How to Make a Gorgeous Piece of Unusual Wall Art for Your Basement or Anywhere

When decorating my basement, I was left with an interesting dilemma. The walls were made of block, and I did not want to put any screws into it to hold up any artwork. Painting an image on the block was an option, but because the block was not even (due to the grooves in between each block) the image would also take on that uneven appearance. To alleviate the problem I got creative. I used things I already had and put them together to create probably the prettiest eye catching piece in my home.

The first piece I used (the black bars you see in the picture) was the bottom rail of a metal bunk bed my children had used. We had disassembled this piece many months before and it was just lying around waiting to go to the junk yard. Instead, I took it, as it was, and adhered it to the stud at the very top of my basement wall. I anchored it in three places, one on each side, and one in the middle by doubling a large piece of twine several times in each location for strength, and attaching it to a hook.

You could use something like this or find something else that would work, like a small gate from outside. A piece of lattice work with a frame or even a large piece from an old crib could be used. The possibilities are endless. Use your imagination.

Next, I went through my artwork and found a piece I liked for that space and maneuvered another piece of doubled over twine to the back of the frame and attached it to the wall with another hook right beside where the central hook was located that held up the iron bed rail. Essentially, I had two hooks in the stud side by side, one holding the center of the rail, and one holding the picture.

My picture is an oriental butterfly that I had cross-stitched from a kit. I bought a special frame for it with colors that I thought would look nice with the colors I chose to use for my wall art. You could do this, or you could use any other type of framed image, a photo, a poster, a family portrait, a painting. The idea behind this piece is that it be colorful so it will stand out on its own. Also, you will want to make sure that the twine is adhered securely to the back of the frame. You may need to nail the twine into the wood in the back, or even drill a hole or two in the sides or top to run the twine through.

Finally, I took some artificial greenery and vines and intertwined them between the bars of the rail, making sure to cover anything I didn't want others to see, like the screw holes on the sides and the twine I used to hold the piece up with. I already had this greenery so I didn't have to spend any money on this project except for the $10 on the frame.

I chose to put my wall art above a gas fireplace we had installed. I used the fireplace to add pizazz to the bottom area. If you don't have this option, you can add another framed picture to the bottom of the rail using the same technique that you used for the first picture. You will want to make sure to use a separate string of twine to hold the piece up, and not attach it to the picture above. This will help the piece to remain stationary.