fifth floor up: Framed on a Dime

After staring at the wall above my desk for three years I decided it was time
to do something about it. So, my sidekick, interior design extraordinaire,
Craig Strulovitz and I decided to take a long needed trip to the one
and only Ikea in Brooklyn.

BEFORE:

As stated before in previous posts, I have not ventured to Brooklyn many
times and decided it was a smart idea to bring along a companion. Craig
was more than willing to help me out with my "wall problem." We put
our heads together and began to problem solve. Yes, we put our four
years of interior design schooling to use. Quickly we decided upon a
solution. The concept was based more upon the fact that we wanted to
have fun rather than design a sophisticated wall. Worked for me.

Since I was on a budget we also used the cheapest way to get to Ikea. The

subway and shuttle bus. This was my second time to ride a bus since living

in the city. After the grand tour of Ikea we landed upon the world of frames.

I was in heaven. All colors, shapes, sizes and styles. We borrowed the large

stack of rugs to design different layouts for the wall. We agreed upon a layout

and how many frames we thought would work best for the wall. After

stopping by the Ikea cafeteria and having some lunch for a whopping $6

we hopped on the newly discovered FREE Ikea Water Taxi and headed back

to Manhattan. *The Ikea Water Taxi docks at the South Street Seaport.

The next step was deciding what would actually go in these frames.

Since I love photography I decided to leave two frames for some of my

own. Craig recommended we use wall paper samples and melting crayons.

I came up with the charcoal drawing. We wanted the wall to have many

different elements as well as textures and color. We filed through stacks of

samples and picked out our favorites. We picked samples that had amazing

textures from natural materials like cork to faux glass beads.

We went back to my apartment and started experimenting. Luckily,

we were fortunate enough to use the first few pieces of "art" we made.

We had so many wall paper samples I also used one on a clock I had in

my kitchen by using spray adhesive and cutting out the wallpaper and

applying it to the face of the clock.

Around 1:30am we finally finished hanging our masterpieces.

I love my wall but more than that I love the amount of money spent on it.

AFTER:

Materials used:
Five frames from Ikea: $83
Small mirror from Ikea: $5
Crayons: $2.00
Wallpaper samples: Free
Supplies (Glue, rulers, cutting board, charcoal ect...): Free
(Keep your art supplies from school)
Four 8x12 frames: Free (Owned)

Total amount spent: $90.00

ART: