Large Scale Wall Art: Patent Drawing Engineering Prints

Large scale wall art tends to come with a large scale price tag, so I was pleased to find an affordable and visually satisfying solution for our two-story living room.  .ngineering prints of patent drawings have an industrial and graphic quality and are easy on the wallet!

If you've been on Pinterest ever, really, you've surely seen projects such as the ones below that use engineering prints to create enormous wall art (click images to be directed to source sites):

 

 

 

With the neutral industrial look that is emerging in our house, and a household appreciation of cameras and technical drawing, Remodelaholic's patent drawing downloads really inspired me.

To create our four pieces, I downloaded the patent drawings, uploaded them to the engineering print service on the Staples website, and ordered 18"X24" prints.  I checked the box to have the images sized to fit within those dimensions to create the white border.

You can really get far more creative with these patent drawings and engineering printing services by looking up patents for other items and printing even larger.  I was quite drawn to typewriter drawings, but these four coordinating images struck me the most.

I'm also thinking of enlarging some of my own photos for our master bedroom, but that's a 2017 project. Must. Stay. Focused.

Part of the appeal of engineering prints, aside from their hugeness, is how incredibly affordable they are.  The prints themselves were less than $7 total.  In order to maintain that minimal cost, I considered DIY frames (perhaps like the ones we made for Michael's room) and cork boards (found some for less than $10 each at Target).  Although the rustic and industrial look of bare prints did attract me, ultimately I was drawn to an option that includes glass over the prints for a more polished look and better protection over time.  The ease of just popping those prints in the 18"X24" poster frames for a perfect fit was worth the additional financial cost, and $70 total for an arrangement appropriate for a two-story wall seems pretty reasonable to me (frames were 50% off at joann.com at the time, and I found a free shipping code).

   

I have to share that just before taking these pictures I grabbed that basket from my basement simply to have something there for the pics.  It looked too empty, so I threw in a handful of favorite books from my night stand.  There's something about the basket that screams "Borrow me!" as any good library should, and it is now a permanent detail in the house.

To see more fun projects, check out the Merry Monday Link Party at Twelve on Main.