Abstract Art For Den + Easy Modern Wood Frame

As many of you know I have had a little paint dilemma going on in my new den. I was back and forth with whether to go light or dark on the walls. I knew once I finished the art piece for the room I would know 100% which direction to go in. Well the art is finished, finally! And the wall color is decided, yay! Today I am revealing the abstract I painted as well as an easy frame that has a modern vibe I made with simple wood trim and a new product from Minwax.

Let me just say painting in your 40’s is not the same as painting in your 20’s. The freedom for self-expression is much different but with age comes self-awareness, ownership and a perspective that only comes from life experience. Although there are moments I miss my fearless self at 25, I wouldn’t change the journey that has brought me here for a second. With that being said, this piece tested me but also taught me a valuable lesson, “listen to yourself”.  I woke up eager to paint, got the boys off to school, went for a run and dove right in. Day 1, something…then nothing, day 2, nothing. Don’t get me wrong there was paint all over the canvas (wood) but it didn’t feel like anything. Picking up that brush again is like getting to know a part of yourself you’ve lost touch with for a while. It is the part of yourself who seeks the truth and who knows what the truth is. You can’t fool it, pretend it is something it is not, it seeks rawness & authenticity and expects you to be there. Yikes, this all sounds heavy but it’s not, I promise. It also made me realize the value in the beauty I see.

Let’s talk about the frame, shall we?! This frame was SO easy to make and I love how it turned out. Like I said I used simple pine trim I found at Lowe’s and  Wood Finishing Cloths by Minwax. Oh and I should tell you, this piece is for my den but I didn’t want to reveal it with the sideboard until the walls were painted.

I had never used these cloths before and wondered how they would work. Well, they are awesome! Especially for smaller projects where you want a little more control. They come preloaded in a wipe form and is VERY easy to use. I just applied and then had a damp rag handy to wipe off excess if needed. Cleaned up so easy and the smell was not bad at all.

The FULL list of what you will need is below.

Easy modern frame supplies…

your art (mine is on wood but this will work with a canvas as well)

wood trim (mine is 3/4″ x 1/2″ exactly)

Minwax Wood Finishing Cloths (I used Natural Oak)

wood glue

plastic gloves

finishing nails ( 1 1/4″ x 17)

drill & drill bit

tape measure

marker or pencil

miter saw

My 2 longer side pieces I cut with an additional 3/4″ allowance for the top and bottom. That is the width of the trim and how much space is needed to match the top and bottom trim so it looks seamless.

It’s time to add the 2 longer pieces. I pre-drilled the sides, eight in each, added wood glue right onto the art sides and hammered in 8 finishing nails to each side. Once they were on I measured the exact amount of trim needed based off of the space that was left for the top and bottom to complete the frame.

I cut the 2 shorter pieces for the top & bottom and followed the same steps, pre-drill, glue and nail.

You can find the FULL tutorial to this modern floating bench HERE.

This is a sponsored post by Minwax, all opinions are my own.

Tuesday is part 1 of the den reveal, so be sure to stop back over!

Have a happy weekend, friends!