What is a good place to find a cheap but original wall-decoration? What do you have?

etsy.com

I’ve found and framed/ re-framed some really cool art I have found in thrift stores. One of my favorite pieces is a retro, burnt orange cloth sculpted picture of a 3D woman, naked from behind in the Lotus position. The picture itself cost me $15 but…I then spent $150 on a custom frame. A heavy striped brown and black Zebra wood. It is so striking! I have several friends that want me to will them this piece.

Naked yoga woman is hot! lol

I have 50 paintings that my mother did, in my attic. Just ask.

Antelope Canyon is pretty slick, in a minimalist sort of way.

You can also find some really cool metal sculpture wall hangings at certain cheap import places like TJ Maxx, Ross & Marshalls. These can also be repainted to suit your taste, color themes.

Wall Words

Inexpensive, and if you get tired of it, pull it off and put another up. I have this in my office, and I love it.

I forgot the 100 paintings that my grandmother did…of her memories of life in Russia as a young girl. Cheaper by the dozen.

1. Paint something yourself! Even if it’s terrible, if you try to make it abstract you can fool people.

2. Invite friends to paint something! Get a big canvas and some supplies, and invite folks over.

3. My “centerpiece” is a world map that I got at a charity shop. You can make it even cooler by putting push pins where you’ve been or where you want to go.

Almost everything on my walls is art that I’ve made myself.

You can also take several lines of your favorite poem or any quote you find inspiring or thought provoking and find an interesting calligraphy font in your computer’s program. Then just print and enlarge to a size dramatic enough, cut out and decoupage with a clear water base acrylic or Mod-podge.

If you can also find a silhouette image to enlarge and accompany it, so much the better (and more impressive)

A brief example would be some lines from the poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” accompanied by a silhouette panorama of winter bare branch trees.

(You could use something similar for the poem “Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood”

Obviously you pick something with special meaning for you and this totally original.

Hang an interesting piece of drift wood or other found object that is appealing to you.

Except for my own wall hangings, most of my wall decorations are sheets from a beautiful Chinese calendar I received. They are actual paintings on silk, and I can’t bear to part with them.

Make your own, as several other have suggested. It’s big fun!
In my experience, collage may have the lowest barrier to entry if you feel unskilled.
Or photography ! Take a nice picture, get it blown up at local drugstore, add thumbtacks and apply to wall.
Everything decorating our place we either made it or some friend did.

gailcalled I am interested in your Grandmother’s paintings! I doubt I could afford them but I love Russian subjects. I bought a painting at a flea market that is 4“X6”. It is like a little jewel! The subject is penciled on the back. It says the chapel from the village of Volkostrov The photo is a different view of the chapel than my painting. It cost me only $15 dollars. (I tried to get the guy to go down on the price but he wouldn’t budge. He laughed at me. It says $5 on the back of the painting.) I love this painting so much!! What subjects did your grandmother paint?

She had a sad and disappointing childhood in a small Russian village. As the oldest of many, she was used as a maid and baby sitter. Her brothers were allowed to go to school and take violin lessons. She was not and was always very bitter.

When she came to the US at 14, she had a year plus of school, which she loved, although the other girls called her “Greenhonr” and “Stupid.” Then her father sent her to work in a glove factory to earn money for the family.

As a middle-aged woman, she went to the adult ed program at Columbia U. and studied creative writing; many of her stories were published. She also started to paint. She spoke English with no accent and refused to teach me or my sibs any Russian.

My sister is a wonderful painter; she does small still lifes..two peaches, three cranberries and a leaf with a dew drop on it, or a cup and saucer with a tea bag next to a brass candle stick.

Definitely consider decals (well, consider interesting / high quality decals, not cheesy ones :)). I got a fish from urbandecal.com that is a fantastic focal point!

Hire a pack of kindergarteners, equip them with stepladders and arm them with crayons, markers, and paints. You could probably pull it off with less than $100.
@mods I’m mostly serious about this. Maybe substitute the pack of kinders with a few young cousins, nieces, nephews, etc. I guarantee that you will have original wall art.

I agree with @Nullo that you can get some great work by supplying relatives or friends with the raw materials and let them have at it.

I once attended a “decorate my walls” party and it was a lot of fun.