Recently, we've had a flurry of interest in our cotton
canvas wall hangings and as these are an economical way of adding to the décor of a home or business,
we thought to share a bit about what goes into the making of them with our newsletter family.
There are two types of material utilized for our entire line of cotton canvas products: a heavy canvas
for floor coverings and area rugs and a lighter weight canvas used for our beach bags and totes, pillow covers, curtains,
duvets, cushion covers, etc. Either of these can be used for wall hangings, but, as you'll soon learn, there are
a couple of considerations, and of course, pricing variants.
Width
& Length and Seams
The width of bulk canvas available
here in Costa Rica is 60 inches. After processing (washing to preshrink) and hemming the edges, the widest measurement, without
a seam, is then reduced to 57 inches (4'9"). Now, we have made several larger custom rugs that required
a seam in order to meet the needs of our clients, however, with the process used for preparing the material, combined with
the paint and design layout, a seam is very difficult to observe, as it would it be for a wall hanging. The good news: there
is, no limit on length if a very long wall hanging were needed.
Paint
Choices
As for the paint we use, either for a custom or with
any of our in-house designs, we offer two choices: water-based acrylic or water-based latex. Both offer a matte finish. Acrylic
paints are more expensive, and a bit more difficult to work with on the heavier canvas, however, the colors produce a brighter
hue. The latex, comparatively, allows for a sharper edge on design definition due to the lack of paint 'bleeding.'
Our paint company of choice here in Costa Rica is Sherman Williams; they have
a huge selection of colors and we have an extensive stock to allow creating custom colors to match our clients home or business.
Sherman Williams offers an online paint matching tool , however, due to variables with computer monitors, we recommend going to a local Sherman William store and
acquiring color cards for the best match.
Heavy or Light,
Varnish or Not?
Depending on the size of the wall hanging
you might have in mind, two things to consider: The weight of the wall hanging and its location. Either paint can be
used; the heavy weight canvas including a varnish coat, (we use Minwax brand polyurethane matte varnish) provides enough weight
to hang well on a wall. Additionally, the varnish protects from fading as well as mold build-up and allows for a damp wipe
cleaning, thus providing decades of enjoyment.
With the lighter weight
canvas, a wall hanging might need to be stretched over a frame in order to maintain form and to hang well. Selecting acrylic
fabric on the light weight canvas paint without a varnish finish* would be subject to fading so it would be best to display
away from direct sun.
*We are currently testing the varnish on lighter
weight canvas and will post results.
Pricing
Basically, our wall hangings (and floor cloths) are priced per square meter.
I know we mentioned inches previously so let me clarify for those not using the metric system: a square meter equals 10.76
square feet. If you elect to have a wall hanging made with the heavier cotton canvas, the price is $50 USD per square meter.
This includes all materials and design.With the lighter weight canvas, we charge $30 per square meter. Either sized wall hanging
quoted at these prices would be unframed.
I hope you've enjoyed
learning a little about the making of our hand painted, canvas wall hangings. Whether considering an addition or a change
for a large area or smaller, we can create the perfect wall hanging for your home or business. Oh, and here's a
photo of a new wall hanging I recently painted.
Thanks for reading...until next
month.
Laurel Anderson
http://www.laurelsoriginals.com
