When Mama sees the perfect art for her living room and then finds out it has a $3000 price tag, Mama quickly becomes resourceful. I’ve seen this piece used in several design projects and have always admired it. When I recently decided to give our living room a more neutral update, I pictured it over our fireplace.
It was created during the Art Deco movement by textile designer and painter Paule Marrot. I love how it’s simple and bold all at the same time. I also love that it’s pretty easy to recreate if you don’t have an extra $3K to spend on art. . . Here’s my take:
floor lamp // pillow // rug // sofa
I bought the big (30×40”) canvas at Michael’s for just $12 when they on sale. Besides that, I just needed a can of off-white spray paint, a little flat black paint, an artist’s brush, a sponge brush and some painter’s tape.
I started by spraying the entire canvas off-white. I wanted the background to be soft like the original and less stark than leaving it white. When it was dry, I taped off the edges with painter’s tape to give it a clean border (a trick I’ve used before).
I grabbed my round coffee canister lid and a small square canvas to create my shapes and then outlined them with the black paint and a small brush.
Time to fill in the shapes. I sponge brushed this. My reason? The sponge was 77 cents. It worked just fine. . . (I used two coats.)
This piece totally changed the feel of the room. (Here’s a look at what was there before.) Did you notice I also layered in a neutral striped rug? One thing always leads to another. . .
PS—I keep a Pinterest board of “art I like” but some of it is art I think I could actually recreate myself. . .
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Impressive! I love that you used your coffee canister lid! Reminds me of using my hot roller container (it was oval-shaped) to mark out waves on my first child’s nursery walls 18 years ago. :-) I love the way the living room is evolving!
I like it! Excellent work. The room looks amazing but also kid friendly.
That’s so cool that you were able to recreate something you loved for less!
I love the art! What color is your living room paint?
Thanks, it’s Palace Pearl by BM.
So great!! Love this post!!!
DIY art is one of my favorite things.
Shhhh, just don’t tell Marrot, or his posterity.
You know I love a good neutral room! This is sooo good. I bet those black bookcases are a show stopper with this new art! Thanks for sharing!!!
Emily, I love your look and creativity! I’ve been eyeing a monstera leaf for my mantel. Where did you find yours? I found one from CB2 but it is 41″ tall. I guess it can be trimmed?! Any suggestions?
I grabbed mine at West Elm while it was on clearance. (The stem is easy to bend.) I recently saw them at IKEA as well…
I love them both. It’s amazing what a difference each makes to the feel of the room! I love your blog!
Very Impressive!!
Love when you show us art masterpieces. More contemporary art please. Looks great.
I love that art piece too but I hear ya on the price tag. This looks fabulous, Emily! Love the way you styled it in the room.
You did a great job. Recreating abstract art is my new favorite thing.
Hi ,
I love that you did this. I also recreated this art but instead of using black , I changed it up slightly and used a neutral in its place. The result looks great .
Congratulations on the savings you made by making your own art
I have daydreamed of getting a Marrot print forever. Your version looks fantastic!
My black and white obsessed heart is absolutely in love with this. So so good!
I do believe I will be copying your copy! Ha
This is great, thanks for sharing,