Home Style Guide - Brought to you by Linden Street and JCPenney

We’ve been working on spiffing up our downstairs playroom and living room in anticipation of a visit from my husband’s beloved grandmother. We’ve installed new wood floors, we’ve painted, and we’ve even added a new ceiling fan and light fixtures.

But we’ve been left with one big problem: big, open walls.

Since we’re nearing the end of our decorating budget, I’m looking for ways to fill the wall space quickly in a way that makes a big impact visually, but not financially. Here are some things I’m planning on implementing. If you have more big ideas, share them in the comments.

Fabric Wall Art

Being the crafty gal that I am, I can’t resist the idea of displaying large panels of fabric throughout my house. It’s a fast way to create unique, beautiful decorations. CRAFT has a great video podcast that walks you through all the how-tos.

Wallpaper Panel Art

Sweet Jessie used vintage wallpaper remnants to create this dramatic and fun wall panel.

Fun With Stencils

With a little paint and the Stencil 101 book by Ed Roth, you can quickly add repeated visual interest to your walls. Roth’s designs are cool and edgy, and the book comes with tons of precut stencils, ready for you to use in every room of your house

Whether you decide to go with fabric, paper, paint or all three - don’t be afraid to make a big statement in your big spaces. What other ideas do you have for a big impact in your home decor? Leave them in the comments.

One of my favorite artists online is Eleanor Grosch in Philadelphia, PA. She has a huge selection of screenprints available and I own six of them, including this Elephant print which is sadly sold out. Her designs are simple yet boldly graphic, and remind me a lot of Charley Harper’s work. Any one of these prints would make an excellent gift, but since I love elephants I will be keeping this one and hanging it in Leta’s room, although it will probably be years before she appreciates it.

Buying unique and affordable art these days is easy thanks to the web. I’m currently in the process of getting a nursery together for my baby due this Fall and I’ve found it’s easy to surf around online and find artwork for the nursery that’s not screaming cheesy commercial cartoon characters. I bought this Rabbit and Flora wood gocco print recently ($28 unframed/ $48 framed) from Petit Collage. You can also surf around Etsy.com using special keywords such as “art” or “prints” to find just what pleases you and your room.

Here are more of my favorites:

Sitting Pretty print ($20) by the yumi yumi shop.

Pink Flowers and Joyous Birds ($18) by Oh Smile’s Shop

The Big Moon Print ($18) by The Black Apple

Family Sweet Family ($20) by Ashley G and Drew.

by Craftzine

I bought this print from an illustrator named Kate Wilson, and although her etsy shop is empty right now it’s definitely one to keep an eye on. Also, her portfolio is filled with an amazing set of work. This along with a couple other bird prints will be going up in the guest bedroom once we stop using that room as a storage space. Time to remove all the dead bodies.

from the dooce archives