Space age

Top: fabric, $3.99/yard, Vogue Fabrics; center, National poster, $25, Spike Press; bottom left: “Polaroid Print,” $30, Post Family; bottom right, the Frames poster, $30, Bird Machine

Photo: Top, Maia Harms

Lorenz Those team pennants looked great on your dorm wall, but it’s time for your school memorabilia to graduate—to the garbage can. “The collegiate items should be minimized,” Lorenz says. “No one wants to see them, especially that person you brought home to your bachelor pad.” For even his high-end clients, Lorenz recommends his signature wall covering: fabric-wrapped panels (check out our handiwork, top). “It looks custom-made. [For an expensive look], you don’t necessarily need art on the wall.” Go to a hardware store and ask for 24-by-24–inch sheets of half-inch thick plywood. Then add a layer of quilt padding and cover it all up with fabric stapled to the back. For fabric choices, “if your style is young and [graphic], you can do bold colors; if you have a monochrome room, use a texture,” he says. Lorenz is a fan of the cheap and stylish options at Vogue Fabrics (623 W Roosevelt Rd, 312-829-2505).

To add an artistic element, Lorenz says, “it’s easy to find small images that are interesting, rather than large artwork. Inexpensive, large artwork looks really cheap.” If you want to display family photos, he suggests shooting some on black-and-white film, “so they look a little artsy.” After you’ve chosen a small image, center it on a 30-by-30–inch white mat. Use a ready-made black stock frame (we like the 30-inch square Profile Metal Frame Kit, $10.20, at Pearl, 225 W Chicago Ave, 312-915-0200) and substitute a pricey mat for nice white paper like Lenox printmaking sheets ($3.89 each, also at Pearl).

Buchalter Break out the brushes, he advises. “You can do a lot with just paint,” he says. Buchalter recommends using an accent color on one wall, which will draw you into the room. “Be bold, but not too bold. Look to the natural world for [color] inspiration.” (Try interior paints like Valspar’s Martha Stewart Colors in rich, earthy “Andiron,” or Valspar Premium’s lemony “Citrus Tickle,” $28–$30 per gallon, both at Lowe’s (3601 W Touhy Ave, Lincolnwood, 847-972-4041). Another option: “Buy magnetic paint that turns the whole wall into a magnetic surface that you can then stick [on] your favorite state-shaped magnets or those little word magnet kits,” he says. (We suggest Rust-Oleum Magnetic Latex Primer, $19.97 per quart at Lowe’s.)

Dilworth Hey, why not buy some actual, you know, art? “If you know there’s an art show coming up, you can start budgeting for it at the beginning of the year. Put aside $10 a week and you’ll have a couple hundred dollars to buy a piece of art,” he says. A huge proponent of buying local, Dilworth suggests taking advantage of October’s Chicago Artists Month to get acquainted with the art scene, and checking out the city’s art walks and events, like 18th St: Pilsen Open Studios (from May St to Leavitt St and from 16th St to 23rd St, pilsenopenstudios.com) and the open house at Wicker Park art studio the Splat Flats (1815–25 W Division St), both on Saturday 13.

Laban She recommends checking out printmakers: “It’s possible to get [posters] from artists that are very affordable…a lot for $20 and definitely under $50, [so you can] buy enough that you can switch it out,” she says. “It looks nice and can reflect a certain point in your life or interests.” Locally, she loves the Bird Machine (pictured, bottom right; thebirdmachine.com), Spike Press (pictured, middle; spikepress.com), the Post Family (pictured, bottom left; thepostfamily.com) and Little Friends of Printmaking (thelittlefriendsofprintmaking.com).