Hetkiä/Moments

I have been in love with this print from Marimekko forever and dreamed of it in the perfect spot at the top of the stairs.

Ta-dah! This is how it looks!! Well, temporarily at least until I can work out a way to hang it properly on the wall.

I first saw this print in a much smaller version at the markets a few years ago, long before I had this house, but after I built I knew this would be the perfect spot and it had to be the full size version - over two metres tall to take up almost the full height of the wall.

I thought saving up and buying the fabric would be my hardest battle as the fabric is ridiculously expensive for such a flimsy piece of cotton. It was so flimsy it was almost see-through. Turns out though, mounting it on canvas was way more painful.

I took it to a professional framer who quoted $700 to stretch it over a canvas. His section option was to frame it behind acrylic which would be $1600.

What the?

Screw that. I rang The Art Shed in West End (they're soooo helpful there) and while they didn't have a canvas big enough, the guy on the phone suggested I just buy stretcher bars and make a frame myself.

What the heck are stretcher bars? Well I'm glad you asked. They're basically the outside and inside frames that you "stretch" the fabric over. They have tongue and groove inserts at the corners so you don't need nails or glue, just a rubber mallet.

It wasn't that hard to put it together, but trying to manoeuvre a 2.5 metre frame around was a little tricky. I glued the inside bars just to give it a bit more strength.

I had to put a foundation layer of white canvas so it wasn't so see-through.

It looks absolutely perfect at the top of the stairs and I couldn't be happier. It took me a little longer (like everything with this house!!) but I saved loads and the end result is the same.