DIY Scrap Wood Wall Art

I’ve been wanting to make some more custom wall art for my new apartment, but can only use what I have on hand because shopping for new lumber has been really difficult. So, I challenged myself to use some leftover plywood and reclaimed pallet wood to create an adorable set of diamond shape wood wall art pieces!

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Want more projects like this one? Visit my website & YouTube channel!

Website: www.diyhuntress.com

YouTube Channel: www.diyhuntress.com

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Supplies

Tools
Miter Saw
Table Saw (Optional)
Brad Nailer
Circular Saw
Heat Torch
Sander
Straight Edge
Wood Clamps
Painting Materials
Staining Materials
Tape Measurer

Materials
¾" Plywood
Scrap Pallet/Reclaimed Wood
Grey Stain
White Paint
Wood Glue
1" Brad Nails
Picture Hooks

Step 1: Cut Your Shape

Cut your plywood into diamond shapes. I chose to (of course) make my life a bit difficult here and free handed my diamond design. I ended up making a diamond that had 13" sides and was cut at 22 ½ degree angles.

Step 2: Prep Your Reclaimed Wood

Next, I prepped my reclaimed pallets. I ripped them into 1 ¼" strips and kept the excess ¾" cut offs for accents later.

Step 3: Begin the Layout

Next, it was time to prep the diamonds for the designs. I started by marking the center of the boards and then using my straight edge to create a grid to lay out my pieces.

Step 4: Cut Your Strips

Once I was ready to design, I had to choose the angle I wanted my pieces to be. Of course, I made my life difficult again and chose to cut my first row of pieces at 40 degrees (if you want a piece that will fit together flawlessly, use 45 degree angles for all of your geometric cuts - here's a project I used that technique with).

I didn't worry too much here about making sure they fit perfectly, because I'll be trimming the overhang later (you can see another example of how I did this on my Ombre Wood Art Project).

Step 5: Paint, Stain, or Heat It Up!

After I was happy with my first horizon, I began to paint, stain, and de-stress my pieces before assembling. I did this using three different techniques: painting pieces, staining pieces, and torching pieces using a heat torch.

I chose to use a heat torch because the other wall art piece in my new apartment was wood torched and I wanted it to match! You can swap this out for black paint instead, if you don't have a torch!

Step 6: Attach the Pieces

After letting the pieces dry, I attached the first horizon of pieces using wood glue and brad nails.

Step 7: Finish the Other Half

Next, it was time to work on filling in the remaining spots! Because I used an unconventional angle for the first row, I had to do some guesswork for the remaining pieces. To do this, I used a pre-cut piece of wood and marked the overhang with a pencil (you can see this in action in my Youtube video). But, you can also use a protractor or angle-finder here, if that's available to you!

I then brought it over to the miter saw to find the angle. The angle ended up being about 50-ish degrees or so. But, don't quote me on this! It's better to double check this angle and do what works for you and your piece!

As I fit my pieces on these ends of the piece, I trimmed a few pieces on my miter saw to create some fun shapes by flipping the boards over and cutting triangles. I made sure to use the same angles for all of my cuts to help the design flow and fit (also in action in my Youtube video).

Step 8: Paint, Stain, or Torch Before Attaching

I then torched, painted, and stained these pieces once I was happy with the design and then nailed and glued the pieces to the diamond once they dried.

Step 9: Trim the Excess

Once my art pieces were complete, I flipped them over and used a circular saw/track saw with a straight-edge guide to trim the art pieces along the edge of the plywood.

Step 10: Add a Border

I then used old cutoffs from a 2×4 project (I told you I was a scrap hoarder) to create boarders for the art piece. Again, I had to do some creative problem solving here to figure out my angles, but I did this the same way as the geometric pieces. My angles were so strange (again, you can avoid this by using straight forward angles) and ended up coming out to 36.6 and 57 degrees.

Once they were cut, I attached the borders to the pieces using brad nails and wood glue.

Step 11: Add Hooks

Last step was to attach picture hanging hooks and hang in my new apartment!

Step 12: Hang & Admire!

I have made a few geometric art pieces in the past, but these are my new favorites! I'm so excited to have them in my space (and it doesn't hurt that I was able to make them for free)!