Leanne Ford’s Genius Hack For That Old IKEA Canvas Art

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Leanne Ford. Photography by Sarah Barlow

If you’ve ever seen a piece of minimalist art and thought, I could make that, Leanne Ford agrees with you. In her new book, Feel Free Home, (on shelves May 12th) the designer has created a hands-on, workbook-style guide for how to “do your home your way.” Building on her 2024 book, The Slow Down: For the Love of Home, Ford offers readers more of her signature down-to-earth decorating ideas and budget-friendly hacks for projects as small as applying a wall texture and as big as a kitchen makeover. She views a home as one big creative canvas, and in this exclusive excerpt, she means that quite literally.

Easy Cheap Art

Everyone can draw trees. Even me! I made simple trees with a charcoal stick right onto a painter’s drop cloth. I hung it around the corner of the room because, well… I could! It’s fabric, after all. Photography by Alexandra Ribar

Take your own photographs—then crop them in new ways or blow them up and make them bigger.

Paint over your IKEA art canvas. Admit it, we all have one. A big canvas of New York City or Audrey Hepburn or a framed picture of who-knows-what that we thought looked perfect in our dorm room. Then, since we already owned it, it went to our house… and poof! Here you are in your 20s or 30s with a great job and great style—and you still have that dumb artwork up on your wall. I get it. Now get over it! Grab some leftover wall paint or your friend’s kid’s craft paint and get artsy! Use the canvas as… your canvas… and paint it simply all one color, or a color block, or add some style to it with electrical tape, duct tape, or even a Sharpie. Make it art that works for your life and your style and who you are now.

Burn your books. No, just kidding, but why not mess a couple up? Find an old picture book or atlas with good colors and tear the pages out. Make a large piece of wall art by nailing and layering as many together as you want. The more the merrier, the bigger the better!

This works with any book if you like how the pages look. It also lets you see the pictures you love all the time instead of just when you have time to open the book. No mercy. Get your school art back out and hang it up! You should be proud! (If you can’t find it, try looking under your childhood bed. That’s where every parent hides it.) Get your friends to draw some artwork for your walls. Better yet, have them over for a drawing (wine) party and trade! They (and you) can draw anything, each other, your pets, your house, whatever!

What’s needed to create art?

Passion

Fearlessness

Curiosity

Rebellion

Freedom

Mystery

Warmth

Wit

A point of view

Jasper Johns once wrote, “Take a canvas. Put a mark on it. Put another mark on it.” Soon enough, you’ve created art.

Canvas Art

Often, when I have a lot of wall space and not a lot of moolah, I pick up painter’s canvas and some charcoal. Sometimes the canvas is new; sometimes I’ve literally stolen it from a painter. Photography by Alexandra Ribar

Home Again with the Fords — Brooke Noel Morgan was kind enough to make these stunning canvases for a client of mine. I asked her permission to mess with them a bit by overlapping them, not framing them… general shenanigans. She said go for it! For the greater good, ya know?! Photography by Erin Kelly

There’s a general rule in art: If it’s not good, make it bigger. Likewise, if it’s not good, keep going. Its not done yet.

For instance, this forest scene was pretty boring to start with, so kept adding trees, which made it more dynamic (When thinking about what to draw, there’s not much that’s easier than trees.)

Materials:

Canvas drop cloth (Uncoated canvas is ideal, but both work just fine.)
Black paint or charcoal
Paintbrush

Steps:

If you can, wash the canvas a couple times to loosen it up.
Spread the canvas on the floor to create, or hang it up first and draw while it’s in place! You’re the artist; you decide!
Paint to your heart’s content.
Hang your canvas in its proper place, if it isn’t already.