DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | i should be mopping the floor
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DIY Herringbone Canvas Art

 This DIY Herringbone Canvas Art is the perfect DIY project to 
create a big statement on a budget.
DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | Step-by-step instructions to create a fun piece of herringbone canvas art.
This piece and its tutorial were originally posted on my other blog {hence the watermark}. I've decided to just be a one blog kind gal from here on out, so I'm starting the process of publishing some of the posts from over there to here. I'd like to have some of my favorites around forever as I close that blog out. I apologize if this is a repeat performance for ya. Let's move the whole "I want to start a second blog" thing over to the "what was I thinking?!?" column. Bit off way more than I could ever chew>>>
I love creating my own artwork. It can be so fun to play around with color and texture...and spend next to nothing. Check out below how I created this DIY Herringbone Canvas Art with an old canvas and paints that I had on hand.
DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | Step-by-step instructions to create a fun piece of herringbone canvas art.
I took a slight risk with this one. But, I really liked the payoff. This French canvas print had hung in our home for well over seven years. It was cute, but not really our style anymore. We purchased it at Target when we first bought our home. I'll be honest, I'm really not one to spend money on art...I prefer to do it myself and put my own stamp on things. So the $100 price tag still came back to haunt me when I took a paintbrush to it a couple of weeks ago. As a side note, I absolutely LOVE using old canvases (canvii?) for new artwork. I pick them up for next to nothing all the time at thrift stores. Since this one was going smack dab back in the same spot it was removed from, I just used the one I had. You know, the one I friggin' paid 100 bucks for. No pressure. I used my go-to: Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Country Grey. One coat...yeehaw!

DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | Step-by-step instructions to create a fun piece of herringbone canvas art.
What I hadn't thought about ahead of time was the fact that the previous canvas had texture on it. I ended up just lightly sanding it off with a sanding block. A bit of it remained...which is what led to me giving it a weathered finish in the end. Thankfully, it all worked out.


DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | Step-by-step instructions to create a fun piece of herringbone canvas art.
I'm soooo not a math person. So, this was roughly done. Half measured, half eye-balled. I ran a line of tape down the middle and then halved each half with more tape.


DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | Step-by-step instructions to create a fun piece of herringbone canvas art.
Then the fun part...which turned out to be not nearly as difficult as I imagined it would be (y'all, I nearly talked myself into another hundred dollar Target piece just to get out of the math here). But, I used my level as a spacer and then just started laying tape down. I didn't start with a particular angle, I just went with that first row. After placing the first tape down, each one was measured with the spacer (level) going all the way down to the bottom. To repeat the angle (the one I didn't measure), I then measured from the top of the canvas to where the first piece of tape was. Then I measured to the opposite end of that piece of tape to use the difference for the angle. That's probably about as clear as mud. Let me try again: the "downsides" of the tape are all even from the top of the canvas, the "upsides" (which don't touch between the two rows I'm working on above) are the same measurement from the top of the canvas, too.


DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | Step-by-step instructions to create a fun piece of herringbone canvas art. 
Ta-Da!
DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | Step-by-step instructions to create a fun piece of herringbone canvas art.
I sealed up the tape with another coat of chalk paint (notice I ran out of Annie Sloan...gasp!).
This brand worked just as great and certainly did the trick!

DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | Step-by-step instructions to create a fun piece of herringbone canvas art.
After the sealing paint dried, it was time to start in with the color. I wanted gold to be the predominant color on the canvas. So, I used my Modern Masters Gold Paint and painted every other section in gold. I just love the fun shimmer!

DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | Step-by-step instructions to create a fun piece of herringbone canvas art.
Then I filled in the remaining areas with some paints that I had on hand...ones that coordinated with the colors of my living room, since that's where this was going back to.

DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | Step-by-step instructions to create a fun piece of herringbone canvas art.
While the paint was still tacky, I pulled off the tape. Here's where that texture the original art had came into play. It came off with some of the tape! That's when I knew I'd be weathering the piece. Plus, the super modern look with all the pretty clean lines doesn't completely fit in with my shabby, vintage style. I needed a bit of dirty-ness on this thing for it to fit in with the rest of my decor.

DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | Step-by-step instructions to create a fun piece of herringbone canvas art.
I took my sanding block and roughed up the entire piece.

DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | Step-by-step instructions to create a fun piece of herringbone canvas art.
To finish it off, and make it even more vintage-y, I wiped on a coat of stain and then wiped it into the piece. I removed the excess with a clean cloth. The diamond pattern that you see in the background is the canvas's frame. When I sanded it, it came through (not literally...but you can see what it did here). I was going to fix it, but my husband really liked that feature, so it stayed!

DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | Step-by-step instructions to create a fun piece of herringbone canvas art.


So what do you think?
Do you enjoy making your own artwork?



DIY Herringbone Canvas Art | Step-by-step instructions to create a fun piece of herringbone canvas art.



45 comments:

  1. This is so cool and what a great way to recycle!

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    1. Thank you for stopping by and for the sweet words, Sylvia!

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  2. This is such a cool idea and looks like something even the least artistically-inclines person (ie- me!) could do.

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    1. Thank you, Jessy! It is very easy to do--just takes a bit of time and some patience! ;)

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  3. Beautiful! Thanks for linking up to Tips & Tricks - hope to see you again next week! :)

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  4. This turned out SO cute! I love the colors, and I'm totally obsessed with herringbone right now. :)

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  5. This turned out SO cute! I love the colors, and I'm totally obsessed with herringbone right now. :)

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  6. I love it all! Featuring you this Wednesday! Thank you for partying with us!

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  7. This looks great! Quick question, what color stain did you use? Thanks!

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    1. I believe it was Dark Walnut from Minwax. It's my go-to stain color. Thanks so much!

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  8. I have a few canvases I need to recycle, so I can't wait to try this. LOVE the colors. Great job!

    Ann @ onecherrytreelane.com

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  9. So cool! I'm wondering what type of paint used used? Acrylic?

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    1. I used both acrylics and the chalk paint for the first layer. Thanks so much!

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  10. Can you tell me what color of stain you used?

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    1. I believe it was Dark Walnut from Minwax. I use it for 95% of my projects! ;)

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  11. Replies
    1. Commercially purchased chalk paint is not chunky. However, homemade versions tend to be. If it's your first go round with chalk paint, go with a premade one to get a good feel for it. It truly is a good, forgiving paint to work with, though!

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  12. This would be my first attempt at staining over paint, so I'm a little weary. Any tips? Does the stain wipe off easily?

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    1. It does have a few variables...to me temperature is the greatest. The hotter it is (I'm in Texas, so I don't use this method in the summer months as much as other times of the year), the quicker the stain "sets". The key is working quickly. You can use furniture wax to pull off stain if you use too much. Sometimes, I dilute my stain (if it's water-based) with a little water so I don't have as deep of an effect with it. Maybe start with a scrap piece of wood to get comfortable with the method first?

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  13. i have an art degree and didnt think of this. great job. this is perfect

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  14. I totally did this and it turned out awesome! Thanks!

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    1. Oh I love hearing this!! Thanks so much for letting me know!

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  15. I really love the distressed look of this. Turned out great!

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  16. Do I have to use chalk paint for the first layer or will acrylic paint work?

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    1. I'd do chalk just to make sure it sticks when you are adding the tape. If you use acrylic, it may come back up with the tape. Good luck!

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  17. I'm going to try this for the "headboard" project I keep putting off. Thanks for the idea! I'll be sure to tag you in the finished product!

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  18. What a cute idea. I found a ton of canvas someone had put in the trash one day. I was just lucky enough to drive by before the dump truck got them.

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  19. What size of tape did you use? And brand?

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  20. Serendipity all the way! Clever and beautiful. $100 for art work? Yikes!

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  21. I love this piece! When I saw it in your house I wondered where you got it - then you told me you made it yourself. Then I wondered how you got that diamond pattern in the background...now I know! I can't wait to try to make my own!

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  22. So say I re-created this look on a plain (unpainted) canvas using acrylic paint (no chalk paint). So I have a herringbone pattern with plain/blank white lines of naked canvas. Do you suppose I could still apply the dark walnut stain to this piece (without having the chalky finish)? (I didn't have any issues with the acrylic bleeding or peeling off.)

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  23. Hi Jenna! Thanks for stopping by. I think that would work just fine. You may want to have a bit of natural furniture wax on standby. If your stain looks too heavy, just use a soft cloth and dab it into the wax and apply it to the canvas to pull stain off. It has to be the natural kind...Minwax makes one that they sell at Lowe's. I hope this helps!

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  24. This is cute.
    I'm looking for something to fill an awkward bare spot on my wall that's a little bit wider than it is tall. I might try this directly on the wall, with a few more rows. Think it'd work? What do I need to think about/adjust?

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  25. Gorgeous DIY project! Now I need to look for the frames!

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  26. Sweet idea! I have a basement that needs something colorful like this!

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