Give Typical IKEA Wall Art A Unique Upgrade With A Fun Craft

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IKEA wall art is stunning all on its own, but there is one major downside to displaying these pieces in your home: They aren't all that unique. The same artwork was purchased by plenty of other shoppers and now hangs in their bedrooms, living rooms, and kitchens as well. If you prefer home decor that actually stands out, consider customizing a plain IKEA painting with a fun craft. All you have to do is purchase a painting, such as the IKEA PJÄTTERYD, and create a pixelated effect over it. 

To do this, simply create the pixels by painting squares over the artwork in the same color as the picture on the canvas. When you're done, you'll have a unique painting that resembles pixelated digital artwork. The art piece will also have a fascinating visual effect. When you stand far away from it, the pixels will blur together and seemingly disappear, so you'll see the original image more clearly. However, when you stand close to the painting, all you'll see is the pixel effect. You don't need to have expert-level art skills to pull this off. Let's dive into how to create this fun beginner-friendly craft.

Before getting started, you'll need to select your preferred painting. You can snag the IKEA PJÄTTERYD as shown in the video above. However, you could also opt for a different IKEA painting, such as the KNOPPÄNG. Feel free to search your local thrift store for an affordable painting as well. Once you have the art piece you want to use for this craft, start out by using white chalk pencil and a ruler to draw a grid over the painting. You will paint inside of the grid squares to create your pixels. 

You can also customize this DIY by choosing to pixelate different elements of the painting. Consider drawing your pixel grid onto the background and leaving the focal point as-is as an alternative. Next, you will need to paint inside of your grid with the same colors as the objects in your paintings. This will require you to find the right matches to the colors in your painting. To make this easy, consider snapping a photo of the art with your smartphone and uploading the photo in a paint color matching app. You can also use an app to pixelate the original image to use a reference as shown above. This will let you know each of the paint colors you need to use and where. After painting your pixels, you could further personalize your painting as a final step by adding in other elements. Freehand paint them if you have the skills for it, or use stencils, such as the JIHIMODO Texture Stencils, for more precision.