Have you ever seen the adorable scroll tapestries from Anthropologie? I had been eyeing them up myself for a while until I realized... couldn't I just make a custom one at home? If you are hoping for an easy DIY you've come to the right place! Here is how you can make your own wall tapestry with just a few steps!
Step One: Supplies
I found a new 4'x5' drop cloth at Lowes which was the perfect size. The best part about using drop cloths is that they are fairly inexpensive, easy to nail into the wall and are already sewn which saves you an extra step. A new one is great but any old drop cloth you already have even if it was previously used can work as well.
Next is selecting a primer, I suggest using a large bottle of gesso. This is something you can get at your local craft store, but any white or very light colored paint is fine, just make sure you give your cloth a generous coat of whatever you use. For our tapestry I used leftover white and beige paint we already had.
For the actual design and painting you will need acrylic paint of whatever color you choose and paintbrushes of various sizes. I would get one large paintbrush for the primer and background coats and smaller brushes for more detailed acrylic designs.
Step Two: Inspiration
Look though Pinterest, instagram and magazines to help you find ideas for your tapestry design. A great place to find inspiration fro these is on Anthropologie, Society6 and Olivia Wendel.
Sketching out a few designs can help you decide and spacial plan, I love sketching first very loosely to help me finalize a few ideas I have in my head. Watercolor or colored pencil are some of my favorite mediums to use when sketching.
Step 3: Primer/Background
This is where you use your gesso or light colored paint. Since drop cloths are a raw material they will bleed when you paint your primer so I laid down flat cardboard boxes with an old shower curtain liner to ensure the paint wouldn't bleed through to my floors. I suggest doing this for the entire painting process if you want to make sure absolutely no paint gets on your surfaces.
I primed with old paint I had leftover and did only one coat for the base because I wanted the texture of the canvas to bleed and give my painting a vintage look. If you want a crisper, more canvas like surface then do 2-3 coats of gesso.
Final Step: The Design
I lightly drew out some of the larger elements of my design to help me with spacing but this step is not necessary. If you are doing a more precise design that includes scale, realistic items and words I would sketch and measure this out prior to painting but for free hand painters just go for it!
I went with a very colorful floral design and added in smaller elements at the end such as ladybugs and butterflies. I ended up using mostly acrylic but drew designs with colored pencil over and even added watercolor to the background.
Whatever it is you are hoping to create this is a super easy way to personalize your space and was one of my favorite DIYs I have done in a long time. Not interested in creating your own but you would love to have your vision come to life? Contact us on Instagram or through our website and we would be happy to make your ideas come to life!