Oversized Art—A One-Step, Low Budget Room Refresh
If you’re looking for a way to redecorate your space without breaking the bank, buying oversized art can be the one-step redesign of your dreams. Giant canvas prints cost way less than new furniture. Huge pieces of art are great statements. The biggest canvases are still lightweight and super easy to hang. Plus, it’s almost impossible to spill an entire gallon of paint on the floor if you’re hanging art instead of painting the walls. Keep reading for our 5 tips on how to use oversize art prints to refresh your space on a budget.
1: Go With What You Know
If you love the decor you’ve already got but you’re looking for a way to make your room feel fresh and new, inspiration can be hard to find. Don’t overthink it—a gigantic piece of art that matches your current style can turn your room design on its head. The key to making the transformation work is in two magic words: maximum saturation. Pick the most prominent spot in the room—behind the dining room table, over the couch—and hang a huge print with soft patterns or subtle colors that match your style. Then cluster the accents and decorations you already own and love around it. The whole wall will become a design feature that showcases the harmony of your favorite decorative theme. Unless you’re a minimalist, of course, in which case…
2: Keep It Simple
Say you’re redecorating and you’re into minimalist design, but not into minimalizing your wallet. A huge canvas might be just the ticket—your design inspiration is already in the room, all you need is art! Once you’ve got the furniture and accents down to the bare essentials, take a look at each one. Now pick a feature of the space that you really connect with! It can be the straight lines of exposed brick, or the curved arms of your Chesterfield sofa. It can even be the bright neon colors of your cool trendy bromeliad plant. Then just find a huge minimalist piece that shares the same shape or pop of color—designing done! The the visual symmetry between the art and its space will add an entirely new dimension to the room and make it feel like a fully immersive space. The best part? As a minimalist, you can be extra proud of how few steps it took.
3: Create A Cozy Space
If your apartment is a studio and you feel left out, fear not! A giant, wall-dominating canvas can be a small room’s dream for a decorative do-over. Large art can play into good studio design in a couple of ways. The first is the picture window approach. If you’ve got an open floor plan but you’re short on windows, hang a gigantic print of your favorite kind of landscape on your dreariest wall. It’ll open the space up visually, even if the expansion is an illusion. If you don’t like landscapes or you don’t need more depth in your space, pick a bold contemporary or abstract print. Put the canvas up above your workspace. beside the couch, over the bed—wherever you spend time. Having a large, striking abstract dominating a specific corner will give your space a sense of definition that can make an open floor plan feel more structured and cozy.
4: Get Your Security Deposit Back
So you’re a student/you live in a totally rad industrial loft but realized too late that you can’t put a nail in the concrete/brick. Good news! Large canvas prints have sturdy internal stretcher bars and don’t weigh very much. You can sit them right on the floor and lean them against the wall, no problem! And there’s also no need to worry about your art being knocked over by a rambunctious cat or clumsy roommate. Just look for canvas prints with French stretchers and keys and you’ll be able to tighten and straighten your print if you ever need to. Have we mentioned that our canvases all have French stretchers and keys?
5: Put Awkward Space To Use
And last but not least, if you’re at your wit’s end for how to use the 12-foot ceiling over your completely inaccessible but centrally located stairwell, art can come to the rescue. A big, big canvas print can fill the space with your personality, especially since your personality is the only thing that’s buoyant enough to suspend itself under a 12-foot vaulted ceiling. And stairwells aren’t the only spaces giant art can fit into! Large panoramic prints can shimmy into weird narrow spaces, like the narrow walls that cover duct work or chimneys, or slim spots between tall windows. All you’ll need is a piece that fits your space and you won’t believe how different the room will look and feel!
Thanks for reading! Have you tried any of these approaches to redecorating? Got any other hot tips for us on ways to use art to change up your interior design on a budget? Let us know in the comments section!