DIY Wall Decor: Frugal and Fun

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Looking to add some color to your walls?  Ready for a fun spring activity to add some new life to your home?

We moved into a new home 18 months ago. I wanted some new economical ways to decorate our home.  A lot of our wall decor was starting to get old  from being married almost 13 years.  I also switched our living room colors from red/navy to teal.

My first mission was to find something to fill a very large wall in our living room.  It needed to big and not break the bank.  Enter Pinterest of course!  I found this idea here and made it my own. I then used the same concept my boy’s rooms and our bedroom.  You can use her tutorial or follow mine below.

Supplies:

  • Fabric of your choice
  • Wood cut to size of choice.  We used OSB boards.
  • Staples and Staple Gun
  • Iron if needed to iron fabric

Steps:

1. Decide the size, shape, and layout of your wood pieces

2. Cut the wood.  I think you can have some wood cut at Home Depot for a fee if you don’t have the tools at home.

3. Figure out the amount of fabric you will need.  Most fabric is 45 or 60 inches wide.  It just depends on what you are buying.  Most patterned or kids prints are 45 inches wide while most decorative fabric is 60 inches wide.  Make sure to add at least 4 inches to the top and bottom so you have extra to cover the edged then staple in the back.

4.  Shop around for fabric.  My first choice for fabric in Ankeny is Hancock Fabrics.  I love the service.  The ladies are so helpful – they know me and my boys.  Whenever I go without my boys they ask where they are at (well maybe it is a sigh of relief – a fabric store for 2 boys isn’t exactly super fun).  Check out coupons online.  Hobby Lobby, Joann’s, and Hancock all have 40-50% off coupons online you can use for fabric!

I also purchased some batting to go under the fabric.  If you want it to stick out more you can buy batting that is more plush or just double it up.  I cut the batting to the size of the wood so it would not wrap around the edges.

5.  Cut out the fabric and batting.  Make sure you cut it at least a couple extra inches around the sides to fold over and staple.

6. Staple the fabric to the back of the boards.  Make sure your fabric is straight if you have a print.

7. Attach a way to hang your beautiful creation onto the back.

8. Hang your new decor, then sit back and admire your handiwork!

I have used this method in both of my boys room and in our living room.  Here are some pictures…

The first photo is in our bedroom.  I used a textured navy fabric for the center. For the gray on the sides I used the tutorial here.   The second photo is in our living room above our couch.  This covers a very large wall.  My curtains have these exact colors in them.  It brings it together perfectly.


These are my creations for my boy’s room.  Some of the fabric I had on hand and re-purposed it (I love doing that!) some I purchased.


The best part…When you decide to change colors in your home or you kiddos want to re-decorate just recover the fabric.  So easy and simple!

A few other tips….

I washed the fabric for the boy’s room first.  My son has a lot so of allergies so I wanted to make sure the fabric was clean.  Since it was cotton I did have to iron it after I dried it.

If you use home decor fabric it is probably dry clean only.  I did iron the fabric I used in our bedroom because it was wrinkled from being folded.

We used a couple different types of hangers on the back.  It depends a bit on how heavy and big the piece of wood it.

Some fabric is easier to work with than others.  The teal and brown I used in the living room was like a burlap.  It was more difficult because the fabric pulled uneven and it frayed really bad.  Cotton fabric is the easiest to work with.

Don’t you just love DIY projects?  I hope this inspired you to create something for you home!  I would love to hear your plans.

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