I’m definitely more open now to the idea of buying some nicer pieces that fit our longer term space. But I’m still a fan of inexpensive/DIY wall decorations for a lot of the house, at least for the foreseeable future. Last week I posted about our living room makeover and the gallery wall in there with a lot of inexpensive and DIY pieces, and today I’m sharing a quick art project in our bathroom.
First, let me just catch you up on the bathroom makeover to-date. This is what the bathroom looked like when we toured it during the Open House:
Shortly after we moved in, I painted it a dark blue/gray, including the ceiling because I thought it would make it look more cohesive and less busy. I love the dark walls, and they make the brown tile look so much lighter and more modern. (It’s so hard to photograph because the window behind the tub causes overexposure on the shower curtain even while the rest of the room looks darker than it really is.)
I also tackled the towel situation on the back of the door:
I hated the towel bar, because our towels always looked so messy. I knew that hooks were the solution — we had them in our apartment, and the towels always looked just fine without me having to lecture anyone about folding their towel. Really, anything to avoid a lecture.
It was a bit of a pain to remove the bar because it required a tiny allen wrench that we didn’t have (since the seller had installed it), but I Macgyvered it but using a tiny flathead screwdriver positioned diagonally across the hex wrench opening. The screwdriver was just a little too big, but I used a hammer to gently tap the end to force it into the opening. Love it when I find a solution like that, I feel so handy.
Then I installed three hooks that I found at Home Depot (and patched and painted the screw holes from the bar), and presto, towels corralled:
But enough about towels, on to the art! After painting, I knew I wanted to add some colorful prints, both above the sink and on the open wall across from the sink and toilet. But I wasn’t sure what, so I procrastinated/contemplated for awhile. I didn’t want to spend much — or any — money, so I spent way too much time searching for free printables online to see if there was anything I liked. I just couldn’t find the right thing, until one day I remembered that when I was wedding planning I kept coming across all these “digital scrapbook papers” on Etsy. Essentially, they’re colorful digital designs that usually come in coordinated sets of 10-12 for $5 or so that you can use electronically or print out to use in hard copy form. So I scoured Etsy, and after weeding through a lot that weren’t quite right, I came across this pack from creativequbedesign for $2 (affiliate link – read about our policies):
Once I’d downloaded them, it was simple enough to pick four that I liked the most and print them on 8.5×11″ paper in color (free because I have a color printer, but they’d still be very affordable at $1 each if you needed to print at Kinkos). Then I picked up four simple black 11×14″ frames at Michael’s.
I liked the minimalist look of the frames, but wanted to have a substantial white mat with a square opening for the prints because I felt like it would give it a more polished look. Since I’m still not quite ready to take the grown up step of having a custom mat cut for a print (especially a $2 download from the internet…), I instead decided to invest in a mat cutting kit of my own — we’ll have a lot more framing to do as we decorate the house, and I’d love to be able to do most of it myself. I read good reviews about the Logan Do It Yourself Mat Cutting Kit
When I finally worked up the courage to give it a try, I was so pleasantly surprised. I bought two large pieces of white mat board (24×36″ each) from Michaels for $10. I measured and traced 11×14″ rectangles onto the back side the mat board, and then it was incredibly easy to cut out each piece using the mat cutting knife and straight edge, both part of the kit. (I’ve done this using a regular ruler and exacto knife before, and it was so much harder.) Then it was just as easy to measure and cut the mat openings (6×6″, centered) with a 45 degree beveled edge using the straight edge and slider tool. And seriously, I am the person who always seems to find the “easy” craft things impossible, I promise. I did all this on top of my self-healing cutting mat to avoid marking up my floor, but a cutting board or piece of cardboard would work fine too.
Left: The mat-cutting kit; Center: Cutting the outside of the mat with the straight edge; Right: Using the beveled-edge slider to cut out the center opening
Then I just positioned the prints in a way that I liked behind each mat opening, and voila: I had four lovely new pieces of art with custom mats. I hung three on the empty wall across from the sink and toilet, and one over the toilet.
Here’s the view from the hall now, with the edge of our new colorful open shelving (I know the print is hard to see with the light reflecting from the window behind the shower curtain):
A close-up of the print behind the toilet:
And the three on the opposite wall:
Here’s a close-up on one of the mat openings that I cut:
It’s a nice beveled edge with pretty clean corners, so I’m very pleased. Now I can cut mats of whatever size I want, which I think will allow me to stretch my love affair with inexpensive/DIY art and framing for a bit longer.
All told the project cost me about $27 — $15 for frames, $10 for the mat board, and $2 for the printables (this doesn’t count the cost of the mat cutting kit, which I’ll use for many future projects). Not bad for four new pieces of nicely framed art! And throw in the cost of paint and the towel hooks, and this bathroom makeover cost around $50. Not too shabby, given what we started with! At some point I might paint the bathroom vanity and I’d love to swap out the vanity light, but I think with the addition of this art I can call it finished for the present and move on to the long list of other rooms that need attention!
(Sharing at I Heart Naptime, Sunday Showcase, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Thrifty Decor Chick, DIY Showoff, Tip Junkie, Whimsy Wednesday, All Things with Purpose, Remodelaholic, and AKA Design — and FEATURED at The 36th Avenue!)
What a fantastic idea! The art looks GORGEOUS and I’ve never heard of a ‘cut your own mat’ kit. Brilliant.
Found you through Tatertots & Jello – and I’m so glad I did! Thanks for sharing!
Any chance you’d consider guest blogging on my blog – this article?
Thanks Shelly, I’m so glad you found us, and that you like the art! Thank you for the guest post invitation! Shoot me an email at sage@plasteranddisaster.com and let’s chat!!
Wow, had no idea that a mat cutting kit existed! I made my hubby a custom matted collage for Christmas and used a giant mat board, but had to cut out all of the openings with an exacto knife. It was grueling and the lines aren’t 100% perfect, which bugs me a bit. So glad to see this post!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I’ve done the x-acto knife thing before too and it took so long and drove me crazy. I was so glad to find out something like this existed, and even more excited that it was actually as easy as it promised to be! I feel like that’s so rarely the case… Definitely worth the $50 investment if you’re going to be framing even occasionally!
Also, too funny that you featured inspiring bathrooms today and our post this morning was advice for making over Naomi’s bathroom. Not quite at the “inspiring” level yet, but maybe someday 🙂
Just popped over from That DIY Party. Great job on the prints … especially cutting your own mats. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Jane! And I just read your post on painting trim, so timely since we’re in the process of making our way through the house to repaint our trim. I’m working on a hallway makeover now where we have so much trim (and wood paneling), and I’m about losing my mind. Your post is a good reminder about not taking shortcuts, it’s totally worth the investment of time to get it right even though right now my hand feels like it may be permanently claw-shaped….
I didn’t know there was such a thing! I need this in my life. Great job!
Thanks Mandie! It was a total revelation for me too! 🙂
As you think about other inexpensive art projects, let me suggests that if you have photos that you like, they too can be a great option for cheap art. I was traveling and took a bunch of pictures of architectural details, then framed them for my bathroom. An 8x 10 or 5×7 photo is pretty cheap – between 2 to 5 dollars. So it might be an option.
Of course, it could be your kids, your pets, or anything you like.
So true, I do love photos as art! I have a few in my living room gallery wall, and definitely have more planned for elsewhere in the house!
I love this! I had to learn to cut mats in art school, and buying that kit has been so much more useful at home 🙂 Plus now you’ve opened up incredible gift options of custom framed photos.
I’m wondering if you’re ever concerned about moisture and framed things. I know these aren’t precious, but have you ever had an issue with moisture getting into framed bathroom art?
Thanks Sandy! I really do feel like the world is my oyster to frame 🙂
I had the same concern about moisture, which is one of the reasons I didn’t want to put anything irreplaceable in there. So far I haven’t had any problems, but it’s relatively new — I will definitely share an update if issues arise!
Fantastic job on the mats, Sage. I’ve tried this before and it was so difficult (for me, obviously not for you) to get the corners correct. Either I went to far and got cross cuts or not far enough and had to somehow line it all up exactly and finish the cut. How did you get it right? All those clean corners!
I suspect you must be a secret craft expert 😉
Thanks Jane! I swear, I’m not a secret expert! I promise to share a steady stream of disasters as they come, to make you feel better. 🙂 I will say that not all of my corners were perfect, but most came out pretty well once I calibrated exactly how far I needed to go — it wasn’t quite at the mark where the device suggested it should be, but a little bit less far. Another tip is that if you finish just a *tad* too early, you can use a normal x-acto knife to finish the cut, rather than having to line the whole thing back up. I’m sorry it was such a pain for you, I hate when something is promised to be super easy and it isn’t!
Hi I love what you did with your bathroom, found you from a AT comment on a low ceiling article. My smallish kitchen is very low light and low ceilinged with almost identical tile to your bathroom and the ubiquitous golden oak cabinets. I have been thinking about a deep blue but until I saw your bathroom didn’t think I could pull it off, now I am more hopeful. Would you share your paint choice? I would love to do a deep navy but think it may be too much, your colour looks perfect! Thanks!
Thanks so much, Jill! I thought I didn’t have the paint color written down, which is a terrible faux pas for a blogger but we painted before I started the blog. But I just went rooting around the basement again to make sure I didn’t have a paint can for it anywhere, and found one! It looks like it’s “nocturnal gray” by Benjamin Moore. Definitely make sure to test it in your space, though, as these is one of those colors that can look so different depending on the space. Is it gray? Is it blue? Is it a little green? Who knows! 🙂 Good luck, and keep me posted on how it turns out!
Thank you for searching out the colour, and I will keep you posted.
Excellent!