I came across this concept of DIY square dowel art, and I got SO excited. I love the dimension that the wood creates. Even better, it looked like a DIY project I could actually do!

Some Much Needed Art and DIY

For years, the space above my fireplace has been completely empty. As much as my fiancé asked to buy art to go above the mantel, I stubbornly refused. I’d always planned to paint something for that spot…But then I procrastinated. And the more I procrastinated, the more daunting of a task it seemed: what colors should I use? What should it be a painting of? Modern? Traditional? Statement piece or background?

I’m so glad I did, because I was able to create find and create this DIY square dowel wall art instead. If you’re looking for a super fun and simple beginner wood and art project, look no further.

Few Tools Required

One of the best parts of this project is how undemanding it is in the power tools department. When I started this project, the only power tool I had was a hand-me-down drill that a co-worker was about to throw away. And it turns out, that was the only power tool required for this project – perfect for a beginner like me.

Miter Saw Optional

To cut the dowels, you have the choice of a handsaw with a miter box and handsaw or a (power) electric miter saw.

Since I didn’t have an electric saw, nor had I ever used one before, I decided to go low-tech and opted for a simple handsaw and miter box. Luckily, most of the cuts required for this project only involve 3/4” square dowels.

The Design Vision

To create a visually interesting pattern, I wanted the final result to achieve the following goals:

no two dowels of the same color should touch
a dowel seam (where 2 cut ends meet) should not align with a seam above or below it
at least 1 dowel in each row should be a different height(distance they protrude from the wall when hung) from its neighbors

Feel free to create whatever design pattern speaks to you.

Cut Pattern

We’re going to do this using 32 rows of 3/4”x4 square dowels attached to a 2’x4’ wooden board (1/4″ plywood will do), with a separate outer frame attached after.

laying out dowels for diy square dowel art progress — Laying out the rows of dowel pattern

Within any of those 32 rows, you can make all the cuts you want. Totally up to the look you’re going for: do you want a lot of small pieces, a lot of large pieces, or a variety?

Bonus variation

For added variety, you can opt to add in skinnier 1/4″x4′ square dowels. Just add them in sets of 3 rows, and subtract 1 3/4″ dowel for every set you add.

e.g., if you opt to add 3 rows 1/4″ square dowels (1 set) to your board, remove 1 row or 3/4″ square dowels. So your board will have 32-1=31 rows of 3/4″ dowels and 3 rows of 1/4″ square dowels.

*when opting for 1/4″ square dowels, keep in mind they will be shorter (protrude less from the board) than the 3/4″ square dowels, so you might need to buy more in order to stack them to achieve a height of 3/4″.

Build as you cut

Labeling the cut dowels to keep track of which dowel goes where

To keep track of the different dowels as I cut them, I labeled them with a letter+numbering system to keep track of which pieces belong in the same row. I laid each newly cut piece of dowel on the board as I cut them and at the end was left wit an unpainted/unstained preview of the final product.

Add Color

Let your creative side run free! There are so many color possibilities here: stain, natural, paint, paint stain, any mix of the above!

diy square dowel art in progress painting and staining — Painting and staining the dowels

I used a mix of cool-colored wood stains and acrylic paint. I opted for shades of teal as an accent color to inject some color to the space it would be hanging in.

Assembling Square dowels

At last, time for lots of wood glue! I glued each piece down onto the plywood sheet, adding glue on the sides as well so that each dowel was also attached to its neighbors.

Adding Dimension

To vary the height of each dowel (how much it protrudes from the wall once hung), I glued the dowels down in 1 of the following 4 ways:

dowel directly onto the plywood
dowel glued onto a 1/4″ square dowel that is glued directly onto the plywood
dowel glued onto 2 layers of 1/4″ square dowels that are are glued directly onto the plywood

Gluing down the dowels — Gluing the dowels at different heights by layering them over smaller dowels

For (2) and (3), the goal is to give the dowel something to sit on to give it more height. To achieve this, you can either buy 1/4″ square dowels or you can get even more creative and use wooden materials you might already have: popsicle sticks, to-go chopsticks from Chinese takeout, a LOT of toothpicks. Just make sure it’s level!

Final Touches

Cut, assemble, and stain a frame for the board using 1×2’s. (hint: learn from my mistake, and stain/paint the frame BEFORE you attach it to the board. Otherwise, you’ll need to rely on some carefully placed painters tape).

Once all the glue is dry, attach the frame to the board with a few mending plates. Lastly, attach a picture-hanging mechanism of your choice. Make sure it can handle the weight of the wood (my final board weighed about 25 lbs once assembled). I used 2 d-rings on either side of the board. A french cleat would be a great option, too!