10 DIY Wall Art Ideas for 2011

Posted on November 10, 2011 by sot

10 Affordable DIY wall art ideas for home or office

Are you tired of looking at a blank wall in your living room, bedroom or dining area? Wondering what to put on your walls? Choose from 10 simple and affordable DIY wall art ideas and make your walls happy.

Kitchen Wall Art Ideas http://newcombhome.blogspot.com/2011/03/useful-art-for-kitchen.html from New Comb Home.

Easy DIY Canvas Arthttp://witandwhistle.com/2011/01/12/easy-peasy-painting/ from Wit and Whistle.

CD Jewel Case Wall Art http://designdazzle.blogspot.com/2009/09/wonderful-diy-wall-art.html

Raised Text Canvas Art http://virginiaandcharlie.blogspot.com/2011/07/canvas-project.html from Virginia and Charlie.

Recycled Plates http://www.casasugar.com/DIY-Hang-Plates-Wall-4389690 from Casa Suger.

Pyramid 3 Piece Canvas Art http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Home/Crafts/DIY-Decorating-Pyramid-Painting.html from Womens Day.

Wall Paper Art http://www.allyou.com/budget-home/crafts/take-new-approach-wallpaper-00400000055149/ from All You.

Vintage Art Signs http://www.bhg.com/decorating/do-it-yourself/wall-art/diy-wall-art/
From BHG.

Make Your Own Abstract Wall Art http://ohhappyday.com/2011/07/how-to-make-abstract-art/ from Oh Happy Day.

Nature Wall Art Idea http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/04/driftwood_wall_art.html from CraftZine.

Of course, you could just buy your art online. But how much fun is that? Now get to work and share your incredible creation in the comments section below or on our Google + page / Facebook page.

P.S. Need more ideas? Try this book by Gerard Smith

Halloween Decorating Ideas

Posted on October 4, 2011 by sot

Classical Halloween Decorating Ideas

Decorating for Halloween can be a spooky idea for some people, but with a little planning and preparation, your Halloween decorations can be exciting and fun! Make your guests and neighbors scream this year with these simple Halloween decoration ideas.

Skeleton Tapestry

While many people will purchase plastic glow in the dark skeletons and pumpkins for their front yard this year, with some planning you can find Halloween décor that will last year after year. Our skeleton tapestry is one such item. Cast on a background of evil bats, this skeleton tapestry will be sure to frighten year after year. No bones about it, skeletons creep out even the boldest visitors by reminding us of our own fragility.

Halloween Tapestry Scroll

Sometimes the best Halloween décor is nondirective and obscure. Blacks and grays can oftentimes set a mood that creates suspense and terror. Adding simple accessories including gourds, jack o lanterns, and tall candles are a great way to transform your living room into a haunted castle. Add in this intricate Halloween scroll motif inspired by the autumnal spirits of Halloween and enjoy the spell you cast on this all hallows eve.

Happy Haunting!

Wall Art Ideas Video

Posted on September 13, 2011 by sot

Wall Art Ideas for Your Home or Office

Wondering what type of wall art to buy in 2011?

Need ideas about how to decorate your home? Enjoy this wall art video series featuring the wide array of wall art ideas and styles. Whether you’re looking for new canvas art ideas for your living room or just want a new tapestry to accent you bedroom décor, Charlotte Home Furnishings can help. Here are 15 wall art ideas from some of our most popular items from the 2010 – 2011 shopping season. So let your imagination run wild and find a new art piece to make your home look amazing this year.

How Tapestries are Made

Posted on May 23, 2011 by sot

How Wall Tapestries are Made

Tapestries comprise a form of art that has endured for ages. From China to Spain, England to Greece and the Middle East, the motifs, designs and depictions of this versatile textile craft are as countless and ever changing, as there are stars in the sky. Even the materials used to make tapestries can vary, instilling uniqueness and elegance that is all one’s own. However, the method of creating these memorable works is as unchanging as stone.

The weaving of tapestries starts with a vertical loom and two sets of thread. One thread runs on the horizontal axis, and is called the weft. The other thread runs along the vertical axis and is called the warp. The vertical threads are held under tension as the weft threads are passed through the warp threads continuously in order to form a picture. Unlike normal weaving, both warp and weft threads can be seen, but with so-called ‘weft-faced’ weaving, the warp threads are hidden from view. In most cases, linen or cotton serves as the warp thread while cotton, wool, or even gold and silver threads can be used in the weft weaving. This provides the unique, one-of-a-kind look.

Prior to this, the weaver draws the image he or she intends to create on the warp threads. For the purposes of this article, the process is simplified, but the point is that the weaver could then use the tracing of the image as a guide for how and where to place the individual weft threads. This technique is so useful that tapestry weavers continue to use it today. As the weaver works, he or she alternates with the weft threads, passing them through the warp threads to create the design or image. Between ancient times and the medieval period, tapestry weaving seemed to slow, but 16^th century Europeans, specifically the French, pioneered new techniques that helped revolutionize just what could be done with a loom and enough thread. By using silk threads or even gilt metal-wrapped silk threads, along with cotton or linen, weavers could achieve some amazing textures and designs. Through a range of different materials, and utilizing different techniques to bind the weft threads together, some rather astounding textural and artistic effects could be crafted. That’s why so many tapestries enjoy pride of place in museums and collections around the world today.

Royalty Free Art Pictures

Posted on March 11, 2011 by sot

Free Wall Art Photos at SaveOnTapestries.com

Are you a blogger, writer, or website owner looking free art pictures? If so, Save On Tapestries has a great new feature that allows you to use our art images free of charge. Stop scouring the web looking for overused images, and spend more time doing what you love – blogging about art!

We made the picture sharing process easy; simply follow these three steps:

Go to any product level page on www.saveontapestries.com and look for the small embed code under the image (see above).
Click on the embed link under the art photo you want, and copy the html code located within the textbox.
Once you have copied the html, paste the html code in your blog post or social profile and enjoy.

Here is an example of what our free art pictures look like.

All we ask is that you keep the link in place.

Thanks and have fun sharing!

How to Hang a Tapestry

Posted on January 13, 2011 by sot

Transcript:

Welcome to Charlotte Home Furnishings Wall Art Video Series, in today’s video we will be demonstrating “how to hang your wall tapestry”. So without further ado, let us begin!

Before you begin, be sure you have the tools and supplies needed. These include a pencil, tape measure, drywall anchors, level and screwdriver.
Once you have determined where the wall art is going, find the center point.
Place your level parallel and draw a light pencil line across the top.
Measure your tapestry and subtract an inch or two from each side. These points are where your tapestry brackets are later mounted.
Hold the tapestry rod brackets and insert your drywall anchors on this pencil line.
Mount your brackets using the screws and wall anchors provided.
Simply insert your tapestry rod into the pocket and attach your finials.
Now your tapestry is ready for mounting.
Adjust your finials as necessary, and do not forget your tapestry tassels.
Now your new tapestry is ready for hanging on your wall.

Until next time, this is Sierra from Charlotte Home Furnishings.

The tapestry used in this video is the Tree of Life Tapestry by William Morris.

Soundproofing a Room With Tapestries

Posted on January 5, 2011 by sot

In previous eras, thick wall tapestries were noted for their insulating properties, helping to keep a room warm in winter. Those same properties can be used to help soundproof a room.

Before you begin to think about using beautiful wall tapestries to control or keep out unwanted noise, it helps to know a few basic principles of soundproofing.

Space: the more space between the source of noise and you, the more sound reduction
Mass: the thicker the material, the better the soundproofing
Dampening: just as you might have trouble hearing your phone ring from inside your pocket, noise vibrations can be altered by intervening materials. Heavy and soft are the keywords here. Making the noise transfer through different layers of material, particularly if they differ in density, helps to dampen noise.

Extra Large Tapestry for Sound Reduction

Keeping sound in or keeping sound out?

Do you want to keep noise out, or keep the neighbors from hearing your drum practice? Tapestries can help provide a solution to both situations. Along with thicker carpeting and soft furniture, tapestries can help to absorb noise from both inside and outside a room, dampening reverberations. Many public venues use commercial tapestries that are mounted on the ceiling to control the quality of sound in a large open space. Such sound absorption runners, (as they’re often called,) diminish background noise and improve the quality of both music and speech. Likewise, in your home, they can be an ideal way to optimize the sound you get from a home theater or sound system. If your family room is a renovated basement, for example, concrete walls and a large sized room can produce too many echoes and reverberations – tapestries can be an attractive and cost effective solution.

If your problem is the noisy neighbors next door, decorating with tapestries can provide up to a 20-40% reduction in noise, just by hanging them on the wall. Remember, thicker is definitely better, so densely woven European tapestries or perhaps tribal tapestries made of thick woolen fibers can give you the best results. It’s a great way to add a little more peace and calm to an apartment without actually altering the walls.

In your own home where you can make some changes to the walls themselves you can go a step further. First, add a layer of material such as egg crate foam, acoustic foam, commercial vinyl or even an extra layer of drywall. If you can, constructing a “floating wall”, i.e. adding a layer of drywall some distance apart from the original wall and thus creating a kind of baffle, will further add to your results. Then, cover the material with tapestries, both to add to the soundproofing effect, and to preserve an attractive appearance.

Soundproofing window or door

Bedroom Window

Where to put tapestries to get the best effect? Open spaces provide the best passage for sound. In practical terms, that means doors and windows are often the primary source of outside noise. If traffic noise is your main issue, then you might consider covering a window or two with a large tapestry. A doorway in a shared apartment or an infrequently used second door can also be a good place for a large tapestry.

This post answers questions about soundproofing a room with tapestries. If you feel we missed any thing or have further tips and suggestions of your own, please let us know in the comment section below.

For updates about wall art and other art related topics Like Us on Facebook or Follow Us on Twitter.

How to Hang Your Wall Art

Posted on October 20, 2010 by sot

Art can bring your room to life, whether it is a portrait, landscape or abstract work. Once you’ve selected that perfect piece of art, you will want to learn how to hang your new wall art properly. For the most impact, it is vital to hang the piece at the correct height, to make sure it is secure and provide it with the best light.

How to Hang Your New Artwork

Measure twice, hang once.

Most believe that the best height for artwork is at eye level. This is not true. What you should keep in mind when placing your artwork on the wall is the overall size of the room and its contents. Assess the room where you want to place the art. Are you placing it above the fireplace or above a sofa? When doing this, allow 6 inches from the mantle and 10 above the sofa. Keep in mind the visual flow of a room and the height of surrounding furniture and hang your artwork accordingly.

The Size of Your Room Makes a Difference

If you place a small painting by itself on the wall of a grand living room with 15-foot ceilings, the painting will be dwarfed. On the other hand, a very large oil painting placed in a small room will overpower the room. For a large room, you can display one large oil painting or several smaller ones in a grouping. To best determine how this will work, cut out the shapes with paper and place them out on the floor to get a better idea of the outcome. This will save unnecessary holes in your walls!

What tools do I use to hang my wall art?

Don’t invest in a fine piece of art and then hang it haphazardly on the wall. If it is of significant weight or size, fasten it securely with two hooks. This will require a bit more time and measuring and you may want to enlist the help of a friend to ensure proper measurements.

When hanging larger pieces, it is always a good idea to use anchors in the wall. These can be plastic pieces or toggle bolts that go into the wall and expand to accept a nail or screw. If your walls are drywall and you are not hanging the piece on a wall stud, anchors are highly recommended.

How to Light Artwork

Use a mix of halogen and incandescent for best color saturation.

Lighting for your artwork provides a great focus and adds drama to your piece. It can bring out the colors, tones and textures of a painting. But keep in mind there are a few things to remember when choosing the correct lighting for artwork.

Natural light should be used at a minimum because it will eventually deteriorate the art, be it acrylic, oil or print. Fluorescent is not an attractive light for art due to its limited spectrum. It also contains harmful UV that can damage the artwork. Incandescent lighting would be a logical choice; however, this lighting does not bring out the proper hue of cool colors.

The best all-around lighting for artwork would be a combination of halogen and incandescent. By using both light sources, you get a full spectrum of light. This will provide the best viewing of all colors within the piece of artwork.

You can achieve this balanced light through painting lights that attach directly to the frame. However, it’s best not to position lights directly onto the painting. Another form of lighting that is often used with artwork is track lighting or recessed lighting. You can alternate the bulb types and install a dimmer switch for dramatic lighting when showcasing your art.

Once you’ve invested in a beloved piece of wall art, hang it properly and light it for the optimum display and your walls will come alive with the depth, color and beauty of the art. This post answers some of the most common questions about lighting wall art and canvas art. We will be adding more how to’s in the future and look foward to your suggestions. Feel free to contact us with any questions or leave a comment in the box below.

You can also “Like” us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/saveontapestries or follow our tweets on Twitter @saveontapestry for the latest in wall art, canvas art and tapestry news. We are also running monthly contest on our facebook page. To win, visit our Facebook page, click on the “Like” button at the top of the page, and leave your interpretation of this months wall art – Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Good Luck.

Thanks for reading!
~Charlotte

Sources:

“How to Hang Art,” by Lauren Flanagan, www.about.com/interiordecorating

“Art lighting advice from museum curator Dr. Lori,” www.drloriv.com/advice

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