Enjoy Your Photos: Wall Art

After living in our house for 5 years, we finally finished our master suite at the end of last year. It was done when we moved in, but we added wallpaper and all the finishing touches to the space. I work with the amazing Kimberly Ann Interiors to help me pull it together because she makes sense of all my crazy ideas. She suggested we put a modern piece of photo art at the end of our sinks and I wanted something a little more personal, like a picture from vacation. Kimberly had the idea to use one of my pictures from a recent trip to Santorini...but in a fresh and modern way. I pulled out a picture I had taken, worked some photoshop magic on it, had it printed on acrylic and now I have this custom, glossy, inexpensive artwork with personal meaning to enjoy every day. Sometimes all it takes is a little creative teamwork to some up with the right solution.

Here is the original picture. I took this from the most scenic place in Santorini with my big girl camera so I had a head start with this already stunning pic. Ummmm, I'm ready to go back right now! Especially after being quarantined for the past few months.

Here is the final piece. I love the glossy nature of the acrylic. It feels like a true piece of art.

How to do this with one of your pictures? I use Adobe Photoshop but I'm sure you could use another editing software. Here are the instructions to follow in Photoshop.

1. Open your picture.

2. Turn it to black and white (I like to pump up the contract a little bit).

3. Add a new layer above your picture and fill it with the color you want. In my case, I filled the entire new layer with turquoise.

4. Play around with the opacity of the layer until you get it to the right amount. I cannot remember exactly what I did....maybe it was 20 or 40%. You can also play with the blending mode, too, until you see something you like.

5. Save photo as a high resolution jpeg.

Now you have your picture ready to print. Upload it to a place that makes acrylic prints and you are good to know. I love the acrylic but they can be heavy. If you want, printing on metal is also a fun way to update your wall and they are really light! There are lots of places that will make one for you, but I happen to love Printique for metal or acrylic.

Have fun creating and enjoy your new piece of photo art!