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Last week I decided it was time to figure out a way to hide this hideous metal door (HVAC vent?) on the hallway of our apartment. It was only minutes after I told Eric, my boyfriend husband, that I needed to find some artwork to hang over it that I was inspired to create my own from this post on Pinterest. This post uses coffee stir sticks but I had 3 packs of wood shims I purchased a few weeks ago when I thought I was going to use them for this mirror but didn’t. I knew the wood shims would be perfect and more to scale for what I needed. You could always use scrap wood, paint stir sticks, etc.

Side note: Don’t worry about the vents either – there was a gap between the wall and the wood shim art when it was on the wall – so the vents were not being covered up from the frame and the air was still getting out.

DIY Wood Shim Artwork

Originally, I was going to head over to Michael’s or JoAnn’s Fabrics for a large frame and use one of their 50% off coupons, but miraculously found this amazingly HUGE, wood frame at Goodwill for $26 that someone had made. The artwork in it was pretty interesting, but not my style and I knew I would be able to use it for my project.

Why is it that I get so possessive like a mama bear protecting her cub when I am at thrift stores and think someone else it eyeing my treasure? I actually tried to pick this thing up and walk it to the front but it’s nearly as tall as me and I could barely get it an inch off the floor since it was so heavy. Luckily a sales associate saw me and was able to make me a tag for it before I broke it or hurt myself.

Love this idea! Paint wood shims different colors and then glue them down to create an interesting piece of wood shim artwork! upcycledtreasures.com

I was also inspired by this piece of furniture from HomeGoods which I really want to try on something in the future:

Love this idea! Paint wood shims different colors and then glue them down to create an interesting piece of wood shim artwork! upcycledtreasures.com

Below is a list of the materials needed for this project. I already had all the supplies except for the frame so this project cost me less than $30, woot woot!

The first thing that I did was lay the wood shims on top of the frame to make sure I would have enough..

Love this idea! Paint wood shims different colors and then glue them down to create an interesting piece of wood shim artwork! upcycledtreasures.com

Then it was on to deciding my color scheme, which I already had in mind, and start painting away. This can be tedious but the TV was on in the background so it wasn’t too bad and went by rather quick.

Love this idea! Paint wood shims different colors and then glue them down to create an interesting piece of wood shim artwork! upcycledtreasures.com

I then arranged the colors in the order-ish I wanted them to be in. As you can see I had also picked out my favorite wood shims with character to put in the mix as well.

Love this idea! Paint wood shims different colors and then glue them down to create an interesting piece of wood shim artwork! upcycledtreasures.com

I let the sticks dry overnight (I started it pretty late as it was) but then painted over them with a black wash which was 50% black paint and 50% water, let that soak in for a couple minutes and then washed it off with water. I did this because I wanted to give them an aged effect and add another layer of interest. In the future I may let the wash stay on a bit longer for a bigger impact or maybe even try a white wash instead. While the sticks were drying my boy-toy helped me take the frame apart so I could start gluing the sticks down.

Love this idea! Paint wood shims different colors and then glue them down to create an interesting piece of wood shim artwork! upcycledtreasures.com

Here it is without the white frame and before we removed the wooden head silhouette thing(??).

Love this idea! Paint wood shims different colors and then glue them down to create an interesting piece of wood shim artwork! upcycledtreasures.com

After the sticks were dry I started sawing them in random spots for my subway tile effect (we were actually able to screw the miter box down into the wooden background of the frame because it was so thick and I was going to be gluing on top of it anyway). This was my first time using the saw and it was much easier than I thought it would be, and less scary. I have a crazy fear of sharp objects, especially knives and swords but think I got over that a little bit today, haha.

Love this idea! Paint wood shims different colors and then glue them down to create an interesting piece of wood shim artwork! upcycledtreasures.com

After all my pieces were cut it was time to put the puzzle together, which took some time trying to get the colors where I wanted them but the time was well spent and well worth it. After I arranged the pieces where I wanted them to go I then went back and glued each piece down with the glue gun.

Love this idea! Paint wood shims different colors and then glue them down to create an interesting piece of wood shim artwork! upcycledtreasures.com

Love this idea! Paint wood shims different colors and then glue them down to create an interesting piece of wood shim artwork! upcycledtreasures.com

 After the pieces were all glued down I screwed the white frame back into place and my DIY wood shim artwork was completed! Now I need to figure out a way to hide the thermostat…

Love this idea! Paint wood shims different colors and then glue them down to create an interesting piece of wood shim artwork! upcycledtreasures.com

I know this may not have taken a whole lot of skill but it was fun and I just LOVE the outcome! I later re-arranged our apartment and moved the wood shim art into the living room. If you look in the mirror reflection you can see the art I moved from our bedroom into the hallway where the wood shim wall art was.

Love this idea! Paint wood shims different colors and then glue them down to create an interesting piece of wood shim artwork! upcycledtreasures.com

Love this idea! Paint wood shims different colors and then glue them down to create an interesting piece of wood shim artwork! upcycledtreasures.com

Update: When we moved into our rental home the glass on the frame broke (boooo), but I actually like it better now in a strange way. Here is an updated photo of it on our living room gallery wall. 

Love this idea! Paint wood shims different colors and then glue them down to create an interesting piece of wood shim artwork! upcycledtreasures.com

You may also want to check out:

DIY Gilded Wood Shim Art

72 Comments

    1. Thank you so much Stacey! I actually just bought some more wood shims and I plan on making some similar projects, but on a smaller scale and possibly with patterns 🙂 Thanks for stopping by 🙂
      ~Katie

  6. Hi Katie! I love everything you create!!! You where featured today on The Inspiration Gallery, spread the word, your art is AMAZING!!!
    Have a great Saturday!
    Jen

  8. Love the wood shim artwork. What did you do with the head piece? I love that too! I am sure you will figure out something creative with that, too!

  10. Wicked- I so love it. A wonderful job and thanks for sharing. I need a miter box and saw.

    1. Thanks Stephanie! I actually picked up the smaller wood shims recently so if you grab those you could probably avoid the sawing all together 🙂 I plan on making a pattern version for our bedroom here soon 🙂

    1. Hi Shelly! Paint sticks would definitely work too but I didn’t have enough to cover this bad boy. I definitely love them too and and can’t wait to find more projects to use them on! Thanks for stopping by!
      ~Katie

  22. I love your shim artwork! You were one of my picks for features this week at Give Me The Goods! Come by and grab a feature button!

  25. Looks great, but I really liked the face. Would have loved to have seen the face layers painted in the same colours and placed on top of your shims with no glass. Then no one else would have that artwork.

  26. Love the project. Love it.
    I just have one safety question. If this is indeed a “HVAC vent?” as you think it might be, doesn’t this have to be uncovered as it has to vent?
    Reply

    1. Hi Sharon! We hung this up just above the metal vent door and I don’t know if it’s because the frame was solid wood and really thick or what, but it actually didn’t press right against the vent so it was all good. I should have taken a side view {it’s now moved to a different spot in our house}, but you could see the vents and feel them too.

      However, when I tried to move a different, large piece of framed art from our bedroom to that spot instead, it sucked up against the vent. That was definitely not gonna fly so it’s actually propped up on a shelf and leaning against the wall rather than being hung up {think triangle shape so there is a gap where the vent is}. So now the vent is visible from the sides and the air can be felt 🙂

      1. That vent is your ‘cold air return’. Your a/c and forced air heater systems will not work correctly if those vents are covered. Glad that you uncovered it.

        1. Hi Anna! Yes, there was a gap between the wall and the wood shim art when it was on the wall – so the vents were not being covered up from the frame and the air was still getting out. I had it up there for about 6 months and just recently decided to rearrange some stuff so it was moved into our living room. The new art I put up didn’t leave the gap like the wood shim art frame did, which is why I have it leaning against the wall with a gap for the vents 🙂

      2. Thanks so much for replying. I see you already had thought about the safety issue and your heating/air conditioning working safely and correctly. Much appreciated .

        1. I appreciate you bringing it up because it made me go in and add that info to my post. I would hate for someone else to do something similar, but then end up completely covering up their vents. Thanks for stopping by!

  28. I absolutely, totally, am in love with this. I’ve been eyeballing a wood block version from PotteryBarn for months. I am absolutely not paying $350 for it though, especially when I could make it for $12 myself! (Hubby has a saw, I’ve got quite the paint collection 🙂 and I have an old frame I can use.)

    I never even thought of using wood shims (and I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know what wood shims were…). Is it heavy though? That was what was holding me back from attacking the 2×4’s in my garage leftover from last years backyard fence project. It would’ve be too heavy to hang up.

    Anyways, love it. And your site too (found you via Pinterest)

  29. Wow, that looks amazing! I’ve been looking for artwork to hang in my living room/dining room but after seeing this I think I may just have to try it (I love a good project) !! Thanks for the inspiration and love your site :)!!

  30. This turned out super! I need to make a piece of artwork like this! I get that way too…a couple of Christmas’ ago I found a nutcracker book that I been stalking for weeks, but it had gone missing. One day I spied it on a shelf and unknowingly I hunched over and darted my eyes around (no one was in the store) and ran over to grab it! LOL

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