DIY Large Wall Art that Makes a Statement

We used to have a big blank wall in our dining room. A big blank wall that we stare at every day. And of course, I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on artwork for that wall. It was a problem.

Until one day I had an idea for how to create a DIY large wall art piece that would really fill that big blank space and make a statement. I wanted an art piece with texture and interest, but still modern and simple. And I wanted it to have meaning, too.

To make my statement piece of DIY large wall art, I needed a big canvas. Like really big. I was thinking at least 4 feet across. At Home Depot, I bought this thin light piece of wood. It was labeled 1/4 2X4 Birch Handypanel and it cost $10.97. I wanted a board that was light so it would be easy to hang on the wall. For my vision, I also wanted the board to have some texture and grain. If you don’t like that look, you could easily paint the board first.
Then I ordered some vinyl letters. I got mine courtesy of BuildaSign.com. The website is not super user-friendly but I really liked that I could totally customize the size of the letters and choose from a good selection of fonts. The decals were shipped quickly and looked great when they arrived. They were easy to apply and are still hanging on strong on my sign (even though I’m writing this post almost 5 months after I actually did the project). The total price of the letters was $25.32. If you have an awesome fancy cutting machine, you could probably DIY this part, too.

I cut my words apart and spaced them out how I liked them on the board. I didn’t want them all to line up precisely; I wanted them to be more staggered and random instead. Once they were lined up were I wanted, I carefully peeled off one side of the backing and pressed them down letter by letter. I used my library card to press out bubbles and make sure each letter was firmly stuck to my board canvas.

Then I carefully peeled off the front backing. I attached two d-rings to either side of the back of the board. Then I just used two nails to hang it on the wall.

The quote is from Bruce Springsteen’s song, “All that Heaven Will Allow” which is also the song that Phil and I had our first dance to at our wedding. So it makes me smile to see it first thing every day while I’m making my coffee.
My new DIY large wall art perfectly fills the space above our coffee station. You can see my much beloved Nespresso machine and milk frother on the left. I make better lattes at home than I’ve ever had at Starbucks, now.

For other wall art ideas, check out my project painting canvas quote art, cork photo display, and fingerpainted canvas art. Or you can just keep oogling the awesome DIY statement art piece above my coffee bar. Which is what I’ll be doing.