We were blessed to build a home in the early 80s. It truly was a dream home. From the floor plan to the intricate details. It took us a year to build, with lots of helping hands. Since moving from that home almost 20 years ago, there has been much reflection on the labor, events, love and emotion that was created there. I have been wanting to Make Vintage Art From Your Home Blueprints and I have a tutorial so you can make your own.
I have had this idea rolling around my head for awhile. It was actually quite emotional browsing through the brittle blueprints one by one.
From the process of choosing a style and floor plan that would best fit our growing family, to submitting the plans for approval, to the first shovel of dirt for digging the footings. Every step came flooding my mind.
As mentioned before these blueprints are brittle. They crack and tear at almost the thought of being touched.
It would definitely be necessary to have a copy to make this vintage blueprint art.
I took the blueprints to Office Max and had an 18 x 24 inch copy made. It was about $15 for this poster size copy.
As you can see there is a white edge around the whole picture. I cut off the white off the sides to look original. Leaving the top and bottom white edge for attaching the “frame”.
Instead of framing the print, I thought it would look great as a scroll style piece.
Using an 8 foot piece of raw wood trim from Lowe’s. Which way too long from this project, but now there is extra for later. Cutting the wood into 25 1/2 inch lengths will be perfect for the top and bottom of my “scroll”.
Using a navy blue chalky paint, I lightly brushed the trim. I like the look of not being completely painted. Kind of an aged look, if you will.
Once the blue paint was dry, I went over it with a gold tint from Fusion Mineral Paint. I liked how the blue and gold were coordinating with the aged blueprint itself.
Using simple and plain ‘ol Elmers school glue, I attached the wood trim to the top and bottom of the blueprint.
This is where the extra white edge around the copy came in hand. By adhering the wood trim to the white edge, I didn’t have to hide or cut off any of the blueprint. There is a full view of the picture.
I let the glue dry overnight. Then added a 4 ft non-stretch string by wrapping it around the TOP wood trim end, as seen above.
Learning how Make Vintage Art From Your Home Blueprints, has been a creative process. One that I know you can easily do, as well.
My husband is SO pleased with this. He has stood by the mantel and studied this “new” art several times. As I said, there are many sentimental reasons behind the blueprints and floor plans. We celebrated birthdays, graduations, victories, home-births, new jobs, weddings and successes. We baked, cooked, cried, mourned, hugged, kissed, laughed, played games, watched fireworks, played in the snow, jumped in puddles, planted a garden, trees and grass, and have memories that are lasting through our grandchildren.
Not only do I have a new piece of art above my mantel, I have a conversation piece and memories to last a lifetime.
This post is in conjunction with The Thrifty Style Team hosted by Julie at Redhead Can Decorate.
The second Friday of each month we post our thrifty ideas for you to be inspired by. I can’t wait for you to see what these talented bloggers have in store this time. Enjoy!
February Thrifting, The Thrifty Style Team Way
♥The Creekline House – Ten Things You Should Always Buy From the Thrift Store
♥Jennifer Rizzo – Free Bee and Honeycomb Printable
♥Salvage Sister and Mister – DIY Cardboard Sunflower
♥The Painted Hinge – DIY Antiqued Wall Panel
♥Unskinny Boppy – Farmhouse Bucket ‘O Carrots Easter Craft Idea
This choked me up. Why? Because my hard working husband has built us 3 homes with his own hands. Of course I saved all the blue prints and get nostalgic looking at them, but this is a great idea to display them. The office is getting a make over, these would be the perfect addition to make the office not just about me. Pinned, love it!
What a wonderful idea for wall art that is meaningful. I would love to do this with our house plans!
Meegan, this project turned out beautifully!! I am in love with old blueprints like these because they are so rare these days. I drew up blueprints on CAD for a local home builder all last year, and the computer versions are not nearly as pretty as the hand-drawn kind. :) This is a super special gift to make for someone. I love your ingenuity!
What an amazing piece of your history, with so many memories attached! I love this project Meegan!! ;)
I love this idea!!! My husband built our home so we have the blueprints and I’m definitely doing this!
This is such a sweet piece of art! What a great way to pay tribute to your memories and I love the idea of using a copy so you don’t risk damaging the original!
That is an incredible idea!
What an amazing and beautifully personal idea. Now that’s what art and decor is all about. Love it!!!
We have literally tens of thousands of blueprint pages here since my husband has been a GC for his entire career. I have thought about wallpapering with them, but this is a better idea!
Meegan, I am so glad you have these blueprints still and that you have wonderful, wonderful memories to go with them!!! It almost sound like you might want to rebuild this house, especially if it was perfect for your family… <3 Or maybe a smaller version of it! :)
Glad your husband really likes this blueprint hanging and how it turned out,
Many hugs,
Barb <3
I recently found our blueprints in the attic. Thank you for the idea.
Great idea. It really turned out beautiful. Thanks for the post.
Love vintage things and new things that are made to look vintage. You’ve given me an idea!
What a fabulous idea. Love it. Looks so stylish
This is such a great idea, Meegan. And it sounds like the perfect piece to hang over the mantel since it brings back so many meaningful memories. Thanks for the tutorial!
Wonderful idea. We have our remodel ones we’ve used through three different projects. I love the mix of modern industrial and vintage. Thanks for sharing this project.
This choked me up, Meegan. It was a beautiful house because you all lived there! It served as a building block for the two of you and your amazing kids. It was the backdrop for your life then! I can understand How special it is -to get to replay all those memories! This is a wonderful way to display it!!