DIY Mid Century Modern Inspired Wall Sculpture

My husband and I are in the middle of a mid century inspired entryway renovation.  On a tight budget I need to add.  The majority of the budget has already been spent on four new pocket doors, hardware, paint, trim and a decorative accent wall.  So when it came to adding decorative mid century inspired wall art and accessories, the only budget friendly solution was to make a few DIY items myself.  Such as this DIY mid century modern wall sculpture I made for our project. 

This post contains affiliate links which help to support this blog if you were to purchase anything through these links, at no additional cost to you.

 

 

This post is part of the Creative Craft Blog Hop that I am filling in as host for the next two months for Sara from Birdz of a Feather.

I have enjoyed helping out as host for the last couple of months while Sara has been taking care of other things that needed her attention.

 

If you are visiting from Gail’s site, Purple Hues and Me then welcome!  I know you will enjoy Gail’s Wood Veneer Candlestick project this month.  At the very bottom of this post, I will be directing you to the next stop on this blog hop venture. And don’t forget to check out all of the talented bloggers participating this month during the week as well.

My version of a DIY mid century modern wall sculpture.

Mid Century modern has been a favorite design style of mine since design school.  Which of course motivated us to buy a mid century inspired home built in the 1970s as a fixer upper.  Furnishing and decorating our home with vintage mid century items is not only a big challenge but an expensive hobby as well.

That is why our home has a mix of vintage and reproduction items to create the mid century style we enjoy.

Mid century wall art has been something that is easier just to purchase from sites like Etsy or to DIY it myself.  I really wanted art for the renovated entryway to be fun and vintage looking similar to starburst mirrors or metal wall sculptures. I found inspiration for mid century wall sculptures to purchase online.

Inspiration pieces:

 

 

The vintage piece from the 1960’s available on Ebay was over $1200!  Nope, not happening.  The reproductions available from Target and Wayfair were much better prices but too big for my wall.

So like any DIYer will do, I turned to Pinterest and Youtube for inspiration and solutions.  I was thrilled to find that other creative bloggers had tackled the same challenge as I have and created similar mid century inspired wall art using wood dowels.  Exactly like I was thinking of doing. Thank you for showing how to make my idea work!

For my version of a DIY mid century inspired wall sculpture, I used several sizes of square wooden dowels I purchased at Michaels, Gorilla Glue, and gold spray paint.

 

 

 

 

Using the images I found online of available reproduction or vintage wall sculptures as a guideline to follow, I first created a grid on graft paper with a similar design.

This was actually very easy to do.

After measuring the wall for a size guide, I taped together four 8 x 10 sheets of graft paper together to create a base for the grid.  On top of the graft paper, I taped down a sheet of drafting trash paper, similar to tissue paper, over the graft paper sheets.  It was on this paper that I drew out the lines with a sharpie of the design for the dowel rod placement.

The grid lines gave me a guideline for the placement of the dowel rods about 1 inch apart, and lengths to cut them down to different sizes.  Cutting the square wood dowels was easy using a small hand saw on a cutting board from my kitchen.

 

 

From there I just played around with the placement of the dowel rods until I found a look I liked.  It was like playing with puzzle pieces.  

 

 

 

 

Once I had a placement I liked, I glued the layers of square dowels together with Gorilla Glue and allowed it to dry overnight.

 

 

The next day, I trimmed off some of the excess glue as best as I could, took the small sculpture outside, and spray painted both sides with metallic gold spray paint.

 

 

 

I can’t show my DIY mid century inspired wall sculpture in the entryway yet, because we haven’t done the full reveal for the online design challenge. But I can show you what this small DIY crafting project will look like once it is hung on a wall.

 

 

The best part, it cost me less than $10 to make my version and just a few hours of work.

 

 

Be sure to visit the other creative and talented bloggers participating this month in the Creative Craft Blog Hop listed below.  

 

Easy Clearance Wreath Upcycle

Dollar Tree Hand-woven Basket Stand

Welcome Home Painted Birdhouse

DIY Mid Century Modern Inspired Wall Sculpture

Indoor/Outdoor DIY Farmhouse Lantern

Tattoos on Glass Decor

Finally a Frame

How to Paint and Mod Podge a Wooden Tray

Hugs,

2 Corinthians 5:17 “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”