Laundry Room Art on the (REALLY) Cheap

Summer break is winding down, and I've been very busy. Thanks to a record setting string of high temperatures in Oklahoma,  I've also been very broke. What's the phrase? Necessity is the mother of invention? That was definitely the case for me today. I have been desperate to paint something for my laundry room. I recently re-painted it a light blue hue, and now the finished walls look a little bare. I know it's the LAUNDRY room, and let's be honest - I'm one of the only people that even SEES that room, but I wanted a little something to spruce it up, and make it a happy little place to be (since I SEE it a LOT!)  Inspired by this little lovely I found on etsy.

I have no blank canvases in my house, and although they aren't extremely expensive (maybe around $15) for the size I wanted....I can't afford it right now. So, I improvised, with materials I'm sure most of us already have on hand.

It was around 11:00am when I started my project. I had just sat down to do this:

So, naturally...my mind was wandering. Then it hit me! Maybe I could use a simple cardboard box as my canvas. So, I went out to my garage , scouring boxes for the perfect sized "canvas". Bingo! A tomato box from our last produce delivery. Then I covered my table, grabbed my paints and brushes, flipped the box over & and went to town!

I taped over the exposed holes in my canvas.

I painted a primer coat of cream acrylic paint.

Followed by the colors I wanted as my background.

I decided to paint the sides of the box, to appear as a raised canvas, rather than leaving them exposed, or cutting them off, as I'd originally planned.

Next I painted the birds, and in the spirit of clean laundry, and missing socks, I painted a pair - drying from a clothesline. Perfect for a laundry room!

Then, I coated it with a layer of clear gloss spray paint, and hung it on on the wall. The entire process beginning to end took about 2 hours to complete. It's now just after 1:00pm, and it looks like it's time to hit the books again.

I'm thrilled with the results. Cheery laundry room art for about $ .25. (I only paid the price of paint!)

Quick - check your garage and storage areas...what have you got that might make a free canvas?