Getting creative with my fine art display...
So anyone who knows me, knows my eventual plan is to retire from my day job and finally pursue my dream of being a professional artist. Lately, ‘eventual’ keeps getting accelerated (in my head anyway – my financial planner might disagree). SOOOO, I was super excited to see a Facebook post from an old friend looking for artists to join a cooperative she was forming!
Long story short, the board of the cooperative accepted me as a member and then I had to design my space. And that’s when I started to realize how difficult it is to display fine art when: you can’t put nails in the wall, and you want to fit as much as you can in a 36″ by 86″ space. My products include framed 5×7 to 11×14 original paintings, cards, and 8×10 prints.
I started with a beautiful natural wood and wrought iron bookshelf and wire baskets from TJ Maxx, but the shelves didn’t adjust, the baskets looked ‘busy’, and I really didn’t need 4 shelves of cards. So I turned to my favorite crafty search engine – Pinterest…
Searching Pinterest ... the answer to all crafty questions
I really like natural materials and wanted to find a floor to ceiling design for my display. After about 30 min on Pinterest, I found my inspiration – a floor to ceiling wood display by Constellation and Co.
I loved the look of the natural wood and that I could have half the display have variable height shelvess for cards and prints and leave the top for arranging framed original art. I enlisted my woodworking skilled sixteen year old to assist with his truck and off to Home Depot we went.
As we perused the wood aisle I saw exactly what I had in mind – 8 ft sections of 1×6″ pine ship lap. The natural knots in the wood were beautiful. Our total came to about $100 for:
- Qty 7: 6 foot sections of 1×6″ pine shiplap
- Qty 2: 8 foot 2×4 pine studs
- Qty 4: 6 foot 1×2 common boards
Putting it all together...
Step 1: Assemble the display board
We arranged the ship lap nice side down and measured the width (about 35″). Then we cut 3 35″ sections of pine stud and placed them at the equally across the back for support. I predrilled the holes and secured the boards to the studs with woods screws about 1/8 inch shorter than the depth of stud + ship lap. That way they didn’t poke through on the display side. This step took about 2 hours but was mostly set up and searching for the right screw length in the basement. Then I flipped it over onto two sawhorses and after a light sanding, put on two coats of poly.
Step 2: Design the layout
After the poly dried, I tilted the board up and used cardboard and scrap paper to design the layout and decide on the spacing of the shelves. I wanted a row for vertical and horizontal 5×7 cards, a row for 8×10 prints (mine are mostly landscape format), and a bottom row for larger prints and frames. As a plein air painter, most of my paintings are 8×10 or smaller, so I can put up to 5 framed paintings on the top section. I used the level to pencil mark three drill holes for location of each shelf.
Step 3. Attach Shelves
We placed it front side up on the sawhorses and I predrilled the pencil marked drill holes all the way through the ship lap. The shelves are simply the 1×2 boards cut to size and screwed together from the bottom. I put one coat of poly on the shelves before attaching them. I used clamps to align the shelves with the predrilled holes while the board was right side up. Then I flipped it over and put screws in the predrilled holes. Again you want to select screws about 1/8 to 1/4 inch shorter than the depth of the ship lap + shelf depth. That way the shelf is secure but the screws don’t show on the front.
In the Gallery
Prior to bringing it into the store, I screwed a heavy duty eye hook into the stop stud. I used a stud finder to locate a stud in the gallery wall and add another eye hook to the wall. Then zip ties through both the eye hooks and the display is secure to the wall.
Here it is with my framed paintings and a few sample cards and prints. Not bad for $100 and a few hours of work. I will add an updated picture when I have it fully loaded with art. I hope this was helpful!
