One of my projects for Transformation Turquoise was to create a large piece of art for the living room. I’d considered painting bamboo blinds a while ago when I decided to take down the generic vertical blinds that came with this place. I bought matchstick bamboo blinds at Big Lots for fairly cheap—$5 for 36″ wide?— and hung three of them over my large living room window. (I decided not to paint a design on those.) I’ve also used a set of these blinds in a wall cut-out between the kitchen and living room.

They are matchstick blinds, so they provide sheer coverage since there is more space between the “slats” vs. typical blinds.  Because of this and because the matchsticks are rounded, this wasn’t the easiest painting project. For the image to appear more dimensional, I also had to paint my design in between the matchsticks. I was a bit impatient and didn’t want to give in to perfectionism, so I didn’t get too technical with this part of the painting.

If you can look beyond this aspect, using the blinds as a canvas proves to be quite a frugal option. The bamboo is great in complementing the natural, semi-beachy vibe I have going in this room and also adds interest with the texture. I removed the hardware from the blinds and created a modern lotus design that would incorporate my color scheme of turquoises/aquas and red. I then drew out some of the inner petals and made basic stencils from posterboard. Standard acrylic craft paint was used and I didn’t seal the blinds with anything, but I suppose you could if desired. I figure there should be no problem with the paint going anywhere.

To hang the blinds on the wall, I hammered nails to fit just below the first row of string and in between the “top” and “bottom” of the blinds. I was concerned that wouldn’t be enough support (they are from Big Lots, after all), but it’s proven to be strong enough and you barely see the nails.

Here’s a peek of how it ties in with the other decor: