How to Transform Old Art into Modern Brushstroke Art for Under $20

Hello! It’s time for the week 4 update of the $100 Room Challenge! This week I was busy working on sprucing up the walls of the Basement Family Lounge area and in order to stay within the budget, I knew I had to get creative. A gallery wall of new art and frames can get expensive and fast! So sticking with the spirit of the challenge, I decided to make my own. Today I’m sharing How to Transform Old Art to Modern Brushstroke Art.

And I only spent $18 to do it!

If you’re just stopping by for the first time today, then welcome! I’ve teamed up with several other bloggers to participate in the $100 Room Challenge hosted by Lemons, Lavender and Laundry. This is my 3rd time participating and this year, I’m giving a corner of our Basement a thrifty refresh and calling the new space the Basement Family Lounge Area. Otherwise known as the Family Room area where we hang out, play games, watch movies and lounge!

If you’ve missed any of the other posts in the challenge, you can get caught up here:

WEEK 1 // WEEK 2 // WEEK 3 // WEEK 4 // WEEK 5

Next week is the big reveal and although the room is moving right along, I’ve still got lots of work to do!

HOW TO TRANSFORM OLD ART INTO MODERN BRUSHSTROKE ART

While digging through my old art and frames to start on the wall decorating, I stumbled upon 2 pieces of old wine art from at least 10 years ago. These pieces haven’t hung in our home in forever, but I held onto them all this time because they were one of our first Homegoods purchases for our first home in Indiana.

They hung proudly in the Dining Room in that house as well as in our next house and I just couldn’t bring myself to get rid of them! Not because they were expensive, but because of the sentimental value.

I wish I could find a picture of them hanging in our old homes!

When I pulled them out of the closet, I had an idea. I actually had sourced a 2 piece art set for my Mood Board for the Basement Family Lounge area and decided I would try to create something similar.

MODERN BRUSHSTROKE ART INSPIRATION

Here is what I used to create my version for about $280 less!

DIY MODERN BRUSHSTROKE ART SUPPLIES

• 2 pieces of old art [framed or canvas will work. Use 1 piece if you’re not creating a 2 piece set]
• painters tape
• a variety of paints [I purchased Acrylic craft paints in black, white, gray, taupe, camel and gold from Michaels]
• paint brushes and foam brushes 
• old tarp or garbage bags
• paper plate or painter’s wheel

DIY MODERN BRUSHSTROKE ART DIRECTIONS

1 // First, I laid the art down side by side on the garbage bags. I wanted the art to look like a cohesive set, so I wanted to make sure they looked nice together.

2 // Then I taped off the frames of the wine art to protect them from paint.

3 // I put on 3 coats of white paint to cover the old art in order to have a fresh, blank slate.

4 // Using white and gray, I started making small brush strokes along the perimeter and into the center.

5 // I added one color at a time [lightest to darkest] by using the flat part of the brush to make short and long brushstrokes in various sections. If you add a new color on top of wet paint, it will streak slightly, so determine how long you wait in between colors based on how streaky you want it to look.

I liked having some colors blend together to achieve that streaky, brushstroke look. 

6 // I waited until the end to hit it with the black paint and used several long and wide brush strokes. I filled in the right side of one piece and the left side of the other with black to sort of tie them together.

7 // Then, I took my white paint and went over some of the sections that ended up getting too dark from all the various colors and layers.

8 // After the colors were where I wanted them, I took the tip of my brush with the black and created some lines and abstract dots randomly throughout both pieces. I didn’t have a plan here, but wanted to create some interest and dimension. 

Can we agree they sort of look like cheetah spots?

Of course I would find a way to bring some animal print in ha!

9 // I let them dry for a couple hours and then hung them up on the wall. I couldn’t decide if I wanted them side-by-side or shifted down slightly, but here is where I landed.

What do you think?

And that is what I did to take the dated art to modern abstract art using brushstrokes!

Anyone can do this, I promise. It definitely helped to have an inspiration piece to use as a model, but admittedly, I like my 2 piece set better than the original! My price point was much more affordable, too. 😉

Let’s see where we’re at with our to do list and budget…

PROJECT CHECK LIST:

• paint media console – done
• paint leaning ladder shelf – done
• style the ladder shelf – done
• update bar cabinetry with paint – ??
• DIY countertop update?
• purge and organize barware and entertaining pieces – in process
• style glass cabinets – ??
• hang clock – this week
• find / make art – DIY Brushstroke art done!
• hang wall art / frames – in process
• add a lamp – on the hunt
• style the coffee table – done
• swap out the pillows – done
• replace a few ceiling tiles – in process

Total spent so far: $18

This has never happened to me before. I’m usually sliding into the final week at $99!!

If you’ve missed any of the other posts in the $100 Room Challenge, you can get caught up here:

WEEK 1 // WEEK 2 // WEEK 3 // WEEK 4 // WEEK 5

MOOD BOARD + PLANS

LADDER SHELF REFRESH + FREE STYLING TIPS

DIY BRUSHSTROKE ART

BASEMENT FAMILY LOUNGE REVEAL

And to see the rest of the rooms we’ve tackled in previous $100 Room Challenges, see them all here!

Now head on down to see what the other participants are sharing this week. One week until the reveal!!

Have a great day! See you back here soon!