a bunch of different arrangements: http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/08/getting-the-hang-of-it/
Doing things like making paper templates to represent your frames and taping them to the wall to find a layout that you like should really help you transform any blank wall or stairway in your home. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
this has really come together, and proves you don’t have to spend to look good!
my fave etsy is belle and boo. either prints or the very economical postcards. http://www.belleandboo.com/
Thanks Lauren! We love Karl and his work. That was such a sweet gift from John that I still look at adoringly. And we love it on the pink and white paper!
xo,
s
Love it – and the crafting paper idea is inspired. May just have to take a trip there later today :)
I’ve been collecting cards (baby announcements, holiday photo cards from my 2yr old’s “best friends”, postcards from her grandparents, etc.) to do something similar in my daughter’s room, but I can’t find white frames anywhere (well, not anywhere that isn’t too spendy) – where did you get all your white frames?
thanks!
SO cute! I’ve done the same thing, especially in college. I took all of my scraps since them and made decopage boxes out of them for things like old love letters from my husband and such.
Another similar thing I’ve done in my daughter’s room is Wordle-I put in my blog URL and it pulls the recent, commonly used words and puts them into a “word cloud”. I used a blog I kept during my husband’s deployment so it had a lot of the basic words-mommy, daddy, love, etc. I just printed it out and framed it and it’s just another interesting piece!
Okay Sherry- need your help!
We’re doing our nursery right now too, in fact I’m due only a few days after you (23rd).
I got all YHL this past weekend and painted a bunch of frames white (I’m super cheap like that) and I was thinking of putting a bunch of different family photos throughout the years in them (like an old war photo of my Nana, a B&W pic of my mom, color pictures of my family and my husband etc) do you think this will look too serious for the nursery? We just can’t think of anywhere to put these because I want to do a similar arrangement to yours and I really really want to use these photos. What do you think?
Keep up the great work- I love it!
Oh and while I’m here- any chance you can do some more posts on ways to revamp things you already have in your house? I love fun cheap ideas of spicing up the things I already own.
Hey Megan,
We definitely think that art wall will look great! We love personal and meaningful wall decor and it’ll be fun to teach your little one who all the people in the photos are. Go for it! And of course we have a lot more use-what-you-have posts and projects coming your way, but to tide you over you can always check out our How To page (see that tab under the header?) for a lot of ideas for revamping things that you already have on the cheap. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
The nursery is looking smashing. I know you’ll be revealing everything next week but I can’t resist making a suggestion for the nursery: a clock. Perhaps you have it covered, are round the clock (ha, ha) watch wearers, don’t need/want one, etc. but it’s something we didn’t have in our son’s room and I realized, after several months, that I needed/wanted one. I made sure we added a clock to our daughter’s nursery. There’s just something about knowing what time I start feeding and being able to keep track that puts me at ease. It was especially helpful during the first few weeks at home when the nights (and our daughter’s appetite) seemed endless.
Best wishes to you!
GREAT IDEA! We’ll definitely have to add one before Baby P arrives! One more thing for the to-do list…
xo,
s
I love your random (well thought out) placement of recycled pictures. I recently updated a frame that we had our wedding invitation in and backed it with pretty decorative paper from Michael’s. So simple. So pretty. http://www.containchaos.com/?p=390
Your art looks awesome guys!
For me, I framed my daughter’s preemie outfit. It’s so so tiny that I always wanted to remember how she was in the very beginning (3lb3oz) I included her teeny tiny baby bracelet with the outfit.
You’re getting so close! I have a 5/5/05 baby!
Ooh a 5/5/05 baby is so fun because it reminds us of our 7/7/07 wedding! We keep saying that it would be exciting if Baby P comes on 5/5/10 or 5/10/10 but we’re sure she’ll make us wait waaaay longer than that (we actually expect her to arrive at least a week after my May 19th due date). But both of our moms have b-days around then so that could be fun…
xo,
s
absolutely LOVELY. I can’t wait to decorate our own baby’s room — hopefully even half as cool as yours.
How did I miss this post this week? Looks adorable!! Can’t wait for the full reveal!
Hey youngsters!
I’m curious as to what edition number your Wall Blank print is? I know there were only 100 of those made. I managed to snag one too (My last name also starts with P).
Can’t wait for it to arrive!!
:)
Good question! And it might remain a mystery since it’s all framed up with a mat so we can’t see the edition number anymore. Sorry we don’t have that info for ya, but we’re sure you’ll enjoy your P print!
xo,
s
I absolutely love your picture frame arangement.
I was thinking about doing something like that in my house, except the wall i was intending to do it on is painted white.
Do you think using white frames would be a bad idea because they may blend into the wall too much, or would it work?
What color frames would you suggest?
I plan on using colored and patterened mats to add character.
Thanks,
:)
White frames on a white wall can look very chic indeed, especially with colored and patterned mats. We say go for it!
xo,
s
Hi Lis,
Sadly we didn’t keep the Skinny Cow image saved, but perhaps a Google Image search will turn up a version you could use? Sorry!
-John
I love the peas in the pod! I am due July 1st and we are naming our little boy Parker so I just had to over to Wall Blank and snatch it up for his nursery! I love it and am so excited that it will go so well with the blues and greens in his room. I love all things monogrammed and this ia fun twist. Thanks for the great idea!!