Hey guys! My name’s Sarah, and this is my Top 5 DIY, Wall Art! Twice a week I’ll help you sort through the endless stream of maker videos, and help you find the very best of the best for your next build!
#5 April Wilkerson
Let’s get started with #5! A few years back April Wilkerson’s friend had a baby and she wanted to give her a homemade piece of art to hang in the nursery. She found these super cute and simple animal shapes online and used those as her template. Once she figured out how she wanted the back to look she made the stencils for each shape that would make up the little animals. Using a scroll saw to cut out each shape made for easy work. Now it’s time for paint! I am glad I am not the only one who has dozens of paint options laying around from past projects. You can’t throw it away, what if you need it again? Next she laid the animals where they needed to go, nailed them into place and added a little frame, and it was ready to hang on the wall.
#4 Make It Now
Make It Now is #4 with his Giant Wall Map. Claudio started off this project by pulling several pieces of lumber off of his wrack and ripping them down to 2, 3, 4, and 6” widths. Because he didn’t want a uniformed look he made sure to cut the boards down to random lengths until he was happy with how they looked together. After some slight rearranging he was ready for the glue up. After it was dry he cut off the excess boards and stained it this pretty dark stain so that the white map would really stand out. Now this specific stancil he chose was very detailed and a pain in the butt to make sure the borders were held down while painting, however he did a really good job with it and the map turned out great. The element of this project that I loved the most is that it is interactive. He has different colored nails for each country he has been, his wife has been, and where they have been together. So with each new adventure they will get to add to their wall art. Very cool Claudio.
#3 Bob’s Two Car Garage
#3 is Bob’s Two Car Garage. He turned an audio wave into a work of art. This looks incredible. He built this for a film studio but I would love to have my favorite song OR a small message from a loved one hanging on my wall. Okay so this was NOT a small project so Bob quickly got to work figuring out how many pieces of walnut it would take and what sizes he would need. Which ended up being over 100 different lengths. So wasting no time he got busy cutting. He really put in the extra effort here and routed every piece to give it a smooth finish. Next he laid out the pieces and built the frame to fit the artwork. Once the frame was built he used a couple washers to evenly space out the walnut slats and nailed them into place. He filled the nail holes with custom colored putty to match the wood and back-lit the wave with LEDs to really stand out from the wall, and this was ready to hang. Bob this is awesome!
#2 Living to DIY with Rachel Metz
Number 2 is Living to DIY with Rachel Metz! Rachel wanted to make a geometric piece of wall art and used materials that you may already have in your garage or shop. Plus the tools she used are pretty common. She started with a piece of plywood and cut it down to the size she wanted her art to be, and in this case it ended up being 24” by 24”. Once she found the center point she knew how long she needed to make each piece board and got to work cutting on the miter saw. When she started laying out her design she decided she wanted the boards a little thinner so she ripped them in half on her table saw. After she sanded them she stained some of them and painted the others to give her three different colors to work with. Starting from the center of the plywood she built out her design and glued them into place making sure to brad nail them down to make sure they aren’t moving. She added some smaller boards around the edge for a frame, attached mounting hardware and hung it up!
#1 Jared and Casey
Last but not least is Jared and Cassy at #1! Okay so I love bright, bold colors and fun patterns, so this piece really jumped out to me, plus Jared is pretty entertaining to watch. This project requires minimal tools, minimal supplies, but a lot of patience and basically four days of sanding. Jared really liked this type of art, but was taken back by how expensive it was, so he decided to make it himself. He ripped down 2×6’s then cut them into 2” cubes with a 45 degree angle on one side. SO MANY CUTS. After that it was time to sand and sand, and sand some more. I am thankful he found a creative way to do this but if you have a belt sander, that would make this go so much faster. Next he torched every single piece and once he had the layout he was looking for it was time to hand pick the pieces to spray paint. Jared glued it all together, flipped it over, and added some nails for extra strength. After adding some hanging hardware this project was complete! You can just ship that to my house Jared!
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