covering fabric on canvas for instant art

I have been eyeing several bolts of fabric at Ikea for, I kid you not, something like a year now.  But the patterns are a little "out there" and style-wise they wouldn't fit anywhere in my Los Angeles home, even as throw pillows or whatnot.

But at the lake house there are lots of empty walls.  And, wouldn't you know it, the colors of the wall would just really set off some of those bold Ikea fabrics.

This project cost me $60 total and took about an hour.

 

I bought two yards of each of the patterns I liked.  You really only need one yard, but I thought I might want it for something else down the road.  The fabrics were $7.99/yard.  (I think one was actually cheaper than that, but I'm sure, so I've rounded up.)

I bought 16x20 canvas from Michaels in a two pack.  I think it was $12/pack, so $6 a canvas.    

 

I laid the canvas upside down on the canvas, also upside and cut around the size, only leaving a few inches on each edge.  I was not meticulous about it.

 

The first pattern was a simple repeat, so I wasn't worried about that one.  The second yard of fabric was different, so I had to choose which square of the fabric I liked the best.  I picked a section that had a little bit of everything, but that I thought was pretty.

After I cut the not-so-straight edges, I wrapped the fabric around the canvas and used a staple gun to secure the fabric to the long side of the canvas.  After you've done the first side, make sure you pull it very tight across the front of the canvas before you start stapling the other side.  It would make for a much cleaner look.

 

I'm sure there are multiple ways you could do the corners, but I chose to pretend I was wrapping a present and folded it that way, making a crisp triangle fold right at the corner then wrapping it up to the back of the canvas and securing with a staple or two.

(Please don't tell anyone in my family that I know how to gift wrap.  This is a chore I usually manage to pawn off, pleading ignorance.  I am also really good at gift sacks.  More on my pretended clumsy gift wrapping next week.)

 

Do this for all four corners and you might just be done.

 

Unless you're like me.  I had a little too much fabric going on, so I stapled down the insides, too. 

 

 It took me about 20 minutes to do each canvas from beginning to end.

 

The section of brown fabric I chose had a wrinkle in it, so I had to pull it really tight both ways to get rid of it.  

(I could have just ironed the fabric once I discovered the wrinkle, but this was the moment I realized the lake house doesn't have an iron!  We're casual there.)

 

This meant that I couldn't do my wrapping-paper corners and had to improvise.  As long as it's smooth and clean, I don't think it matter how you choose to do your corners.

Now, if it were up to me, I would have just hung them on the wall as they were, placing the edge of the wood frame on the nail.  

But The Gorilla insisted on doing that part his way.  I'm not offering a tutorial on that part.  I know he used some wire and the staple gun.  You can take it from there.

 

I made two of each fabric, then we hung them in the upstairs hallway on either side of the playroom area.

 

This is such an easy and inexpensive way to add a little something to the walls.

Especially if, like me, you admire patterned fabrics but have no idea what to do with them.

Do you have a Do It Yourself (simple) project like this to spice up your walls?  Share, please.