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I’ve been working on all my resin petri discs for the big display (suspending nice circles of clear resin with alcohol inks) for the past couple of days and I’m so happy with how it turned out! It’s so bright and colorful and you know I can’t get enough of the color. Here’s how it happened…
I decided to keep it very simple. No lights, no colored backings, no gold accents. Just white canvases with colorful discs. I like the simplicity of it. I tried adding gold accents to the sides of the canvases, but it was too busy for my taste.
For this project, I used These are 5″ x 5″ wood planks (affiliate link), and I was very impressed with the quality. Out of five packs of 10 panels, I only have one panel that has a slight ding in the corner. The rest is perfect.
I also thought they were the perfect thickness at 3/4-inch.
The process is really simple, although I have 45 of them, so it is very time consuming. I used a little 3-inch roller to prime and paint the panels. I used my original favorite primer, Ginser Oil-Based Cover Stain, and then sanded the panels very quickly with 220-grit sandpaper before rolling on two coats of Behr Polar Bear in a satin finish.
After all the panels were dry, I used my hot glue gun to glue the resin discs to the panels. And then came the hard part. I had to arrange them the way I wanted on the wall, in five to nine rows. Green is definitely overrepresented, so it took a while to distribute all the colors in a way that I felt was balanced, but this is what I finally settled on.
And then I was finally ready to put them on the wall. I considered many different ways to attach these to the wall, but in the end, I decided to use hot glue. I know some of you would never imagine using hot glue on your wall, and there are plenty of other options. This option appealed to me because once they’re on the wall, they stay put. They don’t fall in line as I walk and lunge against them. Even if I come through the back door and slam the door a little harder, they won’t budge. I couldn’t have a display of 45 squares that had to be constantly adjusted.
I usually use 3M picture hanging strips for something like this, but I have a couple of problems with that option. First, buying enough for 45 panels is expensive. Also, those picture hanging strips are thick, so the panels would have been slightly off the wall and the strips would have shown.
So with all that in mind, I opted for hot glue. Starting with the middle row, I found the center of the display area and I started with the middle panel. Then I used my level to get the middle row level and for the spacing I used a scrap piece of 1″ x 2″ wood. And using those tools, plus a hot glue gun, I worked from the center disc.
I went into more detail about how to hang a large gallery wall (which is basically it) when I installed a butterfly gallery wall in the water closet in our bathroom. If you want more detail about the process, you can check it out here: Using Grid Gallery Wall 25 Free Butterfly Illustration.
One important thing to remember when creating a grid gallery wall with so many items is that no matter how hard you try and how much of a perfectionist you are, it will never be perfect. As a perfectionist, I hate to admit it, but it’s true. You’ll need to make slight adjustments as you go, and after looking at the wall as a whole, know that those slight imperfections are probably not there at all.
It took a long time to put all 45 panels on the wall, especially since I started imagining myself halfway through. I began to question the location of the arrangement I had chosen and wondered if it would be better centered between the cabinet on the right and the casing on the left than I had done, which was to center the display between the thermostat. Casing on the right and on the left.
So about halfway through, I removed the panels on the first column of the wall (which was surprisingly easy to do with a rubber mallet, and it didn’t damage the wall), and moved them to the right instead. It made the whole arrangement almost dead center on the wall. And I hated it. It made one of the panels against the thermostat – the Round Thermostat — It looks like the thermostat is trying to be part of the whole arrangement so visually everything is thrown off, but it falls in line. My brain couldn’t handle it. 😀 So I removed that row again and moved them back to the left side.
I’m fine with this arrangement and placement as the cabinet doors open fully without hitting anything.
That’s it! Here’s what the final wall arrangement looks like from this morning, with the tools put away (or out of view). And you’ll notice I still need to sand and paint the baseboards. This wall arrangement project took longer than I expected, so I didn’t make any progress on the trim this weekend.
But who cares about trim when we can see this amazing color?
I can’t get enough of it. And my absolute favorite thing about it is that it’s visible from the kitchen sink. So I can stand at my sink washing dishes and see this amazing color.
Of course, the view from the kitchen is the same as this side view, but I prefer the side view too.
Of course, you can never get the full effect of a wall in pictures. a sin
The beauty of these resin and alcohol ink petri discs is the 3D effect where you can see the “movement” of the alcohol ink suspended inside the resin. And it’s hard to capture that in photos.
I’m so happy with how it turned out!
And next, I’m going to mount and hang a huge landscape design plan. Wow, that thing is 52 inches wide and 78 inches long! It’s huge and amazing and I can’t wait to see it on the wall. So wait for it.
Addicted 2 Decorating shares my DIY and decorating journey as I renovate and decorate the 1948 Fixer Upper that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has MS and is unable to do physical activity, so I do most of the housework myself. You can learn more about me here.