We’ve been slowly transforming John’s sister Emily’s nursery on a tight budget, and here’s another update in the makeover saga. Previously we shared how we painted modern vertical stripes…
…added large mirrors to visually expand the small, windowless room…
…and whipped up an easy no-sew bed skirt.
Next on the list was art. We wanted something modern, graphic, and inexpensive. The answer was obvious: DIY. The whole piece cost us nothing — we used a hand-me-down canvas, some leftover paint, and a little time.
The canvas came from a friend who was done with it and passed it along. The existing blue was more pastel than the gray-based blue we were using in the nursery, so Emily suggested repainting it to better match the room. We had leftover paint from the stripe project, so this became a true zero-cost update. Here’s the canvas after a coat of oil-based Kilz primer to prepare it for repainting:
I was excited to return to my art-school roots. After four years of art school in NYC, I’d spent the last several years focusing on painting rooms instead of canvases, so I felt a bit rusty. The nursery’s modern, clean aesthetic called for a simple composition, so I settled on a two-color painting of three pears — a straightforward graphic motif anyone can recreate.
First I sketched three imperfect pears in pencil on the primed canvas. I intentionally varied their sizes and angles to give the composition interest, especially since the final design would be limited to two colors:
Next I filled the pear shapes with leftover yellow wall paint from the stripe project. Using leftover paint keeps the palette cohesive with the rest of the nursery and keeps costs at zero.
Then I painted a slate-blue background — again using leftover wall paint — to tie into the deep blue crib skirt and other room elements. The first coat showed some variation while drying, which is normal, and gave an idea of how the final piece would read:
After a second coat of blue for the background and another coat of yellow on the pears, the colors looked solid and even. The three pears fit nicely across the canvas — a sweet coincidence since this will be Emily’s third child. Her older kids had fun picking which pear represented each of them and which one was for the baby.
The painting looks charming propped on a cardboard box on our patio, and we’ll share photos of it in the nursery as we finish the makeover. Up next: storage, lighting, and accessories to complete the room. This project shows how easy it is to create simple, modern artwork with minimal materials: any canvas, foam core, poster board, or plywood and some leftover paint will do. Pick a basic shape (an airplane, apple, heart, pear), sketch it, fill it with two coats of color, then add a contrasting background for a bold, pop-art-inspired result.
Have you made any simple DIY art lately? What are your favorite low-cost ways to dress up blank walls? Share your ideas — let’s trade creative, budget-friendly decorating tips.