I am currently working on one of our guest rooms that has a giant wall in need of some large scale art. Giant art usually equates to a giant hole in your wallet, but I’ve found a crazy-inexpensive alternative.
Foamular!
This post features special guest Howard the Hound.
Last week, I finished up my Ombre Hombre and needed another piece of art to go on the adjacent wall. I recently purchased a pair of the Nordis Sheer curtains from IKEA and loved the design on them so I decided to use that as my inspiration for my cheap-o, DIY art.
I picked up some foamular from Home Depot. It’s 4ft by 8ft and a 1/2 inch thick for about $13 bucks! It’s super lightweight and easy to cut. I got it home, and cut off three feet of it using a box cutter. This made the size 4ft by 5ft.
Both sides have a plastic covering, as soon as you take that off, the static from the foam attracts ALL the tiny things, so do your cutting prior to removing the plastic covering or you will end up a bunch of tiny, stray foam bit sticking to your “canvas”.
One side of this stuff has print and the other side is plain, so flipped ‘er over and peeled off a bit of the plastic to give it a paint test. When it was dry and I was certain that the paint would stick, I flipped it over to the unprinted side and gave it four coats of white paint and let it dry overnight. I used the same paint that I used for the Ombre Hombre and used a smooth roller.
After studying the pattern on the curtains, I drafted my doodles directly on the foamular using the point of a pen (with the ink head clicked inside of the pen). That way, it just made a little indentation on the foam so I knew where to trace. The design is basically overlapping, irregular, concentric circles with a weird nip in the middle.
I went over the outside lines with a Sharpie Magnum and then went over the inside lines with a Sharpie Professional.
Yeah, that easy.
I took it up to the guest room and nailed it into the wall with some finishing nails. I picked a spot on the right side that was covered by Sharpie and nailed straight through the foam into the wall, then lifted the other side, to make it even, and nailed that side.
I’m working on headboard for this room as we speak. The pillow shams are made from the TRÅDKLÖVER fabric from IKEA using my shams with flange tutorial. Yeah, I use my own tutorials. The rest of the pillows were made using my easy envelope style pillow cover tut.
Toot.
The duvet cover is also from IKEA. The hound dog is straight from heaven. Swoon.
Foamular is, like, the greatest thing ever. Easy to hang, since it’s super lightweight, it’s paintable and easy to cut. If you are an apartment dweller, this stuff is so light that it will hang with just a couple of those little 3M stick-um things and you can avoid the nail holes. It’s also a great material to use in place of canvas when doing a fabric covered canvas. Since it’s a 1/2 inch thick, if you double it and then wrap it in canvas, it’s the same thickness as an expensive gallery canvas and no one is the wiser. Hot glue, fabric, BAM. Art.
This giant 4 ft by 5ft piece of art cost me about $20 bucks. $13 and change for the foamular, $5 bucks for the Sharpies and I already had the paint and roller. Plus, I have 3ft x4ft of the foam left for another project!
Boom!
You can’t beat cheap, babes.
dena@heartsandsharts.com
What a great idea, I have been buying discounted framed canvas and painting over them. This is so much cheaper and looks amazing. I’m thinking you could cover the foam in printed fabrics too. This really has my creative juices flowing! Thanks
Thanks, Kate! Foam covered in fabric is actually what inspired me! It was this pin –> http://www.pinterest.com/pin/224405993904050284/ Makes such a huge statement and for the size, it’s so cheap!
Wow! Great share save 100’s of dollars for sure thank you!!!!!
OMG – how happy am I that I found your blog through a linky party! As soon as I got here I couldn’t help but smile at your blog’s name – we’re tooters here too. Well, I guess everyone is, but few will admit it! And I also share your love of all things IKEA. As a matter of fact, that how I ended up here – I saw the thumbnail for your project and it reminded how I give my husband dirty looks every time we’re in the photo & frames area of our IKEA and he starts getting all googoo-eyed when he spots those huge prints super expensive prints. Inspiration, inspiration… 🙂
Hhahaha! Hey Sylvie! So glad you found your way here!
This is awesome, & I love that it matches the curtains! What a great idea!
Thank you!!!
Love it! Thanks 🙂
Thanks, Lesley!
So, So So cool! I totally love this! It’s like Zentagle…Pinned and at some point may be replicated for my bonus room 🙂 Thanks for inspiring me!
Thanks, Cindy! I had to Google Zentangle. That stuff’s awesome! Thank you!!
What a great way to make some inexpensive art Dena! Love the way it turned out. Thanks for sharing at the Makers! Pinned 🙂
Thank you, Corey!
I just now discovered your blog, and I already want to be your friend. That is all. : )
Kelli! You’re in luck, I have an opening!
Hooray! I like looking at your homemade artwork. I have so many ideas for some artwork in the newly completed room but I have a perfectionist issue. I see someone else’s and I love the imperfections. If I try something and it looks handmade I think it looks like crap. I have issues.
Thanks, Eska! Your mashed potato pillows made me hungry.
uh.. Thank you? I hope you decide to substitute with real potatoes though. And shove them in a nice cover made of bacon!
Mmmmmmmmmm, baaaaaaacon.
I can hardly stop myself from drooling all over the keyboard right now!! No one is the wiser that it’s just some foam. I’m not sure if you have a Restore by you or not, but we scored a BUNCH of them for $3 a pop in brand new condition!
Thanks, Trisha! Oooooh! We DO have a Restore close by. I’ve never been, but now I will definitely have to schedule a trip!
What? $20? Sold! I need something big for my guest room, but I just don’t know what yet so it wont compete with the opposite wall of stenciled wonderfulness
Do it to it, girl!