DIY Color Block Art

Today I want to share my solution to a common decorating problem.  I call it, "large wall, small budget" syndrome.  

You see, here in San Diego (and in many other places too, I imagine) builders have a penchant for building homes with vaulted ceilings.  Along with those vaulted ceilings come some pretty impressive walls and up until today the one in my dining room was looking mighty empty.  

I took this problem to my decorating guru (the sister-in-law whose house was highlighted in this post) and she recommended a series of color block prints.  She even gave me this inspiration picture:

Given that the inspiration shot originally came from Elle Decor, I suspected that those color blocks cost a pretty penny.  In fact, that was the case with most of the ideas I had for this space:  big walls require big art (which tends to cost big money).  

So what's a girl to do?

Make an inexpensive knock-off, of course!  (Those are my specialty, you know)

All it took was one trip to Michael's and I had everything necessary to cover my wall.  And the best part? It only cost about $130. 

I started by getting eight of the frames pictured below.  They were only $13.00 a pop (and of course I used my 50% off coupon for one of them).

Then I picked up a bunch of card stock in colors that I thought complemented my room.  

After that it was just a matter of arranging the card stock in the frames and hanging them on the formerly empty wall.  

What a difference!

I love the fact that I can switch them around, change out the paper, add or subtract more, etc.  I especially love the price tag and the fact that I don't need to feel guilty if I want to upgrade to some of that pricey art sometime down the road.  

If you have any creative ideas for filling a large blank wall I would love to hear about them in the comments.  Please feel free to link to any relevant blog posts as well.  

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