Upcycle Crib Art

My house is a typical Seattle-area split-level.  The top level has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and the only hallway in the entire house.  When you look up the short half-staircase to the “sleeping loft,” this is what you see:

It’s a dead end.

Nothing about that boring back wall makes you want to go upstairs.  Nothing about it says, “The upstairs is just as interesting as the downstairs!” which is kind of okay because that’s my bedroom off to the right and there’s a very good reason why the door is closed.  And it’s not because I’m sleeping.

Also, there’s a reason there are no baseboards but that’s another post.

Anyway, that back wall has bothered me ever since we moved in.  I hung a shelf on it which I decorate.  With stuff.  But, one measly little shelf does not do the trick.

So, I decided to stencil the wall.  I even bought a stencil in a Moroccan-style pattern from Michael’s and kind of beat myself up about it because it was expensive, even with a coupon.  But before I could get my paintbrushes wet, I stepped out into the garage and I saw this:

Do you know what that is?  That is the metal bottom to my beloved white crib.  It looks just like my stencil!  It has the same Moroccan feel to it as my stencil only it is metal and it is a crib and it is something I already have which means I don’t have to paint my wall with a flimsy yet expensive stencil!

I hauled it upstairs.

My husband was working on a sermon in the bedroom.  I told him I was going to hang a crib on the wall.  Let it be noted that his response was not as enthusiastic as mine. 

But first, I “antiqued” the frame a little bit by highlighting some areas with green paint.  I didn’t go overboard on this because of my husband, who, as noted above, was not particularly thrilled about this whole idea to begin with.  I thought green paint would push him over the edge.

I also thought about spray painting the entire thing white, or green (I’m kinda into green), or turquoise (I’m kinda into turquoise too) but I decided to play it safe.  For now.

It only took a second to paint and not much longer to dry since I didn’t go overboard.  Once painted, I grabbed a couple of these hooks.

These things are brilliant.  You can hang an elephant on your wall with one of these, and the best part is, it leaves only a teeny, tiny hole in your drywall.  I. Love. Them.  You can find them at any home improvement or general merchandise store by all the hooks and picture hanging stuff.  They are called by various names including Hercules Hooks, Monkey Hooks, or just drywall hooks.  They’re cheap.  They can hang 30-50 pounds each, and I always have them on hand.

Except I just used my last two.

I leveled them up (you only get one chance to hang a giant piece of metal on your wall so you want to do it right).

Then, I hung the crib on the wall.

Yes.

I hung a crib on the wall.

I added a few accessories.

Those are my great-grandmother’s books.  And that mirror?  That was a gift from the good people at Macy’s when my husband and I registered there for our wedding.  Actually, they gave us a silver picture frame, which I hated, so I antiqued the silver, added a mirror, and now I’m happy.

The hydrangeas came from my yard at the end of the season last year.  I dried a bunch and use them for everything.  These I placed in a mercury glass candle holder (I’m obsessed with mercury glass).  The candle holder still has some candle left in but it smells like soap and I can’t stand to burn it so…it’s holding flowers.  The other little candle is trying to burn the house down.

Also, I made a little wreath to hang on the crib.  I simply took a paper plate, cut out the middle, and wrapped the entire thing in a bit of leftover yarn.  I made some paper flowers out of an old book bound for Goodwill (My Antonia, if you must know), finished it with some ribbon I scavenged off the floor while everyone else was looking at the presents they got for Christmas, and walla!  A free wreath.

I grounded the whole thing by adding a collection of flameless candles (safety first, Mommies) perched atop an antique chair and on top of my grammy’s button jar.

This entire project cost me NOTHING.  It took much less time than stenciling my wall, and the best part is, I got to reuse a part of a crib that has very special meaning to me.

Now, when I look up the short flight of stairs, I don’t feel like I’m walking into a dead end.  It feels inviting, which probably means I should stop dumping things in my room so I have somewhere to go after I reach the end of the hall.

So what do you think?  Am I crazy for hanging an old crib on my wall?  Or do you like it?

I have plans for the other parts of the crib, but for now,  you might want to check out some of my other decorating projects.  There’s Jonathan’s room makeover which takes large-scale wall art to a new level using a projector.  Check out the Great Gears! in his room.

For ideas on how to decorate a girl’s room, see the shadow art in Kya’s room.

You may also like to see the butterfly chandelier I made for Faith.I’ve been going a little craft crazy lately so look for more projects coming soon!