After living in Wisconsin in the middle of a forest and going camping almost monthly while living in Texas, I decided about a month ago that I needed a tree in my new dwelling (here in Tennessee).
I have an empty wall in my bedroom that would be perfect, I thought. Not only would it look spectacular, but the tree could pull double-duty as an accessories rack, holding purses, sweaters, and hats. Yes, yes. This could work. Time to get started right away!
The idea for this project came from Poppytalk, a blog I have been following for about 5 months.
I laid out the boards on my dog hair infused studio rug first, to get an idea of scale and to play with how the branches might need to be angled. My suggestion is to find old boards that have little warping. Some of the boards I used were a bit warped, which made it harder to transfer these boards to the wall. I also thought the boards with the nails still in them, and even the grayer wood, had more integrity (I realize I'm making a tree out of cut boards from once-live trees, but this is a symbol. Just go with it.).
This is what it looked like when I first muscled it up on the wall. Should you embark on your own tree project: it would definitely help to have a second person in the room. I had pieced together some of the boards before placing them on the wall, and they were too heavy and awkward to hold while simultaneously drilling. Everything kept slipping, which could have been frustrating had I not been eating ice cream intermittingly. Phew.
Now all of the branches are in place, and I've added an owl that an artist friend's student made. I also hung a little tin piece that one of my besties created about 6 years ago. Next up: adding hooks and accessories, and possibly a few more small branches . . .
Stay tuned!
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