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Affordable, Playful DIY Wall Decor

Affordable, Playful DIY Wall Decor

Artwork for the walls of your home can get expensive.  And, while you may want to spring for a fabulous original piece of art for the space above your living room mantle, not every wall in your home needs to have custom or original artwork.  Read on for a very affordable – and fun – wall art alternative.

Board games are fun, colorful and playful – everything you want wall art to be in a family room or children’s bedroom or playroom.  Instead of merely collecting them for play, consider using them as wall decor!

I shopped thrift stores for these vintage games, choosing games that featured bright colors, fun shapes and those that were in good condition.  Some of the games are classics:  Risk, Scrabble and Monopoly.  Others – Easy Money and Bonkers – I’d never heard of!  But, the game boards looked great, and that’s all that counts.

Now, you could go ahead and have the boards custom-framed at a local framing shop, but you will quickly find that your affordable artwork is now much less affordable.  Instead, I decided to create my own hidden mounting system for my game boards.

game board wall art decor

To create a framework on the back of the game board, I purchased a bundle of wood lath strips at my local home improvement store.  These are thin (about 1/4″) strips that come in 48″ lengths.  The lumber is rough, so I sanded it slightly with my handy-dandy Mouse Sander to smooth the boards and get rid of splinters.  I then measured each game board, cutting 2 strips for each board a couple of inches smaller than the board dimension.  There was really no science to the size of the wood strips; I just wanted them hidden from view, so I didn’t cut them the same size as the game board.

I used wood glue to adhere the lath strips to the back of the game board, making sure to run them in perpendicular to the fold in the board.  This makes the board rigid and ready to hang.  I placed heavy books on the lath strips and left them overnight to dry flat.  On game boards that required it, (some boards are folded from top to bottom, while others have a fold running side to side.  The Scrabble board shown below is folded top to bottom, making it easy to add a sawtooth hanger at the middle of the top lath strip.) I also added a small scrap piece of lath to the top of the board; this piece allowed for the sawtooth wall hanger to be added to the back of the board.  When nailing in the sawtooth hanger, be sure to measure the board and place the hanger in the middle of the board; this will allow the board to hang straight on the wall.

game board wall decor

There you have it!  Super simple, and very affordable.  I especially like having a bunch of game boards grouped together for more impact.  What do you think?  Is this something you would try for your own home?  I love how they turned out!  I now have the boxes and playing pieces from each of these board games…what to do with those?  Stay tuned…I’m sure I’ll think of something!

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2 Responses to Affordable, Playful DIY Wall Decor

  1. Nathelle says:

    What are the tags on everything? Are these in a store where you sell them?

    • Teri says:

      Hello! Yes, they are. I am a vendor at a shop in Downtown Hudson, WI, called Hello the House. It’s a mix of vintage, repurposed and refinished home decor and gifts – some wonderfully creative vendors! If you are in the area, you’ll have to stop in and check us out! 🙂

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