Show & Tell Friday: Super Cheap Wall Hanging Project

When paging through magazines that feature home decor etc. I have inevitably come across pages showing a beautifully decorated room that also have some kind of interesting wall "art" above the couch or in some other area of the room, strategically placed, of course. Pottery Barn was big on these a couple of years ago. And I'm not really referring to framed pictures or candle holders...you probably know what I'm speaking of and if not, you will shortly.  Most of these items were also shockingly expensive (or at least to a frugal Midwesterner like me!).A website that I used to frequent was where I got the idea for my project that I'm linking to Show and Tell Friday, hosted by Cindy at My Romantic Home. I actually did this project the summer of 2007.

I didn't take any "before" pictures, but these are two of three vinyl plastic ceiling tiles that I got from Ceilume, click here to see what they are.They were originally just plain white. Back in 2007 Ceilume had an offer on their website to send 3 sample ceiling tiles of your choice for just the cost of shipping. I picked out 3 that I liked and paid about $7, I think, for shipping of the "free samples".  Then I bought some Design Master spray paint and some antique gold Rub n'Buff.

The spray paint I bought was called "Walnut Wood Tone", with a glossy finish. I wanted the vinyl tiles to look like wood. The Rub n' Buff is a wax metallic finish that comes in a small tube. As it's name implies, you rub it on with a finger or a soft cloth, and then buff gently when dry. It gives a nice antique-y look to just about anything.  I've used Rub n' Buff on old junky picture frames too to make them look like they were once painted with gold leaf and give them a "distressed" look. Here I used it to accent the decoration on the ceiling tile.

And here is where they eventually were hung. I had made them with the intention of hanging them above the bed in our guest room, but the guest room needed to be re-painted, so until that project was tackled (which I finally did in April 2009), my painted ceiling tiles waited patiently in the closet of the guest room.

On the website where I got this idea I had seen other people's projects; some of them left the tiles white and hung them vertically, some painted them, some even framed theirs. However it was done, they all looked really great and it was an easy project that only took a few hours and was super cheap. I paid $7 for the shipping of the tiles and the cost of the spray paint, and have something that looks like it cost a lot more!

Thanks for stopping by!