How to Frame Art on a Budget & Choosing Colors

I always check the art and frame section at the thrift stores.  Not only am I looking for art, but also for great frames to use for prints, photos, or personal artwork. There are typically plenty of frames and artwork to look through and choose from. For two to three dollars you can find wood frames with mats that are easy to change up to fit your needs and home decor. A recent $3 frame got a makeover to frame a fall acrylic piece I painted.

Keep reading for tips on picking mat and frame colors. 

I didn't take any before pictures of the frame, but it is a nice oak frame with a grey mat. It didn't have any picture in it. I am taking some online art classes to learn a loose, modern impressionistic style of painting and this was a piece I painted during the class. 

Matting and framing is used to not only protect art, but also to accentuate and to FRAME the art or draw the eye to the art. When choosing a mat you want to look at the art and notice which colors stand out. You don't want to pick the most prominent color, but the color that is third or fourth in dominance. Also, decide if you want to pull a color out of the art and choose that color. Art with a dark or colored background works better with a lighter mat and art with a white or lighter background works with a darker mat. 

I chose to paint the grey mat a golden, mustard yellow. I used craft acrylic paint.

Black and white mats almost always work. Again, you typically don't want to frame something with a white background with a white mat or dark with a black mat. Brightly colored art works well with white or black mats. You want to draw the eye to the artwork, not the mat.

The frame color should contrast the mat. You rarely will go wrong with a black or wood frame. White or metal frames can add a more modern feel. I chose to paint the frame black to bring out some of the blacks in the painting. I very lightly sanded the edges to bring a bit of the warm wood color, but not so much to give it a shabby chic feel. 

Here are some examples of some of the art from my home that has been professionally matted and framed.

Greens are the predominant color in this painting. The framer chose a brown mat to pull some of the browns out of the art. In the upper right corner of this photo you can see a painting with a green colored background. It was framed with a cream mat, which is a color in the artwork, but not the main color.

This poster with a white background was matted and framed with a dark mat.

Here is another watercolor painting with a light background and a dark mat.

This piece's colorful background is enhanced with a cream colored mat.

The white mat around this modern painting helps bring out its bright colors. 

A mat and frame help elevate even inexpensive and amateur art and help to 

draw the eye to the artwork. Buying frames at the thrift store and painting them is a great way to frame your pieces on a budget.  Choose colors that will make your art shine.

Three Ways to Use a Vintage Wood Folding Chair

Wood folding chairs often show up for sale at thrift stores and garage sales. I love to grab them if the price is right because there are lots of ways to use them in your home. This vintage cutie came home with me recently.

I did power wash it, vut left the paint splatters on it to show its age and previous life. I then used Wise Owl Furniture Salve (get it HERE from my friend Tina) to freshen up the dry wood.

A vintage wood chair works perfectly as a plant stand.

The warm wood and the green plant are beautiful together.

A folding chair works as a nightstand in a tight or small space.

I wouldn't want to use it as an every day nightstand because it is a little low. But, next to a guest bed, it is a great solution. It will hold a book, a phone, and other items needed next to a bed.

Another way to use a vintage, folding, wood chair is to hang it on a wall (or door in this case) to add texture and warmth. Hang a picture or mirror on it and it acts as a unique "frame".

A bonus is it gives you an extra seat when you need one. Be sure to pick these folding chairs up when you see them and think out of the box and have fun using them in your home!

Vintage Wicker Sewing Basket and Three Ways to Use It

Long time, no blog. Summer. But, I am hoping to share FIVE post over the next week about thrift store finds and three ways to use each find. Each item may or may not include a bit of a makeover or upcycle. The first thrifted find I am sharing is this vintage, wicker, sewing, storage basket and seat.

Someone had previously recovered the seat on this piece and they did it with a beautiful quilt square. I am guessing this was done in the early to mid nineties, based on the fabric colors and prints. The person actually quilted the star to the batting and the cover under the batting. 

I removed the wicker wrapped wood dowel that was attached to the back of the seat cover. The nails that acted as hinges to lift the lid had pulled out of the wood dowel. I typically leave what is on a seat cover, but I was super curious if there was original fabric underneath--there was not. But, I could tell by the pattern on the original inside and the wood on the other side, that this sewing basket seat is definitely old. I chose a thrifted, Pier One curtain panel to recover the seat. I added a tab to lift the seat.

I thought the theme on the fabric complimented with the bamboo handles and the wicker. I freshened and cleaned the wicker up with Wise Owl Furniture Salve. You can get it from my friend Tina, HERE. There is a little damage or dark spots on the corners at the same height that I didn't worry about. The sewing basket is old and the damage doesn't change the ability to use this piece. I did hot glue the wicker in a few, small spots. The inside looked as though it was redone with the quilt square was added. It was still perfectly clean.

This piece makes a great storage bench at the end of the bed. It would be perfect for storing extra blankets or sheets.

Another useful place for this sewing basket seat is in the family room.

Place it in a corner and use it for blankets, games, and extra seat when needed. It wouldn't be the most comfy seat, but would definitely work at a table or a seat grouping when you have company over. 

A third way to use this basket is as a side table next to a chair.

Store books, seasonal decor, photo albums in it and use the top for books. It is even flat enough to hold a cup of coffee on a saucer or tray. 

There isn't much about this piece that I don't love. It is versatile, vintage, unique, and adds warm texture to a space.

How would you use it?

A Taller End Table Makeover and Using Color in the Home

I shared in my previous post that we bought a new to us couch and that changing up one thing leads to more changes. With the new sofa with taller arm, I decided I wanted a taller end table on my end so that I wasn't reaching over the arm to get my coffee or water (or cocktail). Luckily, I could "shop" my home and found a table in my stash that is a perfect fit.

I hadn't used this table since we moved back to Montana two years ago. It was previously painted grey. I had started sanding it and had unfortunately broke through the veneer while sanding which meant the top had to be painted. This is what it looked like when it was grey.

I knew I had to paint the top, hmm, now to choose a color. I love all the colors and will never have an all white interior. Nature is full of color and the outdoors make me happy and give me a sense of peace so I want the colors of nature in my home. Currently I am using greens and blues (calming colors) and yellows and oranges (warm, energetic colors) in my great room. I decided to use the golden yellow color that is on this end table next to the comfy chair. 

I don't use matchy-matchy furniture. I would never want someone to come into my home and think that it looks like a catalog or a furniture showroom. Using the same color in different areas in a room gives the space a cohesive look that isn't boring, but rather cohesion with personality and uniqueness. 

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The color I used for the top is called Golden Yellow from the Folk Art One Decor Paint line. You can buy it HERE.
I stained the legs with early American MinWax Stain.

I thought it looked a little bare under the taller end table so I decided to make my own set of Nesting tables by adding this stool table I repainted. This can be pulled out when needed if we add more seats when we have lots of company over. I am a big believer in having a place next to every seat to set a drink on. The small er stool under the taller table is a little unconventional looking, which I love. I just showed this small, stool table next to the chair by my newly wallpapered space. For now I plopped a little table that I have had sitting under my library puzzle table next to the chair now.

Remotes for my cordless lightbulbs sit in the vintage McCoy frog planter.

I like to keep a basket or tray on an end table to corral all of the things and keep it looking less cluttered.

I keep remotes, reading glasses, books, and tissues on my end table. 

On the table underneath I have a notebook and an art workbook. I figure I might as well give the dust different places to settle. Shopping my home, adding a little paint and stain, and thinking outside of the box resulted in an unconventional end table that is perfect for my space. 

Today's takeaways are: use color in your home to warm it up and give it life, repeat colors to create a more unified look without being matchy-matchy, no need to spend a lot of money for new pieces, simply shop your home or thrift stores for inexpensive solutions, gather items together on a tray or basket to reduce clutter, try something different and break decorating rules to create a truly cozy and personable home.

Adding Interest to a Small Space and a New Old Sofa

If I am not a if you Give a Mouse a Cookie kind of a decorator then I don't know what I am. I enjoy restyling my home and changing and updating my decor. But, goodness, one thing or one change sure leads to another, and another, and...

So, a new to us couch recently made its way home from the thrift store. I have always said couches and beds are one thing I like purchase new, but now make that just mattresses. I bought a new sectional four years ago. When we moved back to Montana from our one year in Idaho, I sold the sectional because I knew there was no way it was going to fit in the Uhaul and because I was ready to leave grey home furnishings behind. We have been using our old, brown, leather, reclining couch for the past two years since we moved back. Not that we haven't tried to find something new, but there is not a lot out there locally that I love. So, when I spied a velvet (velour, fake velvet, whatever) sofa with a chaise on one end that was also clean at our Goodwill for $70, I bought it. 

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I cleaned it up with my Bissell spot shampooer and donated the reclining couch to a family in need. (I love the Bissell shampooer!! You can get it HERE)

We won't keep this new to us sofa forever, but it is very comfortable and will hold us over until we find the perfect replacement. The new couch in a more taupe than tan color meant furniture rearrangement and replacement. My tan covered chair and funky ottoman didn't work next to the chaise part.

The ottoman got moved to the other side of the sofa as a foot rest for both that end of the couch and for the rocking bamboo chair. The ottoman is on wheels so it moves nicely between the two seats. 

The tan chair is still floating (you can see it behind this chair) and I put this thrifted chair here instead. I added a footstool that I recovered with a Pier One thrifted curtain panel. I think the footstool is quite old, perhaps an antique. It had been recovered at some point in the fabric yu see on it below.

Okay, so this camel colored chair that I moved near the couch was sitting as "second row seating" on the small library stairway wall. With it gone, I saw the map on the wall more.

Remember when maps and globes were all the rage eight+ years ago? I put this thrift store map on the wall shortly after we moved in eight years ago. The map was appropriate for our old schoolhouse home and I was decorating with a lot of aqua color at the time. I put it up with homemade flour paste and it has held well. But with the chair gone, I decided I wanted to freshen up this spot.

I chose a peel and stick wallpaper with a vibrant design. I bought it off Amazon HERE.

Because our walls have quite a bit of texture, I chose to stick the wallpaper right over the map since it is fairly smooth. It went up easily. I was able to pull it off and re-stick it when needed. It is a nice and heavy paper so it laid well with very few wrinkles. I I cut the edges with a sharp exacto knife.

It is a busy pattern that I wouldn't want to have a lot of. This wall space is the perfect size for it. The interest and color it brings to the area is perfect.

I placed this upcycled chair (see the BEFORE HERE) along with the thrift store stool I redid against the newly wallpapered wall. The color addition draws the eye to this spot and it makes me smile. Have you tried peel and stick wallpaper?

Thrifted Curated Vintage Fruit Art

Certain curated items seem to find me at thrift stores and garage sales. One such item as of late that keeps making its way into my shopping cart is vintage fruit art. Sometimes you just have to listen to the thrift gods and get and use what you constantly find. I decided to start hanging the fruity pictures on the door between my kitchen and mudroom.

I decided to hang it in one vertical line to just make it a little funky and different.

When I recently spied a tapestry style fruit pillow at the thrift store I decided I would make my own fruit art. I cut the pillow out and found an oval, thrifted frame I liked.

I decided I wanted to use the bit with the strawberries after moving the glass around on the fabric pillow to find the perfect section to use for the art.

I traced it and cut it out and framed it.

Under it I hung another thrifted, vintage piece. I got four different fruit pictures like this, but decided to use just one. These are hung on the door with Command Adhesive picture hanging strips.

I found this strawberry embroidery in BIG hoop with a ruffle glued to it.

I painted a frame dark green and reframed the strawberries.

This pair of frame needlepoint fruit art was another thrift store find (everything on the door is).

I found a small, needlepoint, fruit pillow that was a perfect addition to the antique children's chair that sits near the kitchen/mudroom door. 

I will keep collecting vintage fruit art from the thrift stores until i reach the bottom of the door. 

Hang art in unexpected places and in unusual ways to keep it fresh and unique. Look at all the fabric things at thrift stores and use it in ways other than its original purpose. And if you keep finding similar items, it may be a sign that you NEED them in your life.