Upcycled Canvas Art
February 14, 2022
Room Refresh
I did a little refresh in our daughter's room, and I decided we needed some large-scale art. I actually planned to order a print, but inspiration struck on a trip to HomeGoods when I saw two HUGE framed canvases on clearance for $25 and $9. I grabbed them up and headed home, with my head filled with ideas on what to do with them.
Rethinking the Artwork
I didn't particularly care for either print, but they were nice canvases with great frames. First, I used FrogTape to cover the wood frames. Then, I used acrylic paint to cover up the pictures. I used a 2.5" brush to spread out paint I squirted all over the canvas. It took a couple coats. I wanted texture underneath my paintings, so I did a kind of slip-slap all over the canvas, painting back and forth in different directions. Once that was dry, it was time to add my art.
I wanted to do a large landscape, so I used the largest canvas for that. For the other painting, I did a floral painting. You could also do something more abstract. The important thing is, if you mess up or don't like it, you can always paint over it again. I actually did on my original floral painting. I didn't like how it was looking so I started again from scratch. No big deal.
I used acrylic paint for both of mine. I added oil pastel on top of the floral. I sealed it with a spray varnish.
The great part about upcycling an old painting is that it is so much cheaper than buying and framing a canvas. I do this a lot with framed art prints. Definitely give this a try--you'll be pleased!
Pin for Later!
I can't remember the first example of fluted wood furniture I saw, but it was probably either this gorgeous custom wood bathroom vanity from Chris Loves Julia , or the DIY fluted coffee table Fariha shared on Pennies for a Fortune . The custom cabinetry was done professionally using a router for each line, which isn't something I possess the skills to do. This did help inspire the colors I used in our bathroom remodel, though! I really connected to the method Fariha used to build the coffee table--wooden dowels. What a fabulous idea!