DIY Art Using A Canvas & Nail Head Trim

The original design plan included a TV in the Master Bedroom, above the settee. However, after not having one in the room for several months (since moving out the armoire that housed an old unit) we are not missing having one here. One may be added at some point, but in the meantime the wall is calling out for a placeholder.


I decided a DIY art project was the solution! By painting a canvas I would have the opportunity to bring in a touch of the deep blue wall color and muted gold finishes from the adjacent master bathroom into the bedroom, helping bridge the two design concepts.

To start, I picked up a canvas at Michael's that features a wide edge. The reason for the wide edge?


These big pieces of nail head trim. Instead of placing a frame around the canvas I thought it would be effective to run large nail head trim along the canvas edges instead. This not only references the gold finishes from the bathroom, but as you'll see below, the finished canvas has a masculine feel to it, balancing the feminine settee it is hung above. In a bedroom shared by both genders I think it can be very effective to mix both feminine and masculine design elements in the room.


To paint the canvas I mixed a color similar to the base color used on the bathroom walls and painted the entire canvas.


Then a darker paint was mixed and watered down, with several washes applied to the canvas, letting the paint dry between layers.


I even pulled out the "linen" brush used to create the striae effect on the bathroom walls.


When the stripes were too pronounced I did a final wash with a large painters brush, muting the lines. A lot of experimenting resulted in a finish I'm pretty happy with: texture, sheen, and subtle pattern, in a color that mirrors the bathroom walls. (My artist friends are rolling their eyes: You just made some "sofa art"! If you are unfamiliar with that term, I cover this topic in a Houzz Ideabook that will be posted this coming Saturday.)


After the paint dried the nail head trim was nailed into the canvas sides.



After deciding how far apart to place the nails, a little measuring and marking helped make the process of nailing the trim into the frame easy.



Before finishing I took the canvas into the bedroom and propped it up on the back of the settee, to see how everything looked. I was delighted to observe the color on the canvas brought out the gray blues seen on the settee frame, as I had hoped it would!


I also love how the light streaming in the from the window highlights the layers of color and texture on the canvas, with the nail head trim casting interesting shadows onto the wall.


I have to say I am pretty pleased with how well the canvas and treatment on the bathroom walls work together.



I really appreciate spaces that have their own distinct personality but are related to adjoining rooms through some element, and the addition of this canvas seems to do the job.