Simply stunning DIY wall art

Art on the walls can literally transform the style and vibe of any interior space, which is why this DIY wall art creation is one of my favourite items in my interior design arsenal; it’s easily changeable, cheap, easy, and yet instant-wow.

The steps for this DIY marvel are simple: take one large picture frame of your choosing, insert the photo or painting or creation that you want to display, then hang + admire!

Selecting your frame

When selecting a frame I tend to go for a simple-is-best approach, which is often a classic white or black frame with clean lines and subtle (if any) patterns. If I were you, I’d start by “shopping-at-your-house”. Have you ever done this before? I love this concept! It simply means that you check that your house doesn’t already stock what you’re looking for, before you part with your hard-earned cash in a store. You will be so surprised at what treasures you have lurking in your cupboards that you’ve forgotten about! I cannot tell you how many times I’ve bought a basket or bag or vase or candle or frame that I “needed”, only to find that a cupboard somewhere in the house had exactly what I was looking for all along. So open cupboards + drawers and observe what frames you already have to see if you have any that are in need of a refresh or aren’t currently in use.

If your house-shop proves fruitless, then you can pick up a gorgeous frame for next-to-nothing from a retailer near you. If you’re in NZ, like me, I tend to hunt for items like this in the homewares section of The Warehouse or Kmart or Briscoes as they stock a wide range of very affordable frames like this and this (and often have clearance sales). But there will be places everywhere that will have similar options. If the frame you fall in love with is too much for your budget, make a note of it and buy it when it goes on sale so you can use it down the track.

Choosing your art

Now for the fun part. You can obviously fill your frame with whatever you choose, but my favourite go-to (+ cheap + easy + simple + can’t-go-wrong) option is scrapbooking paper. Scrapbooking paper can be purchased in individual sheets from places in NZ like Spotlight for around $1 each or in scrapbook paper books of varying styles from a wide range of stationery retailers. Simply choose a style + colour that you like, pop the paper into the frame, and voila! You will be amazed at how a simple piece of paper inside a frame is suddenly transformed into a really cool piece of art that’s specific to your style and taste.

If you’re having trouble deciding on which paper you want to use, don’t stress! Remember that you can change it up whenever you feel like it so just go with whatever your heart fancies and see how you feel once it’s be on your wall for a couple of days. If you think about the overall style of the room that you want to portray and the other items currently in it, you will usually find yourself heading in a certain direction when it comes to wall art. For example, I used paper with black + gold elements to create a sophisticated feel upon entering our house, and then I switch these out with bright + shimmery festive images at Christmas time!

Hang your art + enjoy

I like to use 3M picture hanging hooks so that I don’t damage the walls and can play around with positioning. This is also an ideal solution for renters, as you don’t need to worry about filling holes in the wall when you move out. Don’t be afraid to experiment with a gallery-style cluster of frames in similar or varying sizes on the wall, and feel free to change the framed image as often as you feel like it or when your colour scheme gets updated or when the seasons change.

Anyone that has visited my house will tell you that this DIY wall art technique features often on my walls. I also utilise a ton of other super-easy + beautifully creative techniques when creating my own wall art – like stamp ink + silhouettes + hand lettering – but scrapbooking paper is absolutely the easiest place to start if your walls need some life (and I’ll share my secrets on the others later, so make sure you stay in touch so you know when new posts are up)!

Do you have a DIY wall art idea? If so, please share!