DIY // How To Steal Art For Your Home (And Not Get Caught)

No matter your budget there are ways to decorate your home to show off your personal style.  It's obvious I'm a thrifting addict and I find tons of decor items and art at my local thrift stores.  I'm also not against stealing, repurposing or even making art from scratch.  Yes, I said steal but not in the "dress in all black slink into a museum and caper that Monet you've been coveting" way.  Things like magazines, cards or finding free illustrations online are all fair game.  Just take the art from our DIY industrial shelves for example.

Internet // The framed whale illustration I found online, printed on cardstock and stuck in a crate and barrel frame is one of my favorites. The camera print on the opposite shelf (scroll down for photo) which is another favorite is available online as a free download from Design Editor (as well as a photo of a vintage brownie camera.)  Both can be printed up to a 24x36 inch print.




Thrifting // The screech owl print was a thrifty score from goodwill and only set me back $2.99.  I've found so many prints/original art pieces at thrift stores for sooo cheap.

Magazines & Books // Two shelves up, I've framed a gorgeous print of a woman fishing which I cut out from my September 2012 issue of Real Simple.  There are so many amazing prints and illustrations used in magazines and books - once they're framed no one knows any difference between a $50 print and one you clipped from the pages of a magazine.

Greeting Cards & Postcards // I'm also not above using greeting cards which is evident by the Hokusai card on the top shelf and the vintage reproduction National Parks postcards in the four photo frame (both pictured below.)  I also framed a print of Pike Place Market and placed it on the mantle.  The print is actually a sales flyer from a real estate agency but all the sales propaganda is on the reverse side so it totally works.

DIY // Using Adobe InDesign or Illustrator, I created my own.  Check out the tall piece, Only Fish In The Sea, and the four photo frame which includes simple "Oh Darling, Let's Be Adventurers" prints.

Check out these other DIY art projects that I've tackled:

• Nautical Chart Wall Art
• Anthropologie Inspired Zinc Letter

Straight Up Stolen // Okay, so I guess I do have a case of sticky fingers.  I can't help taking graphically appealing posters from public spaces.  I try to wait until the event has passed so no one misses out on it but once the date has come and gone I slink in and take the poster, frame it up and hang it on the wall which is the case with the Cape Kiwanda Longboard Contest poster.

So how do you guys decorate your home with art on the cheap?  Do you stoop to my level and steal art or do you just shell out the cash to dress up your walls?