5 Creative Uses for Stretched Canvas Wall Art
Last week, we wrote a little about what we love about stretched canvas wall art – namely that it’s not very expensive and it looks cool. Some discussion got us thinking, though – stretched canvases are good for so many different things. It’s great in different spaces and has uses that expand well beyond your standard over-the-sofa-painting (though it’s good for that, too).
Some of our favorite uses:
1. Room Divider
We love wide open spaces, but also acknowledge that sometimes, you just need a little division. We love room dividers in all shapes and sizes – bookshelves, screens, you name it. And while we haven’t personally seen an example of this, we think it would be pretty cool to hang a few canvases from the ceiling in a vertical pattern to divide two spaces. We like the graphic pattern on the right from Modern Digital Canvas ($199 for 34″ x 25″) and would stack a few to create a look like the divider on the left:
Kind of mod and cool, right?
2. Headboard
We love this DIY look:
While using stretched canvases as an official headboard would require some shoring up to make the canvases themselves a little more durable, we definitely like the idea of placing one or two large canvases directly over a headboard-less bed to create a simple, funky faux headboard look. Plus, a safe one. The canvases are typically pretty light, so even if they fall (in an earthquake, for example), they won’t cause too much damage.
Design-wise, we’d stick with something simple like Dwell’s dot canvases ($84 for 22″ x 26″):
Wouldn’t that look great on a wall in deep blue or green?
3. Nursery
The same features that make stretched canvases attractive over grownup beds – their relatively light weight and the ease of anchoring them to the wall – make them doubly attractive in kids’ rooms. Every baby deserves some great art, but no parent wants to risk a heavy frame falling on their little angel’s head. And, if we’re being honest here, art lovers probably want to keep the fine, expensive stuff away from grubby little baby fingers and spit-up used as finger paint.
There’s lots of kid-themed art available, but why not encourage a little art appreciation? Mark Rothko is one of our favorite artists and we especially love his kid-friendly color field paintings (like the one below, which is $114.99 for 24″ x 18″ at Overstock.com). Both Overstock and Art.com also have extensive collections of established artists’ works printed on stretched canvas.
4. Hide Stuff
Most houses aren’t perfect and most apartments are even worse – which means that there are all sorts of bumps and cracks and bruises that can’t be completely disguised even with the best paint job. That’s where stretched canvas can come in. Since it’s available relatively inexpensively, even when it’s huge, it’s a great way to cover all sorts of nicks and bruises.
Imagine how messy this wall could be just behind that print:
This de Stael print is $299, but at 54 inches by 36 inches, it will cover a whole lot of imperfections:
Plus, it’s great-looking!
5. In the Bathroom
Bathrooms are, literally, hot boxes. And little rooms filled with steam and heat are absolute murder on artwork. While stretched canvases are not usually waterproof, they can be quite inexpensive, which makes them a good choice for extra-steamy bathrooms:
We’re fans of cheeky art in the bathroom and we think there’s something weirdly funny about bathing under the watchful gaze of Bill Murray or John Candy, from Etsy seller Lake Illustration ($19 for 11″ x 16.5″):
Plus, at under $20, a little humidity-triggered warping won’t be the end of the world.
Where else would you use stretched canvases?
[Photo Credits: Sotto Retrochic room divider from Target. Dots from Modern Digital Canvas. Headboard and bathroom from Houzz.com. Nursery from Apartment Therapy. Rothko from Overstock.com.
When she’s not mopping up juice spills, Kit throws way-too-big parties, cooks complicated dinner, and decorates (and redecorates) her house. Plus, she writes about all of it – both the fabulous and the disastrous – for Examiner.com, Baltimore Magazine, Houzz.com and on her personal blog, Mango & Ginger.
Covering up bookshelves. Remember how they used to do that in the libraries of old mansions? Someone’s portrait would hang somewhat between the vertical dividers. Well, what if you used stretched canvas instead?
One step further, cover up the bookshelf sections with large canvases. Obviously, you’d need to make them removable, but if your living room bookshelves look anything like mine (they have books, not trinkets, and the books are all crazy-like in there), they’ll welcome the cover-up.
That is a fantastic idea! I just saw a picture of a gorgeous, very traditional library that incorporated artwork that way (of course, I can’t remember where I saw it). I love the idea of using stretched canvases to do the same thing in a more modern space…
Sounds like my bookshelves look like yours, too!