Spice Up Your Wall Art with This Brilliant, Easy Painting Trick You Can Pull Off With a $5 Sample Pot

Artwork adds personality to any space, whether you’re singling out a special piece to spotlight or creating an entire gallery wall arrangement. If you value color and creativity, then you might want to go beyond just placing art inside a frame. Adding a little paint to the mix can give your pieces the oomph they might be missing — just take this English homeowner’s budget-friendly, art-elevating display idea as your inspiration.

Siân, said homeowner, has lived in her 949-square-foot, three-story home in East Sussex, UK for four years. As a former art student, she fully reimagined this English cottage through art, bold furniture, and hand-painted murals. When it comes to color, Siân definitely wasn’t afraid to let her paintbrush loose in spaces that needed a jolt of creativity — however unexpected those spots might be for paint in general. “I think the most unique thing about our home is my hand-painted murals,” she says. “In our downstairs cloakroom, I created a full geometric mural inspired by brutalist design.” 

If you love art and the look of custom murals, you just might want to copy Siân’s method for merging the two that’s very beginner-friendly. In her living room, she highlighted a single, special piece of art, literally, by painting a brightly yellow square behind it on the wall. The art itself, a framed retro architecture poster, has now gone from subtle to statement, thanks to the bold yellow, halo-like shape around it. You can pull this kind of project off with just a sample pot or leftover paint you may have from other jobs around your home; it appears as though Siân herself has used this same shade of yellow not only inside her interior door frames but also in murals throughout in her home.

If you’re looking for a way to recreate this look, you’ll likely want to choose a color that contrasts your existing wall color. In Siân’s case, yellow was the perfect vibrant shade to pop against a whisper-soft blue base, but you could go more tonal if you want an even more subtle appearance. While a simple paint project to take on, you’d still want to measure your artwork before ever picking up a brush to ensure you’re creating a prominent enough border around your artwork. You could also go even larger and more geometric with your square or rectangle if you’d like. Painter’s tape will definitely be your friend, too, if you want to get those crisp lines and corners. 

While this unique use of paint may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s definitely working for Siân. “It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but it brings me joy and is certainly unique to our home,” she says.