When we were getting ready to move into our new home, I was consumed with choosing the big pieces like a sofa, chairs, barstools, etc. I majorly underestimated, though, just how much "stuff" it takes to make a room feel finished. For months after we moved in I found myself sourcing vases and vessels, rugs and textiles. It takes so many layers to really make a room feel finished! As far as filling up our walls, I would rather wait to collect art that I love and gravitate towards rather than buy art that doesn't feel special to me. I'm doing my best not to just buy "place holders". I spent months on the hunt for something that would go above our bed. I actually imagined a vintage quilt or other textile-- something warm and not your traditional style of "art", but when I saw this post on Emily's site I fell in love with the piece in her friend's living room. (The artist is MQuan and you can purchase wall hangings here.)
I purchased all of the items I would need on Etsy and set out to create something similar. The difficulty level of this is extremely easy. However, it is tedious and time consuming. I did it after the girls went to bed and during nap times for a few days and then asked Britt to pick up slack and finishing the remaining strands while we were shooting one day, because it felt like it was going to take forever to finish.
She and I estimated that each strand took 10-15 minutes to complete, so a little over 5 hours just in the stranding of the beads. A lot of the time is due to the size of the hole in the bead and the size of the string. It's what allows the bead to stay suspended with just a teeny tiny knot below it rather than needing a larger knot for a large hole.
First, if you too are looking for non-traditional art ideas for your walls, here are some other pieces that I really love: (Keep reading past these for the full tutorial for this beaded wall art DIY.)
via Emily Henderson
via My Domaine
via Ave Styles
via Coqui Coqui
What You'll Need:
- black beads
- plain wood beads
- cotton twine
- walnut hooks
- ¾" brass rod (The exact brass rod I used is no longer available. I would contact this supplier and see if they can get you what you need. Ours was ¾" diameter, but any diameter would technically work.)
- Tools and supplies or hanging your art
Instructions for our beaded wall art piece:
- Begin by determining how high you will hang your bar and how long you would like your strands to be.
- Cut your strands of twine accordingly (we wanted ours to be intentionally un-uniform so they vary slightly in length.
- Create a looped knot at the top and strand your beads, placing a small knot below each bead to keep them in place. Again, I was going for variation, but you could also keep them uniform if you like.
- Secure the hooks into the wall. If you use a heavy rod like we did, be sure to use wall anchors. Then, slide each of your beaded strands onto the rod and hang.
Photography of our bedroom by Katie Jameson
Janet says
Love this! Do you mind telling me where that dark gray bedding is from?
Jen Pinkston says
Parachute! Xx
Bree says
Hi, I love the piece and plan on making it soon! What size twine did you use? The link takes me to bakers twine with a choice In diameter of 1mm, 1-2mm, or 1.5mm.
Jen Pinkston says
Hi Bree,
To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. It is almost exactly the same size as the hole of the bead, so maybe you can compare the twine with the beads you are ordering? I hope that helps!
Xx,
Jen
Lisa says
What a beautiful piece of art--I am totally inspired!!! Would you mind sharing the thickness of twine you used?
Megan says
Would you mind linking the products again? The Etsy links aren't working. Thx!!!!
Jen Pinkston says
I think I solved the mystery! The original links were linking to my product transactions which is why it wasn't giving people access. New links should work!
Stephanie says
any chance you could link to the shop pages for etsy instead of the actual product? its possible you may have linked to your order item, and stores tend to change those up often. I'd really like to shop the walnut hooks you used in particular. (I logged into etsy and they don't work for me)
Jen Pinkston says
I think I solved the mystery! The original links were linking to my product transactions which is why it wasn't giving people access. New links should work!
Jennifer says
Stunning!! I also couldn't get the links to work but i managed to find most of it. I was curious about the length of the rod you used?
Thank you!
Jen Pinkston says
Ahh so weird about the links! I wonder why?! Our rod is 48". Xx
Kelly says
Fyi - all the Etsy lnks are broken for me...
Jen Pinkston says
Hey Kelly! I just checked them and they're all working for me. You do have to log into Etsy I believe once it takes you to the site so maybe that's why it's not going through directly for you?
Xx
Jen
Jen Pinkston says
I think I solved the mystery! The original links were linking to my product transactions which is why it wasn't giving people access. New links should work!
Jennifer says
This is such a cool idea!!
Jennifer
Effortlessly Sophisticated
Jen Pinkston says
Thanks Jennifer!
Xx