Hey everyone! I have been on a quest to redo my dining room over the last couple weeks. I have been staring at the back wall of my dining room for weeks wondering what I was going to put there.
I decided that I was going to buy some photography to put on my wall and I started scrolling through a website called Minted.com. They have beautiful art for sale, but the price is steep!
I fell in love with these forest prints and thought they would be perfect in my dining room. I wanted something that was not too "girly", and Brad saw these prints and said they were "eerie but beautiful."
But the total for these with a black frame, matted came out to $570 or $190 a piece!
Sadly, there is no way I can afford to pay that much (maybe if crypto moons I will someday...hopefully!), so I decided to try my best to re create this look for less!
I bought some black frames from Home Goods for $16 each. They are actually really nice quality and come with the framing mat on the inside already.
Then I went onto Etsy.com and started looking for some comparable forest prints. Luckily there were plenty to choose from!
I purchased some on sale for $9 that I really loved. The shop owner sent me the digital files for the prints and I uploaded them into Shutterfly online and had them printed. I luckily had a store credit so I paid $0, but normally these prints run about $7.99 each plus shipping!
I am really happy with how they turned out, and I saved $522!
Hanging them was another story, it took us several times (and multiple nail holes) to get them as level as possible before we gave up and said "good enough!"
So the next time that you are looking for art, buy some original digital prints yourself and have them printed, you'll get the look at a fraction of the price, and you'll be supporting smaller photographers!
I would love to hear about your home improvement projects or anything else you'd like to talk about in the comments below. I know crypto is doing well today and so my spirits have definitely been lifted! I hope this is the start of another bull run! Steem on! Emily
You have a great eye for design. I'm looking into starting some spring projects myself and always like your posts for inspiration. I think my laundry room is going to be my first project, thinking about attempting to paint my house as well, I really need new siding but wouldn't mind buying myself a year to do that. I'm also looking into getting a shed in my backyard but not just a tool shed, was thinking more along the lines of a she shed, not a girly one more so of an office/studio for myself
A she shed... LOL I had to google it, thats pretty cool! You know I think they sell prefabricated ones that are super nice looking and look very cute for a couple thousand dollars, but id imagine in Chicago it would be cold as hell unless you insulated it somehow! You have an actual laundry room? I have a laundry nook under my stairs in the basement, and its exposed.
When I say laundry room I'm using the term room very loosely. I have a small little entrance way that has my slop sink, furnace, hot water heater and m washer and dryer. My house is on the smaller side and has very poor options for storage so I really need to find a way to make the best use of my space.
As far as shesheds go there's a company called TuffShed in the Chicagoland area. I found a really nice guy at one of them who offered to help save me some money. When they sell the premade "studio" style sheds they typically triple the price because its a studio and not a shed. He told me to have my gf find some pics on pinterest, bring them in and he can make like a $1300 shed look exactly like it with the addition of some windows and stuff and come in at about a quarter of the price of a predesigned she shed. I'm gonna make it a little yoga studio slash office for myself. I'm planning on insulating it and I have power running out there so for a small space I think a space heater should be able to get things comfortable if I turn it on 15 minutes before heading out tehre to work.
Do you live in a "chicago ranch?" it sounds just like my sisters house. A yoga studio sounds awesome...you must have a larger backyard than me...mine is pretty small and is mostly taken up by a monstrosity of a deck so I wouldnt be able to fit anything like that im my yard.
Great job! It looks beautiful!
Your dinning room has a new look and vibe now.
CONGRATULATIONS!!
Your post was featured in this week's Friday DIY Day curation post!
Thanks so much @goldendawne!
I love doing projects like this! There's a sense of accomplishment knowing that you got the look you wanted at a fraction of the cost. Really well done! I'd say you matched it 100% and it really finishes off your dining room!
Thanks so much Helen! I love doing stuff like this too!
old is gold.