The 10-Minute Art Hack Hiding in Your Kitchen Drawer
There’s no shortage of places to purchase art prints that you love, but sometimes you’re on the hunt for something a little more unique—and maybe a little more affordable. If so, this may be the incredibly easy art hack for you.
While this art hack is a great way to upgrade a wall in your home, it also solves another common problem: What to do with your favorite tea towels you don’t want to use because you don’t want them getting ruined with food stains.
In Maria Branco and Bruno Sabino’s recent Houston, Texas garage apartment tour, Maria took this $26 tea towel from Native Bear, slipped it easily in this Urban Outfitters’ Wooden Print Dowel Hanger and voila: Art for your wall that adds soft texture, is easy AF, and may rescue this kitchen item from a life of grease stains.
Want something even cheaper? Guess what—there’s a DIY version of this frame you can use for a tea towel art takeover: How To Make a Magnetic DIY Frame for Artwork… in 10 Minutes.
One of the best things about Maria’s tea towel art hack is the fact that it doesn’t look like a tea towel—it looks like a more expensive art piece. Some characteristics to look for when making your own:
How to pull off this easy art hack:
Choose tea towels with a stand-alone graphic or a centrally located pattern.
An edge-to-edge pattern will feel less like an art piece.
Make it wrinkle free
Iron or steam (or if you’re me, throw in the dryer) your tea towel before hanging. A wrinkly textile will seem more utilitarian than aesthetic.
Elevate the frame
If you do decide to DIY a frame, consider using a nicer wood finish or hardware to make the piece seem even more professional and high-quality.
Pick the perfect place
Maria’s framed tea towel works so well as wall art precisely because it’s not in the kitchen—hanging it in the living room immediately adds an artistic context to the piece. And notice how the tea towel is surrounded by actual art like prints and photographs.
Don’t overthink it
Art’s whatever you want it to be. If you think framing a tea towel is dumb, skip it! If you think this is a good way to show off some tea towels that have been hiding in one of your kitchen drawers, go for it!
This Paint + Petals dish towel by Bridgette Thornton (whose home and art studio we toured) and this Modern Alchemy towel—both from Anthropologie—would look rad hanging as art.
