How I Gave Our Mudroom a Makeover for $8

Lately I have just been drawn to more blacks, browns and neutrals around our house and I got the urge to give our garage entrance a quick makeover using those colors over the weekend. And it only cost me $8 bucks. I shared this little project over the weekend on my Instagram stories and so many of you asked me how I did this! So I figured I would share a quick recap about my process.

With the boys being back in school last week, I had an opportunity to pop into my local thrift store as I was out and about. I love to stop in and do a quick swoop to see if there are any treasures! Fortunately there is one right in my path of errands so it’s easy for me to do a quick stop. I’m always looking for something and this time I was actually looking for a canvas to create some art for our master bedroom, When I spotted this massive canvas for $8 I figured I could give it a little makeover for our bedroom.

However, as I brought this big painting in the back door my eyes immediately went to this little nook in our mudroom. This is the spot you walk by as you come in through our back garage door. It had a bench that desperately needed recovering and the citrus printable frames that I did several years ago. 

BOOM! Found the spot that I knew this canvas would go. Now I just needed the inspiration for what do with it. Hmmmmm…..

BOOM! Within a couple days of buying the canvas I had found some inspiration that Jennifer Bowne Design shared on her Instagram story. Anytime I see something I like- I take a screen shot so I can refer to it later. (and yes I have 1 gazillion pictures on my phone)  I figured I could use it as a starting point for my big canvas. Unfortunately I am not able to source the original artist based on this Instagram post. I did hunt around but couldn’t find a reference for it on their Instagram.

However, I still wanted to share this screen shot so you could see how I found my inspiration piece. 

If I had more patience I would have popped into Hobby Lobby and purchased a few new paint color options. But I was just in the mood to do some arts and crafts on Friday afternoon so I had to make whatever I had on hand work. First step- I gave the painting a base coat of paint to ensure that the red didn’t bleed through. Trust me, as someone that is impatient when it comes to projects this is not an easy step- but definitely necessary. 

Once that was dry- I just started! It is impossible to mess up. Trust me- it usually takes me a few different iterations before I like what I end up with. Here is the first round. It was NOT looking how I wanted so I just walked away…

And here it was after another round of painting. Better but something was missing. Hmmmmm…..

I decided to get very technical and use something I learned back in my very fancy art school. ( I KID I KID- I DID NOT GO TO ART SCHOOL NOR DO I REALLY HAVE ANY PAINTING SKILLS. AT ALL. ) I grabbed some plastic grocery bags and some metallic paint. I used the grocery bags dipped in metallic paint to give it some sheen texture. And then I took the paint brush and gave it some swirls. See what I mean- super technical. 🙂

Is it perfect? No. 

Do I care? No.

This is the beauty of spending $8! If something else comes along I will never feel guilty for wanting to change it up. And trust me, I will get the urge to change it up again someday! 

To complete the makeover I dug up this neutral zebra fabric that I have been wanting to use somewhere for forever and recovered  the cushion. A quick coat of black spray paint on the wood. And a little pillow switcheroo and the $8 Mudroom Makeover is complete! 

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR Post-Quarantine Dining Room Glow Up 

Hope this helps you feel inspired to makeover an old canvas you might have sitting around. What do you have to lose? I mean $8 is the cost of a Starbucks run am-I-right?

xoxo-

Heather