Woodworking

DIY Geometric Wood Art Piece

geometric wood art

Since moving into our studio, my other half and I have been on the hunt for an awesome art piece to hang above our couch. Well, it took me a year, but I was finally able to come up with something cool that fits the bill! I partnered with my friends at HANDy Paint Products to create a really awesome and large piece of geometric wood art for our pad for under $50 in supplies!

How To Make Geometric Wood Art

So, this piece is pretty big. Like, 2 feet tall and 4 feet wide, big. But, there were a few steps along the way that made this project a lot easier. Overall, this project took me 2 work days to create!

how to make geometric wood art

One of the things that I was nervous about when creating this piece was how long it would take me to paint all of the tiny pieces in this project. But, because I used the HANDy Pro Pail, I was able to set up a painting station to help streamline the entire process! You can check it out in the tutorial below!

What You’ll Need:

how to make wood art

Tools
Miter Saw
Circular Saw
Nail Gun
(3) HANDy Pro Pail
(3) HANDy Pro Pail Liners
Tape Measure
(3) Paint Brushes
Sander/Sanding Block

Materials
(1) Lath Bundle (50 Pieces)
12 Foot Long ½ x ¾” Trim
Half Sheet ½” Plywood
¾” Brad Nails
Wood Glue
Light Brown Stain
Dark Brown Stain
White Paint

The Steps:

1. Use a straight edge and your pencil to divide your sheet of plywood into four sections. This will help make sure everything is even when you are working.

how to make art

2. Cut the end of one lath at 45 degrees. This will be used as your stencil.

build wood art

3. Use your stencil to begin tracing out your design.

how to create a wood art piece

4. To create the small sections in the middle, use your straight edge to create small lines that intersect your longer lines. I started mine about 3 inches up and moved up my lines at 1″ intervals.

how to make plywood art

5. Once you are happy with your layout, begin cutting pieces for the design. All cuts are made at 45 degree angles. Use a pencil to mark an estimate for your overhangs. These don’t need to be perfect, as they will be trimmed down later.

how to cut lath wood

6. If your lath pieces are rough, use a sander to sand away the imperfections.

create wood centerpiece

7. Decide what colors you wish to use (kind of like a giant paint-by-numbers) and mark them in the design to make matching pieces easier as you go.

make southwestern art

8. Use yourHANDy Pro Pails to create a painting station! I used 3 pails and dumped my paint in the liners of each one. I also made sure to designate one paintbrush per pail and let them hangout on the awesome magnets that are included in each one!

how to make tri color art

9. Now life gets easy! As you cut, and decide what colors you’d like to use, bring your pieces to your paint station and begin adding color!

I started with my white pieces first…

how to paint wood more than one color

and then moved on to my stains!

how to stain wood

10. Allow your pieces to dry, and then begin adding them to your artwork with wood glue and brad nails!

how to make art from plywood

11. Continue to add as you go!

southwest geometric art

12. If you need to do any touching up, grab your HANDy Paint Pail and  bring it over to your piece. I used a small detail brush for touching up pieces that were damaged in the process.

multicolor wood art

13. Once your piece is complete, use a circular saw and a track or straight edge to cut away the uneven ends. This will make the piece perfectly straight all the way around.

track saw

14. Next, cut and add your frame pieces with brad nails and wood glue. I stained mine to match the lighter color from the arrows. You will need:

(2) 24″ Short Frames
(2) 49″ Long Frames

how to add border to plywood
15. Last, add your wall hangers!

how to hang plywood
Now hang that artwork and admire your job well done!

southwestern art
How’s that for a budget friendly statement piece!?

rustic art

Now that the last piece of our puzzle is finally in place, our apartment feels like more of a home than ever before. I am so excited to have our friends and family back over to check out the completed space!

Love the idea, but don’t have the space yet? Make sure to save this idea for later on Pinterest!

wood art pinterest

I hope I have inspired you guys to get busy and make some art for your home! Heck, you can even make a HANDy Paint Station and I’ll be happy! Just get out there and make something cool and share it with me on social media. I love checking out your projects! In the meantime…

* This post is sponsored by HANDy Paint Products. Although I am receiving compensation for this post, all opinions are my own. This post complies with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code and applicable Federal Trade Commission guidelines.

Sam Raimondi

Sam is a full time psychologist and part time content creator from Long Island, New York.

«

»

23 COMMENTS

  • Fred

    Nice job Sam! 👍

  • Tom

    Nice work!
    Just a question…assuming 1/4” thick lath, 1/2” thick ply, but you used 1” brad nails…did they not stick through the back of the ply?

    • Sam Raimondi
      AUTHOR

      Ah! Good catch! I used 3/4″ nails. My lath strips came in the bundle at mostly 3/8″ thick. I’ll fix now – thanks!

  • Colton

    So I planned to do this a while back, but this lath bundle isn’t available and other bundles I’ve seen aren’t readily available at my store. Any thoughts on other options that are also budget friendly?

    • Sam Raimondi
      AUTHOR

      Hi Colton! Had a few people make this piece using 1×2 pine boards! You can get 6-8 foot boards for right around $6 a board at Home Depot.

      • Parker

        this was my question too. thank you! this is going to be my first “big” wood working project and i am terrified. any beginner tips?

  • Megan

    Can you share what brand and name of paint/stains you used!?!? I’m in love!

  • Abi Stern

    @sam Raimondi This looks amazing!! Loved it so much that I am half way through making this one! All the pieces are cut and the white pieces are painted.

    The hardest part is to choose the which wood stain to use. Do you remember which one did you use? I get quite overwhelmed with all colours out there.

    Thanks a lot!

  • Lisa

    This really looks great! Amazing that just plain old wood can result in this in the end. Can play with different shapes and stains and cuts and sizes! Very inspiring, thank you for sharing!

    • Sam
      AUTHOR

      Thank you so much for the love! So happy you like it!

  • Renee

    Where did you get the wood lath? I can’t seem to find it at Home Depot, Lowe’s or Menards!

    • Sam
      AUTHOR

      Hi! I got it as a gift for the holidays last year – it’s a Central Machinery benchtop lathe. Hope that helps!

  • Anna Sue Kramer

    This is exactly what kind of tutorial I have been searching for. Thank you!!

    • Sam
      AUTHOR

      Glad you found it! Good luck on your project!

  • Cole Gilbert

    Did you have extra lath

    • Sam
      AUTHOR

      I want to say yes, but I don’t remember 100%!

  • Joelle

    I just picked up 2 bundles of wood lathe for this project from Home Depot! They are all pretty gnarly. Did you just sand yours down to look so nice?

    • Sam
      AUTHOR

      Yeah… they’re in rough shape. I just sanded mine until I was happy with them!

  • Ec

    I really love this project, but I don’t love the nail look. Do you need to use brad nails or can a good wood glue and clamps work?

    • Sam
      AUTHOR

      You can use glue and clamps! It might take longer, but could be worth it.

  • Jamie

    I’m assuming the half sheet of plywood made it 2’x4’? Thanks for much for this! I’m excited to give it a try

    • Sam
      AUTHOR

      Yes! A full sheet is 4×8′. So excited to see it!

what do you think?

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.