A blank wall above our couch has plagued me for about three years. I’ve hung various things there — some were laughed at, some were made fun of, and some were spit upon (OK, not really). At one point I had disproportionately small frame I had bought at an estate sale hanging there, empty. Then at Christmastime we just put our stockings in there. Sounds like a good idea in theory, but it looked ridiculous because of it’s puny size.

As I’ve mentioned before, there’s not a whole lot in our budget to devote to art, so I usually have to get creative — like this. I love photo walls, which are a cheap way to cover large spaces, but I already have one across the room that you can see here.

I had an idea brewing in the back of my mind, I just needed to find an affordable way to do it. Years ago I saw a large photo print of just sea and sky above a bed in a magazine. I loved it — simple, calming, goes with anything. I knew I needed one. The one in the magazine was framed, which would be too costly, so I looked into printing it on canvas. There are lots of options online, but the cheapest I found was Costco. I had my eye on the 40×60″ for $289.99. Pretty good, right? They even sent it to my door for 6 bucks. (No they’re not paying me to say this, I’m just really excited about it!)

(The only place I’ve seen large canvases cheaper is Ikea. They have a few that are even larger for $129! That’s amazing, but I want something a little more original for this space. But I’ve still got my eye on you, PREMIÄR world map!)

Now where to get a photo? I went to the beach a couple times and tried to get my own shot, but I worried about the resolution on such a giant print and didn’t want to risk it. (Although, canvases are much more forgiving about resolution than glossy prints.) I decided to be safe and buy stock art online. It cost $19 for a very large, high-resolution file.

Costco has the option to wrap the photo around the sides or you can choose between white or black. I really like the polished look of the black.

Not the cheapest art solution, but the best way I found to get a very big, one-of-a-kind canvas. Goodbye, blank wall. I will not miss you.