I Tried This Ingenious $6 Art Hack, and It Transformed My Gallery Wall
Back when I first moved into my apartment, I wanted my living room wall to have a gallery of images surrounding a television. I sought to make the art interesting yet not overpowering — whatever show I’d be streaming needed my full attention — and I also hoped that my choices would all coordinate. I started searching for possibilities from my favorite online art retailers, like Pstr Studio, Desenio, and Etsy. I found contenders, but then hit another common roadblock: Everything I wanted was outside of my budget.
I already had four existing prints to work with, so I only needed a complementary pair to round out the gallery. I planned to spend around $100 for these two new pieces, frames included, which didn’t leave much wiggle room for even so much as shipping costs. And then I got an idea: I’d frame wallpaper samples and use that in my gallery wall.
I’d recently helped my parents renovate their powder room with a peel-and-stick print, and a few Chasing Paper options caught my eye during the project. I ordered two of their botanical print samples, one green and one beige, for $6 a piece. Afterward, I bought two matted frames at HomeGoods, and once the samples arrived I placed them inside as if they were art. In all, this wallpaper sample hack cost about $60.
On top of being stylish and budget-friendly, I like how the wallpaper adds a slight textural quality to my gallery and diversifies the display of prints. It also just so happens to match the real plants nearby. And if I ever want a change, ordering a new wallpaper design is a cinch.
Aside from Chasing Paper, Backdrop has modern wallpaper samples priced at $10, Joss & Main for just $5, and Little Greene even lets you order up to six sample sheets for free. To cut costs even more, you can also thrift a frame and then order a single mat separately to fit the sample. Either way, this project is way cheaper and less wasteful than ordering a whole wallpaper roll if there’s a pattern you want to display as art. Below, I rounded up a few examples to inspire your own gallery wall.
