people with beautiful home and not alot of money come here...

[ThePettyandIllinformedGoat]

please and give me advice. i am cowed by the sight of my big bare walls can't afford 'art' adn don't want to buy prints of people dancing on beaches.

also gorgeous little lovely things, how to do please.

thanks!

[NatalieJane]

Get some nice big canvasses, get paint, get kids, paint kid's hands and feet, let them lose, it is great

[ThePettyandIllinformedGoat]

but does it look nice?

[Whizzz]

YOu can buy blank canvas panels, get a few tester pots of paint from B&Q & try painting something abstract yourself?? Or you can buy kits of the same idea?
Or if you are OK with a camera - have prints blown up (or use lots of smaller ones together in a display ?)

[ThePettyandIllinformedGoat]

i know i really need to get my arse in gear with printin out some photos.

i do have some canvases and used to paint a bit but am worried they will just look crappy. i need to BE BRAVE.

[NatalieJane]

My sister has 3 cream walls, one sort of coffe colour wall, she used the same coffee coloured paint for the kids and it does look quite nice. You have to watch that they don't literally just go mad, a nice set of each hand and each foot from each child, maybe the older ones can do their names or something. It isn't great art, but it kind of looks better just because it was the kids that did it IYKWIM?

The other thing you can do with canvasses, use masking tape to tape of some stripes, use whatever colour paint you want, and wallah, a bit of modern art

If you look in shops like Range, Home and Bargain, Wilkinsons, even Woolies, you can normally find some nice pictures/pattern type things fairly cheaply.

[ThePettyandIllinformedGoat]

that does sound nice nj.

[Shitemum]

{disappointed} Was hoping for tips to make house look beautiful, already have tonnes of shite on the walls!

[Cappuccino]

we have a piece of great wrapping paper in a frame on our landing

[ThePettyandIllinformedGoat]

like the fabric thing. not so keen on shite even if it is elephant shite [snigger to self at 'art' joke]

[Tillyboo]

How about 3 or 4 canvases all the same size, Dunhelm Mill canvases are mega cheap and pretty good quality ....

Paint each one a different colour as a block
i.e one red, one green, one yellow, one blue
and hand them in a line or as a block of 4.

You'll be amazed at the effect just solid colours can have. Depends on your current decor though.

Another idea, and this is so simple but effective is to buy a big canvas and buy some fabric you like. Staple the fabric over the canvas (as tight as you can) and hey presto, some fabric art.

My sis has done this with a remnant of Laura Ashley fabric and it looks stunning !

Post a piccie when you've done
x

[Tillyboo]

That should read 'hang'

[Rantmum]

When we were renovating our old house I found a closet with the original wallpaper from the 19th century in it - much of it was in tatters, but I cut out as large a square as I could manage and framed it with a guilt frame from a charity shop. Very shabby chic

[BettySpaghetti]

Fabric stapled around a wooden frame is very effective -especially if you go for a bold, large design on a decent sized frame.

[Flllightattendant]

NJ - reading that I wasn't sure whether your sister has painted her children to match the walls??????

Brill idea if so!

[Flllightattendant]

Sorry, this bit:

My sister has 3 cream walls, one sort of coffe colour wall, she used the same coffee coloured paint for the kids and it does look quite nice.

I'm still giggling

[Shitemum]

Ok, well it's not strictly speaking shite. Just all the accumulated junk of a 20 year relationship spanning 2 continents.

How about getting some really big twiggy branches and hanging little simple decorations on them like little balls of squished up tin-foil and then hang them on the walls above pieces of furniture that you can put a lamp on. Or lean them up in the corner of the room if you don't have small DCs. Try lighting them from different angles and you'll get great shadows up the walls.

[Flllightattendant]

Old cupboards are good, if you can find any...we found a few in skips, from shops, just old wooden shelves/cbds. They look very nice painted a bit or just polished.

Also try a boot sale as there are often old wooden cupboards to be found there.

Poster shops often have really nice fine art prints, sometimes very cheaply - and charity shops do good frames, even if you have to swap the picture inside for something nice

Oh and mirrors...boot sales are great for old painted mirrors.

We have so much clutter on the walls - if I take down a few pictures the place looks almost tidy!

[NatalieJane]

LOL FA, wouldn't surprise me if she did TBH!!

[SoupDragon]

I thought that said she'd painted the kids too

DSs did a great "Jackson Pollock" last year. I taped 4 square canvasses into a larger square and let them loose with acrylic paint. Top tip: do this in the garden. I can not stress that enough: IN THE GARDEN I still have paint in the corners of my kitchen despite a large tarpaulin being laid down.

Looks fab though. The canvasses not the kitchen. I hung them on the wall with about a 2 inch gap between each of the individual squares.

[Gingermonkey]

I will most def have a variety of end of rolls of expensive wallpapers lying around if you want me to send you some, goaty? DH and I have a bit of a thing for wallpaper I'm going to find a link to some nice things in a bit when I have a cup of tea too. I saw on a blog the other day some nice framed things......HANG FIRE! (and let me know if you want some wallpaper - I can root about in the loft and see what I have and send you some pics if you like)

[Shitemum]

Did no-one like my twiggy shadows idea then?

[Gingermonkey]

I do! My friend has something similar in her house and it looks lovely.

[Merlin]

I've got 3 canvases hanging in my kitchen on a large blank wall - side by side. Each painted a different colour to match my kitchen and then I used the inside of a loo roll (the round end) and dipped it in a contrasting paint and just did an abstract pattern on each.

They look really good and people always comment on them. I've even 'signed' them