Clipboard Wall Art

Our office is a long and narrow room.  When we began a remodel this spring, exchanging twenty-something-year-old carpet for wood, olive green for hummus colored walls, and adding a skylight, we also took down a giant map of our city.  I know, maps as wall art are all the rage now but in this room it took over.  It had to go. We were left with a 15 foot expanse to fill.  In short: We had a wall conundrum.

In addition to the long wall, three other factors had to be considered:
Cost...under $100.
Contrast...the need to keep things calm with low contrast is my home decorating M.O.
Capture... since what we do in the office is run our landscaping business, I wanted the wall art to capture, relate and inspire the garden theme.

For months I looked for inspiration on Pinterest and Houzz, while also searching in the usual places, like Target, Home Goods and Goodwill, finding many likable candidates, but nothing that jumped up and down saying, "choose me!"

Then, one Saturday morning, a few weeks ago -- inspiration appeared in the form of a photograph of three botanical prints hanging on clipboards in a kitchen.  I knew in a heartbeat that this was my answer.  It fit right in with all my design musts.

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All I needed to do was figure out the placement, find inexpensive clipboards, and locate some beautiful botanical art.

The art search came first. I have always been an admirer of  people who can create pretty pictures with talented strokes and dabs.  My mom can do it and so can my sisters. I have attempted to develop this skill, to no avail.  Instead, I paint pictures with objects, plants, flowers, rocks, trees and shrubs, words, love, and my camera; the draw and dab skills do not belong to me.

Not yet  but still hoping...

As I often do, I went shopping in my own home and found a book filled with botanical drawings from over 100 years ago.  It didn't take long to find the eighteen pieces of pure inspiration that I needed. They all depict lovely birds and plants; twelve also name the months of the year.

 NO I did not cut up the book.  I Could NOT.  Instead, I made color copies on card stock.The traditional and inexpensive clipboards are hanging on clear push pins... genius. Right? Not easy to get just right, however.  It took about an hour of planning and measuring to get things lined up.

Notice how the colors blend with the wall color? One of the unintended results of using the clipboards as frames is that the paper flutters a bit in the breeze of our ceiling fan.  I've considered using photo corners to secure them, but I'm mesmerized by the fluttery movement on the wall, like leaves on a tree or birds in flight.

While hunting for art, I remembered my mom's old easel, stored in a closet, waiting to be used again.  It still donned a few splashes of blue and white from the brook in this painting she did in 1949. The overflow of love -- and the easel sang to my heart.  Then there was some re-measuring.

My prince helped me figure out how to assemble the easel.  It adds just the right elements of whimsy and drama, as well as vertical movement to balance the horizontal movement of the grid on the wall.  I found this botanical in the closet too. I'm planning on picking up a canvas or a painting in the future, but for now, this one works just fine. Who knows; the wall, now replete with examples of nature drawings and the splotched old easel might inspire another attempt to draw or paint one on my own. Just Maybe.

and just maybe not.

(My prince suggests cutting up a pair of jeans and some old boots for the other wall. )  Ummm...nope:-/

2013 update: We re-purposed an old dining table.  You like?

~Blessings~

If you would like to read more stories about people gardening, creating, loving family,homesteading, homeschooling, and making things for under $100:

The Lettered Cottage

Here: Under the Table and Dreaming

wildly-original-linky-party @ I Gotta Create

 click here:  My Simple Country Living

and here:  A Rural Journal

 and HERE: Beyond the Picket Fence Under $100 Linky Party

OH, and HERE as well! The Shabby Creek Cottage Transformation Thursday

and here as well...there are so many creative people out there!