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5 Money-Saving Wall Decor Ideas

October 2, 2017 Sarah Mikucki
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It is my firm conviction that it is possible to decorate with style without breaking the bank. You shouldn't have to fork out thousands—or hours upon hours of your time, either—just to get some nice decor on your walls.

Make a List

Are you on a budget? Or maybe you aren't, but should be? We've all been there. Figure out exactly what you want, make a list, and stick to it—this will keep you from being swayed by the beautiful displays at your favorite stores that you can't afford and that wouldn't work for your home anyway. Do your research beforehand and create Pinterest boards. Oftentimes, it takes months to accumulate the decor you want when you're doing it on a budget—whether that's because of monetary constraints or because you don't have time to bargain hunt multiple times per week to find exactly what you want. So, prioritize what you need to get first, and be willing to play the long game for the rest of the items. Sometimes, if you wait, you'll end up getting exactly what you want for sale, anyway.

Buy Printables

When you buy digital art, you're eliminating shipping costs. If you don't mind printing it yourself or having it printed by a local service, printables can be a great way to go. You can always buy a black and white printable, print it at home, and mat it with some patterned or colored cardstock. Printables also allow you to get your piece printed in unique ways, like Fracture, which prints your piece on glass.

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Look for Free Art

If you're willing to get on an artist's email list, you can often find free printables on Pinterest. Respect small businesses, though, and don't "dine and ditch"—i.e., don't unsubscribe as soon as you get your freebie, that's just dishonest. Find an artist that you genuinely would enjoy following, and enjoy your freebie and subsequent emails.

If you have a few spare minutes to go on the hunt, my favorite is old public domain textbooks that have been digitized. The biggest resource for this is the New York Library Digital Collections, but you'll have to flip through pages manually to find what you want. I've had prints from this site on my walls for years! Old Book Illustrations is another great resource, and it is more searchable. There are a lot of great results under "botanical."

Buy Frames in Bulk

Framing is often the most expensive part of wall decor. Buying online allows you to price check, but especially for larger frames, you'll incur added shipping charges. You can buy an entire gallery wall's worth of frames all at once, like these ones, and use them in different parts of the house—you don't have to use them as a gallery wall. Or you can buy a bunch of the same sized frames, and save some for great backup gifts later on.

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Pin it for later—click on the Pinterest button in the top left corner!

Pin it for later—click on the Pinterest button in the top left corner!

Add Some DIY Elbow Grease

IKEA's frames are some of the cheapest around—I always stock up when we go, since we don't have a local warehouse. Unless you're shooting for a minimalist appeal, they can be a bit plain—so dress them up! I've done this with frames from the Dollar Store, too.

Or, don't buy frames at all! Use Washi tape in place of frames, or mount some nifty binder clips to your wall with sticky tack, and clip different pieces of art up as inspiration strikes.

In Home Decor
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Featured
Feb 16, 2019
Letter Better I: Collect Inspiration
Feb 16, 2019

Most of us already keep sources of inspiration in a number of places—I know we all have Pinterest boards dedicated to calligraphy and lettering, and Instagram saves and screen shots galore. This first step in the Letter Better series (don’t forget to read the introduction), is to start a central collection for all lettering inspiration. First, I’ll give you two reasons why you should consider doing this, and then we’ll talk about how.

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Letter Better: How to Grow as a Lettering Artist
Feb 9, 2019

Is it possible for an artist to really “arrive”? Maybe there is some unicorn out there that thinks they’ve achieved it all—but I sincerely doubt it. The reality is that, veteran or beginner, we’re all constantly learning and getting better! Social media like Instagram and Pinterest almost guarantees that. We see others’ work, and realize, there’s so much out there that we don’t yet know how to do!

So, how do we continue to grow as artists, specifically in the realm of calligraphy and hand lettering?

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Project: White Board
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Even though whiteboards are nowhere near my most favorite medium, there’s something fun and relaxing about having a giant canvas—and filling it all the way up. Though I’ve been doing roughly 3-5 whiteboard designs every year for my church over the last three years, I think this might be only the second time I’ve filled it all the way to the edges. I really enjoyed the fun borders and decorative elements!

It takes a lot for me to want to break way from black and white, mostly because whiteboard markers are always insanely bright, neon colors!

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Bullet Journal Personality: The Artist
Jan 1, 2019

As somebody who has been collecting bullet journaling inspiration for years, I’ve found that most “bujo” enthusiasts and their pretty spreads fall into five major categories or personalities, each with their very own strengths and pitfalls. Though there’s definitely no wrong way to bullet journal, finding out which personality you lean toward can help you leverage your bullet journal to its greatest potential and minimize its weaknesses.

So far, I’ve discussed my own bullet journaling personality, The Minimalist; a personality I admire very much, The Scrapbooker; and today, I’d like to talk about The Artist—the personality I’d be, if clean lines and white space weren’t even more my jam.

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5 Hand-Lettered Gift Ideas
Dec 3, 2018

I’ve told you before that calligraphy is an incredibly practical skill that can help save you money in everyday life. Calligraphy can also help you make and give truly thoughtful gifts for your loved ones this holiday season without breaking the bank. (Or, honestly, without putting in a full business week on one gift, because your time has value too)!

Here are five DIY gift ideas that use hand lettering, all of which are great for gift giving year-round too!

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Nov 12, 2018
Hand Letter to Learn Better
Nov 12, 2018

Most of us know that different people have different ways that they learn best. These ways are usually cited as visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. But did you know that, “in order to really chew on information, we have to engage at least two of those modalities [or methods], or we have to engage at least one of those modalities coupled with an emotional experience”? This is what Sunni Brown suggests in her TED Talk, “Doodlers, Unite!” As she makes her case for doodling as a legitimate practice for the workplace and really any area where you’re taking in information, she tells us that doodling engages all four learning modalities simultaneously, with the possibility of an emotional experience.

I have been suspicious that this might be the case ever since a college friend of mine scored far better on tests, when I knew for a fact that she took minimal notes during the three-hour lectures, doodling and sometimes solving sudoku puzzles! Meanwhile, I furiously took pages and pages of linear, bullet-pointed notes.

This is precisely why I think learning to hand letter can help you learn better!

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Bullet Journal Personality: The Scrapbooker
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As somebody who has been collecting bullet journaling inspiration for years, I’ve found that most “bujo” enthusiasts and their pretty spreads fall into five major categories or personalities, each with their very own strengths and pitfalls. Though there’s definitely no wrong way to bullet journal, finding out which personality you lean toward can help you leverage your bullet journal to its greatest potential and minimize its weaknesses.

So far, I’ve discussed my own bullet journaling personality, The Minimalist; next up is a personality I admire very much—The Scrapbooker!

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Nov 5, 2018
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Bullet Journal Personality: The Minimalist
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As somebody who has been collecting bullet journaling inspiration for years, I’ve found that most bullet journalers and their pretty spreads can be lumped into five major categories or personalities. Originally, I was going to fit each of these “personalities” into one post, but found I had much more to say about each of them—these personalities have their very own strengths and pitfalls. Finding out which one you lean toward can help you leverage your bullet journal to its greatest potential and minimize its weaknesses. So, up first: The Minimalist.

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Sep 13, 2018
3 Reasons to Bullet Journal
Sep 13, 2018

There was a time in my life when I thought I didn’t need a to-do list or system, and I could keep track of everything in my head. This was naive; after all, you don’t know what you don’t know—and you don’t remember what you’ve forgotten! Things fell through the cracks. Maybe your life is simple enough that you really keep it all tucked away nicely. If that’s the case, most of us wish we were like you. This article isn’t for you.

It’s for the rest of us non-geniuses, who just need a little bit of help keeping track of all the details. If you’ve been thinking about getting a little more organized (but keep forgetting, because you’re not all that organized), I have one recommendation: bullet journaling.

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How to Mix Up Your Lettering Style
Sep 3, 2018

Once you have a very basic lettering style mastered, you can start to alter it. Many people like to develop their own “personal style” of lettering—this can help set you apart from other calligraphers, and keep you from just copying everything on Instagram and Pinterest. Though I do have a primary "go-to" calligraphy style that I've made my own, I think it’s very handy to have several different styles up your sleeve. That way, you can letter in many different contexts. For instance, you'd use a casual, fun style for a chalkboard sign at a kids' birthday party, but you might use a more formal, oblique script for a formal event like a wedding. The wall art that you design for a modern, professional-looking flat is going to be pretty different from the style you'd use to create a piece of art for a boho loft.

So, you need lots of different styles—but how do you create them without just copying? How do you go about finding your own personal style?

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© Doorpost Designs, 2017.