Placemat Wall Art

Ever since moving in to the Chic Shanty—although I’ll be the first to admit that it’s definitely more shanty than chic in some areas, especially the exterior—I’ve battled with our plaster walls.  Most of the time I end up backed into a corner, waving my white flag in surrender.  I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears mentioning again that plaster walls—while a sign of good craftsmanship—are a pain in the you-know-what when it comes to hanging art.  Because they’re made like cement, hanging even a light, simple piece of artwork requires a special set of tools and a plastic casing which surrounds the screw going into the wall.  Gone are my days of lackadaisically banging a nail here or a nail there just to play with the placement of a frame.  Plaster = permanence.  Unless, of course, you like chunks taken out of your walls.  All that said, it’s taken me some time to decide what I want hanging around our house. 

As you can see, the wall above the loveseat needed some, um, love. 

 

So, after hemming and hawing for literally a year or more, I decided on placemats—the obvious choice for a high-traffic, first-thing-you-see-upon-opening-the-front-door. 

If you’re doubtful, let me say that I actually didn’t go out looking for placemats to fancy up our walls.  Rather, as I was meandering around Target, I stumbled across these funky vinyl mats.

What drew me to them?

1.  Their green hue ties in well with the pineapples flanking our fireplace, plus they add a touch of color to our neutral walls.  Now I’m not promising to keep the color forever.  A very rebellious part of me screams, “I love layers of neutrals!”  So who knows?  Maybe someday I’ll ditch the orange and green accents in favor of layers of creamy beige.  I know some of you are dying right now…you color lovers. 

2.  Because they’re vinyl, they have a killer texture.  I adore layers of texture.

3.  They’re double-sided, so I got to play around with which design I liked best.

4.  They cost $3.99 each, for a total of $12.  That’s not a bad price for art that covers a large area, and it means that when I get the itch to replace them (which is nearly inevitable), I won’t feel guilty about it!

5.  They fit into the clean white frames that we already owned with only some slight trimming around the edges.    

6.  They were unique enough that I had the urge to display them—just not on our table. 

I totally understand that adorning walls with placemats—especially vinyl—is not for everyone.  But if you’re interested, here’s the breakdown of how I did it.

1.  Cut the placemats to fit into your frames. 

2.  Hot glue the outer edges of the placemat to the back of the frame, which is usually a piece of cardboard or compressed wood.  I added a dab of glue to the middle of the placemats so they wouldn’t bulge out when hanging.  Since my mats are vinyl and hot glue peels off easily, I don’t think removing them from the back of the frames will be difficult should I ever wish to change out the art.

3.  Remove the glass from the frame and simply insert the back of the frame with the glued-on placemat.  Secure and then hang.

Simple, right?  I love finding ordinary things and acquiring new uses for them.  I also love doing projects on the cheap and creating a unique—some might say quirky—look.  I haven’t decided if I’m going to tell anyone that they’re placemats…so shhhh!  It’s a secret for now.