Faux Tin Panel Wall Art DIY

Today I just had to share a quickie DIY that we did weekend before last because it’s just too good.  We got a king size bed (*angels singing*) two weeks ago and what we had hanging on the wall over our old bed wasn’t working.  Because every penny we have is going towards saving for the baby, the budget for this wall art project was essentially zero dollars.  I think I ended up and spent $3.00.  #BigSpender  So here’s how we made this gorgeous faux tin panel wall art DIY on the cheap!

When we moved into the last house, the Suburbialand house, part of our renovation was ripping out the tub in the owner’s bathroom.

Once the new tub was set, we needed something cool to finish the front of it.  I considered bead board, but then changed my mind and ordered three of these guys.

They are 24″x24″ and super light weight faux tin ceiling tiles and they were $11 each!

When they arrived I realized quickly that they weren’t going to work exactly like I wanted for the front of the tub, so I’ve held on to them for a year, knowing I’d find the perfect place.

Actually…  to be honest, I kinda forgot about those little faux tin panels until desperation to fill this giant space above our new bed made me go digging through the garage like a décor-crazed sweaty pregnant woman.

And then VOILA!  Found ’em and I knew I finally had the perfect spot.

The green-ish/grey-ish color wasn’t quite right, so I hit them with a quick coat of white spray paint and then commenced to bribing the husband to participate in my project even though we were supposed to be relaxing while the princess napped.  OOPS.

We had three 2″x8′ firring strips left over in the from another project.  These are $2.57 each at Lowes.  The handy hubs, desperate to get me off of my possessed mission for wall art, agreed to build the 2’x2′ frames for me.

I was planning on doing it myself and was just going to chop them into 2′ sections and square them together with nails or screws or whatever was closest to me at the time, but hubs got all fancy and actually cut the corners at 45 degrees and used the finish nailer to join them.

I stained the frames with stain we had on hand, ol’ faithful, Minwax Jacobean, and after letting them dry for an hour, we were staple-gunning the faux tin panels onto the backs of the frames.

This step was super easy because since the faux tin panels are meant for drop-in ceilings, they have the perfect little lip for stapling.

I then measured to the center of the top of each frame and screwed in a little eye hook for the hanger on the back.  Since they are so lightweight, you don’t need heavy-duty hangers for these.

I used my favorite artwork hanging tool – Gorilla Hooks – to punch through the wall and then slipped the eye hooks onto the Gorilla Hooks to hang them.  So.  Easy.

All in all we spent $39, if you count the purchase of the faux tin panels and the firring strips.  Add another $7 if you’re purchasing stain.  Not too bad for three 2’x2′ unique, rustic pieces of artwork!

I snagged some faux ranunculus from Wal Mart (that’s the big $3 spend!) and cut them apart and attached them to some twine with little mini clothespins.

I hung the whole ensemble in front of the tin panels – using push pins in the wall because I’m fancy like that – to soften it up a little bit for spring.  Bonus that I can change this little arrangement seasonally!  YAY for adult Barbies!  (That’s my description of these wonderful décor items that we play with as adults.)

I hope you got some fun ideas from this Faux Tin Panel Wall Art DIY.  These panels are so versatile and could be used for so many things.  What are your ideas?!