Imagine our surprise when not one but two readers submitted their take on some of our favorite Crate & Barrel prints (which you might remember from this mood board makeover or this mood board makeover). And since both readers took different but equally successful paths at DIYing their own versions of the prints, we decided to share both of their methods with you. Let’s start with Lindsay’s letter:
I thought you’d like to see the artwork I drummed up for our living room. You posted this mood board awhile back featuring Crate & Barrel’s Classical Symmetry prints. As soon as I saw them, I knew I wanted to DIY them. I used masking tape to create the lines on the lattice patterned one and the last two were made with a hand drawn stencil. I already owned all of the art supplies (paper, paint, tape, etc.) but found some affordable square frames at Target for about $24 each. So I was able to come in way under Crate & Barrel’s price and I always find it satisfying to hang my own artwork on the walls. Thanks for all of your inspiring projects & ideas! – Mahalo, Lindsay from Aisle to Aloha
Don’t they look great? Now on to Amanda’s take on the same geometric artwork:
I became a little obsessed with the Crate & Barrel art that you posted for Ashley’s Design Dilemma but when I clicked on the link and realized they were a bit more than I’d like to spend I decided to DIY it instead. I thought we’d put our Illustrator and Photoshop skills to the test and see what we could do to recreate these images at a lower cost. And I am in LOVE with the results! They are a smaller size than the Crate & Barrel originals, but they fit our space perfectly. And we don’t have mats yet, but we may add those later on. Here are the details:
- Six 10 ” espresso frames from Michael’s (on sale) $38.22
- Six prints from Kinkos $16.11
- Several hours on Photoshop/Illustrator $0
- TOTAL $54.3
You’ve inspired me so much when it comes to decorating our new home. Thank you, thank you, thank you! – Amanda from On Being Browns
Both projects turned out so well (and so much less expensive than the originals)! We love that one is more fine-art based (involving paint and stencils) while the other is a bit more tech-savvy. So if anyone else has been coveting that C & B artwork – but not the price tag – feel free to break out the paints like Lindsay or your computer skills like Amanda to whip up your own take on them. What do you guys think? Will you be attempting either method to make some of your own inspired by the gorgeous originals (and these gals)? Or will you even try your hand at a third approach?
Sophie says
So cute! I have lots of empty wall space crying out for some of these (:
Laura says
I just saw a set of six square vinyl decals very similar to these in Homegoods for $9.99…I’m sure they would look just as great as the ones you’ve featured here, whether framed up or applied directly to a wall.
Jessica @ How Sweet says
Love it! Would love to do this on a bare wall in one of our bedrooms.
Kate! says
Fantastic! I, too, envied the CB prints but found them to be out of my price range.
These DIY versions are so beautiful that I may have to get creative here myself :) Great job Lindsey and Amanda!
Lisa says
I loved those prints and wanted to use them in our living room. My husband was not thrilled with the price tag, however. I planned on re-creating them in Photoshop, but have yet to get around to it. Maybe one of these days!
Mandy says
Awesome way to make affordable art, may have to tackle something like this for our own home!
Teresa says
I bet you could achieve a similiar effect with just some scrapbook paper with a similar pattern!
Megan says
Those are so great. I’ve also had those prints in the back of my mind as art I could recreate. I love that your readers took it on!
bridget b. says
cool! i absolutely loved the C&B prints, but was also turned off by the price. it never occured to me to diy. thanks to your reader for the idea.
Amy N. says
Those look great!
I have been in love with those symmetry prints from C&B for over a year now, but I haven’t wanted to drop the dough. I just purchased 5 of the smaller 9 1/2 x 13″ Modern Symmetry prints from art.com for $9.99 each for my living room. They are made by the same artist who also makes the Brilliant Symmetry prints that are beautiful as well.
Elizabeth C says
Love them! What a fantastic job you both did. Amanda–would you be willing to share your AI files?
Christine says
I am so in love with geometric prints. I found very similar prints from the same artist on art.com called modern symmetry for $10 a piece. They just need to be cropped and added to some inexpensive matted frames.
Lynn Somers-Davis says
Great job! I cannot imagine spending money for this at C&B when it’s so easy to duplicate
ErinC says
Nice! I wanna do this! For Amanda’s, I’m guessing she just saved the photoshop files on a flashdrive and took them to Kinko’s for printing?
Ashley says
I love this idea! It seems easy too. I have been trying to think of some good quality art work at a low price for our house and this seems like a great DIY. Thanks for sharing!!
Cindy says
I also became obsessed with those prints but couldn’t afford them, so I picked out some 12×12 scrapbook papers I like and long story short, attached them to artists canvas. I have 9 of them hanging over my mantle, and they look GREAT! :)
Patti says
Great ideas ladies! Now Amanda, pray tell, how do you begin this project in photoshop? A full tutorial is not necessary, just a little direction to get us started maybe? Thanks!
Laura (youngDCliving) says
This is such a great idea, I always loved those crate and barrel prints, but thought they were so overpriced. Well done!
Christine says
These are both fabulous, but I am seriously jealous of the crispness of Amanda’s Photoshopped gems (and the endless color possibilities this affords). So, Amanda, what’s a girl to do if sadly Photoshop-less like myself?? Perhaps there is an Etsy site in your future, and I can be your first customer? :o)
Cecilie says
They look terrific! DIY’ing is a great idea and no less so when the price tag is a little steep on the original.
Amanda says
hi! amanda here.
scoot on over to my blog for more information on getting these prints for yourself. http://www.onbeingbrowns.com
yes, i saved them to an external drive and printed them at kinkos.
as far as where to start, we started in illustrator by just recreating the shapes. that was actually the very easy part. once we had the design the way we liked them, we opened the file in photoshop, where we began to play with layers to create the distressed look and the shading.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for that extra info Amanda!
xo,
s
McKenna Sutton says
Amanda aka sis…did my wedding announcements. LOVE them.
http://onbeingbrowns.com/2010/08/03/did-it-myself-prints/
Alicia says
I actually tried to re-create these too! (That’s both projects that you’ve featured today that we’ve done!) I didn’t actually finish but I’ll have to try it again. I was working on painting the one with the circles. Y’all give me so much inspiration. Thanks for all you do!!
Harper says
Hi! I too, really love those Crate and Barrel prints and not their price, but something about this blog post tugged my strings a bit awry.
As an artist, copyright infringement is something that I’m especially cognizant about – and it’s something that’s real and widespread – especially in the DIY world.
Personally, I think that taking those C&B prints and using them as inspiration is totally a-OK! But copying them to a T, with the same color scheme and scale factor is something be wary about. And the thought of selling the PSD files on Etsy for money? That seems a little disrespectful towards the (very creative + talented) original artist of those prints, who spent a lot of time and effort originating those prints.
OK, now I’m off my soapbox. I hope I don’t sound disrespectful myself towards the 2 DIYers, because they did a fantastic job at creating their replicas! At the same time, I thought it important to raise awareness about copyright infringement. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Harper,
We completely agree that copyright infringement is a big no no! We often encourage people to DIY things that they can’t afford in the privacy of their own home (like building the expensive table they covet or stenciling their curtains to resemble pricey versions from a boutique) but selling those items for profit can be very sticky indeed (since the original artist was the one to come up with that design). I actually went to art school in NYC and have a huge appreciation for crediting and not profiting off someone else’s design (and even mentioned this to Amanda via email). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Lindsay @ Aisle to Aloha says
Thanks for the great feature Youngsters! You guys rock!
YoungHouseLove says
You’re welcome Lindsay! Thanks so much for sending the eye candy our way!
xo,
s
Ginny says
I was inspired by these prints, too. I took a simple approach and bought white 12×12 frames at AC Moore and filled them with some of my favorite 12×12 scrapbooking patterned paper in a citrus color palate. I love that they are interchangeable, too!
Kelly says
love the graphic artwork!!! i love that you make your own art. I feel it adds so much character and love to your house.
check out some of mine!
http://kellyloves.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/art-project-colorful-recycled-magazine-shadowbox-art-…/
Scroll down for links to even more of my art.
Robyn in Chicago says
Ha – I found inspiration from these same prints! Although I used colorful patterned paper from an online paper store and framed them in six $22 10″ frames from JoAnn. We love the added color that these add to our entryway. I just noticed that Cindy, above, did the same thing. Nice one!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so funny! Those prints sure did inspire a ton of you guys!
xo,
s
Misty says
I actually already DIY’ed the same thing for my kitchen but in the small square Ikea frames with printed scrapbook paper. What a good idea to use Photoshop though!
maria says
i agree with harper. but also wanted to add when someone says they are “overpriced” or “not worth the price” that isn’t totally true because those are fine art prints, not just random posters… but i agree the people who DIY them just got inspired and made it their own, and the results are excellent! i wonder what art school in NYC you went to sherry? I went to School of Visual Arts :)
YoungHouseLove says
No way Maria! I love SVA. I went to FIT, but had lots of SVA buddies. I’m class of 2004 by the way.
xo,
s
Amanda says
Brilliant! I too really wanted to get these prints for our new sunroom. I made my own as well, though not as creatively as Lindsay and Amanda. The prints are for sale at an external poster website for $20 a piece and I framed them in Ikea’s classic RIBBA 20″ x 20″ square frame. I’ll take a photo and send them your way. Though each one still cost me $40, at least it wasn’t $70 (or however much they are at C&B)!
Lindsay says
Yay! Both of these look great! :)
…though I must admit the Etsy shop I see on her blog makes me feel a little icky, profiting from someone else’s design and all…?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lindsay,
We completely agree that copyright infringement is a big no no! We often encourage people to DIY things that they can’t afford in the privacy of their own home (like building the expensive table they covet or stenciling their curtains to resemble pricey versions from a boutique) but selling those items for profit can be very sticky indeed (since the original artist was the one to come up with that design). I actually went to art school in NYC and have a huge appreciation for crediting and not profiting off someone else’s design (and even mentioned this to Amanda via email). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
amanda brown says
yikes! i hear your concerns. we had assumed, based on some research, that since they are by no means exact replicas and the size is nearly half of the originals, that we were good. we’ll certainly review that to make sure we’re not wandering into any gray areas. any additional feedback/resources would be more than welcomed.
YoungHouseLove says
Great to hear that Amanda! I’m by no means an expert, but I think you’re safer if you vary the composition, scale, shape, color, etc- so it’s more “inspired” by the original work and less of an exact – or super similar- replica (no matter the size) if you’ll be selling them. Hope it helps! Anyone else have further info for Amanda?
xo,
s
Lani says
How funny that I was just trolling through fabrics.com last night in search of some cool prints to cover canvases or such based on inspiration from those C&B prints! They are fantastic, but way out of my price range.
windylou says
…and to even further save your DIY budget: comb through your local thrift stores or Habitat ReStores for even less expensive frames. I have had great success using “decorator” high gloss spray paint to turn the frames from crummy old prints into matching sets. If you search hard enough you can find matching frames. I blogged about it here:
http://windylou.typepad.com/windy_mayes_photo/2010/07/home-improvement-project-9-and-tutorial-custom-family-photos.html
eg says
I’m with Harper and the few others who mentioned the dangers of copying… I don’t think it’s a legal issue as long as they don’t try and sell their versions (which I realize is not happening, they’re just enjoying in their own home), it’s more of an ethical issue. There’s a great article about this very subject, “DIY is not Duplicate-It-Yourself” … at the very least, it’s thought provoking. I do applaud the creativity that went into these great designs, both from the original creator and those that made them at home.
http://decor8blog.com/2010/03/12/real-talk-diy-is-not-duplicate-it-yourself/
Cait @ Hernando House says
I think these look great, and I’ll refrain from reiterating the concerns voiced above.
I think a similar DIY in fabric or scrapbook paper might look nice somewhere in our living room.
Julia says
I would definitely look into the copyright issues. I know both YHL and Knockoff Wood have received some nasty letters from corporations feeling their name or designs are too close to the “originals.”
on a happier note, I just bought that set of 8 geometric decals at Homegoods the other day for $9.99, now I’m looking for frames…and a place to put them. They are a bit too bright for most of the rooms in my house, but would probably work in my office at work.
YoungHouseLove says
It’s true! Read all about our “scandal” here: https://www.younghouselove.com/2009/07/the-end-of-this-young-house/
xo,
s
hi-d says
Love creative people!
Lauren (in PA) says
I LOVE Mongrel!!! I used to work/temp live in Richmond and that was my favorite store! (that and the Montana Bread Company (is that still there?)) Just about everything on Cary Street makes me happy. oooohhh…Also, I love the Byrd theater! Hmm, I think a trip to Richmond is in order.
The hooks are adorable, but I’m thinking about this swag idea to display Christmas cards in my entry, but would need to use Command hooks, so as not to leave permanent holes….Do you have any ideas on how to prettify, or disguise the Command hooks? My wheels are spinning, but you may have some ideas.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lauren,
Great idea! We love the swag greeting card idea- and the good news is that Command hooks are getting increasingly attractive (they even sell stainless steel ones that look a lot more like actual hardware). If you can’t find any that fit your decor without altering, you can always spray paint them a fun red or green tone for the holidays. Or even try to somehow wrap them with thin ribbon to make them look “upholstered” in gorgeous silk strands. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
iciclelady says
Those are awesome! What a neat decor trick. They remind me of digital scrapbook papers, like these: http://www.oscraps.com/shop/product.php?productid=24998&cat=329&page=1
…which now that I look at them, the colours remind me of your house!
Amanda @ Our Humble A{Bowe}d says
I too loved these prints from C&B and decided to make a version for my home. I just made a bunch of patterns and printed them at home and popped them in some matted frames.
To Lauren (in PA), are you talking about Montana Wheat? I live in MT, so I’m just wondering if they have on in VA…
Jazmine says
I definitely must agree that selling altered C&B photos on their etsy site does feel icky. The designs look exactly the same, which I love those designs, but altering the size doesn’t really prevent copyright infringement. So it’s like saying… yes, I stole you’re design but on a smaller scale?! Now, I understand that they want to make a profit- who doesn’t- but this may backfire horribly.
YoungHouseLove says
Not to worry, Amanda has decided not to sell these specific prints (she has posted an apology on her blog) and will just be enjoying them in her own home. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Erika says
Love the creativity ladies! Lindsay, I LOVE your couch! I’ve been looking on craigslist for many months trying to find a good quality vintage mod sofa, in green or orange. No such luck…craiglisters in my neck of the woods are shedding couches from the late 80s early 90s, overstuffed and pastel, not my style!
Erin J says
I love the DIY submissions for the Crate & Barrel graphic prints, but I thought I’d throw out another inexpensive idea for people like me with a toddler in tow and zero time after work for DIY-ing. Scrapbook stores offer thousands of gorgeous patterned 12 x 12 papers for less than $1 each and they even sell large square frames for framing scrapbook page designs. Try http://www.archiversonline.com/ or http://www.basicgrey.com/scrapbook/shop for samples of papers.
Lindsay @ Aisle to Aloha says
Hi Erika! I feel your pain on the lack of great choices on Craigslist! HI is pretty awful too! Our couch is actually IKEA’s Karlstad sofa in Korndal green. We love it and I love that’s it got those modern lines without the price of a real vintage sofa. Good luck in your search for the perfect one! :)
Jazmine says
Sherry, I’m not sure this statement is correct- Not to worry, Amanda has decided not to sell the prints (she has removed that offer from her blog) and will just be enjoying them in her own home. Hope it helps!
The prints are still on their etsy. Maybe they will remove them from there as well or maybe not! ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jazmine,
Thanks for that update! We received an email from Amanda saying that she decided not to sell those specific prints, so we’re just going by her word and sharing that news over here. Perhaps it takes Etsy a while to remove something? We’re not sure but we’re pretty sure that she indicated to us that she was no longer interested in selling them. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Lindsay @ Aisle to Aloha says
Hey guys, Just wanted to clarify that it was Amanda that was selling her geometrical prints on Etsy, not me! :)
I will be opening an Etsy shop come September selling my original acrylic paintings as seen on my blog, so please do stay tuned for that!
YoungHouseLove says
So sorry for the confusion! Thanks for the clarification!
xo,
s
Joy Hodges says
Amanda, your walls look great. I am glad that I got on facebook to know to look at your work. Love, Mawmaw
Jazmine says
Sherry, I hate to be semi-controversial on your blog because I love your blog but I did receive an email from Amanda stating that the prints are for sale and can be customized. This was after your comment about her not selling them any longer. I am no longer interested in buying them but that option is still available for those who are. Love all 4 of you young house lovers!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jazmine,
No worries! Thanks for passing along that info for anyone who is interested in Amanda’s prints. We reread Amanda’s email to be certain that we weren’t misquoting her and she said: “I have posted an apology on my blog and have changed the prints for sale on Etsy” which perhaps means that she altered them (scale-wise, color-wise, composition-wise, etc) enough for her to feel that they no longer pose a copyright issue. As an art major I’m glad to have emailed her privately about my beliefs when it comes to crediting and not profiting off of someone else’s design, but it’s definitely her call whether she’d still like to sell her pieces over on Etsy- especially if she believes that she made enough changes for the whole thing to be 100% above board. Hope it helps!
xo,
s