T-Shirts to Warm Your Wall Decor

DIY PROJECT NEED – ADD WARMTH TO BASEMENT SPACE

I believe that every room in your home is an opportunity to express your personal style. A dedicated space for health and exercise is no exception.  We often relegate these exercise areas to a not-so-used corner of our home with minimal décor.  However, I’m a firm believer in the psychology of our surroundings.  As well, I’m an outdoors gal and did not want to feel like I was headed to a basement dungeon for a work-out punishment.  Consequently, I wanted our exercise area to have warmth and personality as well as provide inspiration. 

DIY SOLUTION FOR WARM WALL DECOR

People often express themselves in the clothing they wear.  Hence, t-shirt collections give great insight to your personality and interests.  The only exercise Hubby really likes is running (ok, a slow jog really).  He has completed 2 marathons and a bunch of other races to help prepare him for those marathons.  It is a BIG time commitment so most of it was pre-kiddos.  And with every race comes – you guessed it – a shirt.  But when you are no longer a college student, there are only so many t-shirts you can wear!

Having a visual of past accomplishments is a great motivator.  Displaying some of the t-shirts in our exercise area was a win-win for the room and our closet! Plus, fabric always adds warmth to a space and helped balance the hard surfaces of the exercise equipment.  We are also big sports fans, so I mixed a few of those in as well. 

I purchased several 1x2s and built simple frames by using basic butt joints and a nail gun.  (Find wood joinery basics from The Spruce Crafts).  The frames are different sizes to display the various race logos on the shirts. Next, I covered the frames with batting for a softer look.  Finally, the hard part – cutting the shirts. I usually like to have options to change things up in the future.  But the t-shirts were just too bulky to keep whole.  I cut them so that I had just enough to be able to staple them to the back of the frame.

WARM UP OTHER WALLS

We don’t run near as many races these days because our boys are so involved with their own sports.  Yet that has not stopped me from collecting THEIR shirts to some day create a similar collection for the bonus room.

Best yet, t-shirt collections don’t need to be limited to sports.  I had a huge collection of shirts from all the plays and musicals I was in during high school that would have been a great addition to my bedroom.  Concert t-shirts would provide a personal touch in an office.  Maybe you’re a foodie that collects t-shirts from your favorite burger or BBQ joint, or you enter that chili cook-off every year.  Those are great display décor to give your kitchen a little personality too.

Need more ideas for using fabrics as décor? Check out this post for a wall décor grouping using scrap fabric. Better yet, get access to the Style Library for a secret fabric resource!