DIY modern art | Nicole and Drew knew they didn't want blank walls or the plastic-framed posters they had back in college. So for their dining area, Nicole decided to try out an idea she stole from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. The original idea was to take a few blank canvases, give them a red base (to go along with the room's Asian theme) using inexpensive interior house paint, and add other colors from there. But after finishing the first one, Nicole started playing around with the paint: "After painting one complete panel, I tried a little texture on the adjacent ones…and then I just had fun with it. I thought the result was interesting, and so I hung the series to see if I would like it (my thought was that I could always paint over it, or scrap it and start over later). The series is still there after a few months. It took all of 30 minutes to do the set. The total cost was under $50 for 5 canvases, 1 brush, and a can of paint; much cheaper than a Pollock original."  >