Paint Chip Wall Art

I'm crazy about these eye-catching art pieces my friend, Allison Patrick, has been making. She's always coming up with interesting ideas... you might remember the quilled New York City skyline I featured a while ago, and more recently, her ruffled pendant lamp. Once again, Allie has created something that fits right in with the theme of her blog, The 3 Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Redecorate.

No doubt the title of this post gives away the main ingredient, but if I didn't know better, I don't think I would have guessed that the bright stripes were slices of paint chips - at least not from a distance.

The idea makes me think of Jessica's thumbprint paper cuts, not only because it requires the use of a craft knife, but because the end result is chic and economical... a perfect project to dress up bare apartment walls.

Here's a pair of framed pieces Allie made in cool shades of blue and grey... just as attractive as the brightly colored version, but a completely different and serene look.

Allie has done lots of paint selecting for her own apartment, her parents' houses, and interior design clients, thus she has an abundance of paint chips. I don't know about you, but I've thrown away quite a few chip strips in my day - too bad I didn't have Allie's foresight to hang onto them.

Allie says, "When I paint a new room, I spend a lot of time picking just the right paint color. This process involves collecting as many as twenty options and carrying them around with me, so I can see how they look in different lights at different times of day."

"While this process is beneficial for the room, it leaves me with lots of paint chips. Smart people might throw them out, but because I'm a bit of a hoarder, I have stacks of chips at the ready. I've always had this sense that one day I would find a use for all these carefully saved supplies. Finally I found one! And because each stack of paint chips comes from a specific room, once I've created my art pieces, I know they'll complement the walls perfectly."

***Use paint chips responsibly.***

Allie and I are definitely not condoning running into your nearest paint store to grab up a supply just for the sake of making wall art!

If you're not the type to take on a fiddly project that involves a good bit of cutting and gluing, Allie sells paint chip art in her Etsy shop, Zipper 8 Design.