Framed Antinque Instruments | DIY

My uncle was a hard, stoic man who always smoked a pipe with stiff hands. I had a odd, but healthy, fear of him as a young girl. His roughness intimidated me, but he was always extra kind and never let me leave without a hug. He sold coal mining supplies in the Appalachian region of Kentucky and Virginia where most of my family is from. Aside from his main job, he was also a collector of things, mostly in which he sold at flea markets.

Just months before he passed, he bought a large shed from a hoarder filled with everything you could imagine: pocket watches, chain saws, instruments, lunch boxes, you name it! My aunt let my husband and me looked through the collection, and Patrick found a some interesting instruments. One was a dulcimer with a love note inside from a man in West Virginia from 1975. We knew each of these instruments had a story, so we loaded them up with hopes of one day displaying a small piece of the Appalachian culture in our home.

After we moved into our home 3 years ago, I wanted to figure out a way to display the instruments but was stumped. Then I saw a Fixer Upper image floating around Pinterest where Joanna framed a guitar. This was exactly what I was looking for, but securely adhering the instruments to the wall baffled me. I wanted them to be hung in different directions, so a regular instrument hook wouldn’t work for what I had in mind. Plus, the ukulele has quite the belly on it.

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After days of brainstorming, I finally just threw some Velcro Command Strips and string on the wall and crossed my fingers that it would work.

For the ukulele and banjo, I tied white string around the necks and tacked them to the wall with a small finishing nail. The rest of the instruments are hung with a few heavy duty Velcro Command Strips. As long as the instrument’s back is flat and it’s not too heavy, a Command Strip is all you will need.

For the frame, I bought 2″ lattice strips at Home Depot and stained them dark walnut by Miniwax. The corners are cut at 45 degree angles with a miter saw, but you can leave them square if you prefer that look. Then I simply leveled and tacked them in place with small finishing nails.

I did the same thing to my huge magnetic chalkboard in the kitchen.

The only dilemma I had and still have is the paint color. I wasn’t sure whether to paint the inside of the frame white to highlight the display or leave it blue. I obviously kept it blue, but now I’m itching to paint the entire office again. Painting an entire room with an almost 4 month old seems like a huge task though. Can’t you just image a crisp white office with a smaller, more interesting desk? I’ll keep this project in mind for when my daughter can actually hold a paint brush.