Our board game wall
You guys know that I do a lot of projects, but this has been one of my favourites to date.
Mostly because it served three purposes: it helped to empty out our storage closet, it made cheerful wall art, and it inspired us to play more board games together as a family.
You see, we had a collection of dusty board game boxes taking up space in our basement closet. They were always buried beneath a huge plastic tote (or three), so we never played them. They also took up room that we really needed … for more totes. (I have a fabric addiction, and I will not apologize.)
When I saw a pin on Pinterest where someone hung all of their board games as wall art, I was totally inspired. It made perfect sense! Game boards are colourful, they have interesting patterns, and they spend most of their lives hidden in boxes. Let’s put them to good use!
Here’s how we turned a heap of boxes into fresh, functional, nearly-free wall art …
The first step was spreading out all of the games, and figuring out which ones would make the cut. We donated a few we don’t play (I’m looking at you, Risk), and we decided not to hang the babyish games the kids will outgrow in a couple of years (Candy Land, ugh).
I put each game’s dice, timers, playing pieces, instructions, and cards into a labelled baggie, and then tossed the game box itself into a recycling bag.
I was also able to trash all the plastic padding and packaging that was inside many of the boxes. I had three huge bags of junk by the end!
When that was done, I turned my attention to the boards themselves. I spread them out on the carpet and played around with the order until I found a nice arrangement — just like I do when I’m making a gallery wall. Then I snapped a picture of the layout with my phone, and turned the boards over to my handy husband.
Because many of the boards were foldable — like good ol’ Pictionary — he cut thin squares of plywood that would give them stability. If the game board was rounded — like Scene It — I painted the plywood, since part of it would be visible.
Once each game board had a “backing” piece of plywood, it was time to make secret compartments that would store the playing pieces, cards, and dice. My husband sawed 2x4s into small strips, and then screwed them together to make little boxes — each about two to three inches deep.
When a box was ready, he flipped the game board over, and drove screws directly through the game board into the edges of the hidden storage box. The screws aren’t really noticeable within the game boards, and the boxes are snugly attached to the backs.
Then he added sawtooth picture-hangers on the back of each box, so they could hang on the wall just like a piece of art. Some of the games were supported by their own plastic frames, like Scrabble and Othello, so they didn’t need picture-hangers. They balance just fine on a screw in the wall.
Finally, it was time to hang our game gallery! Using the layout photo on my phone as a guide, I arranged the games on the floor in exactly the same order. Then I picked up a board, stuffed the baggie of corresponding playing pieces and cards into the storage box, and hung it on the wall.
Some the heavier baggies kept falling out of the storage box before I could hang the game, so I hung those baggies directly on the wall screw, and then the storage box simply hid them from sight.
For smaller games without their own board, like UNO, Skip-Bo, and decks of playing cards, we built little storage boxes with pieces of scrap wood. Once you add a sawtooth picture-hanger on the back, you can hang them just like the other games.
We also use these mini-boxes to store hourglass timers, extra dice, and handwritten cheat-sheets. What?! I can’t be the only person who needs a written set of instructions, detailing each level, every time I play Patience. (It’s no surprise, really, that I am terrible at a game called Patience.)
Our board game wall is complete for now, but we can always add new games on either side — or even above the arrangement.
 |
| MORE IDEAS HERE |
Because the game are so easily accessible, we’re much more likely to pull one down off the wall spontaneously and play a few rounds.
Once I’ve whooped my husband in a game of Careers or Skip-Bo — I mean, when the game is over — the game goes straight back up on the wall until next time. Easy clean-up!
 |
15 Comments on “Our board game wall”
So what do you think?
As featured on …
Heather's Handmade Life 
I'm totally in love!!! That's a great decoration idea! We are big fans of board games at home and for me , your room is like a heaven on Earth!
LikeLike
Thanks, Anna! We really love it, and it's been great to get the games out of our storage closet.
LikeLike
Can you possibly tell me that wall color? I'd love to copy this look
LikeLike
Wall colour is “Smoky Slate” by Pittsburgh Paints! Thanks for asking!
LikeLike
So many cool things about this room, but I can't figure out how you hung these game boards? I see the framey-type thing, how does the board attach to the frame? I love this idea.
LikeLike
We used picture-hanging sawtooth clips on the back for some of them, Colleen — others were able to hang just fine on the lip of the wooden box. It explain it in more detail in my column: http://thechronicleherald.ca/homesnews/1259420-the-wall-of-fun
LikeLike
this is a great idea!!!! and on the box on the back where you store the game pieces if you put a scrap board just like 2 inches tall on the back it would hold the Ziploc bag in the box and it wouldn't fall out when you go to hang it 🙂
LikeLike
Heather, we love board games at our house, too. I love this idea and I can't wait to start creating! Since our basement tends to get humid, I may toy with the idea of some kind of laminate to put over the game boards and use something like brass brads to make them look nice. We like small plastic boxes – made by “Really Useful Boxes” to store game pieces inside – I use a label maker to label the plastic box so no game pieces get mixed up with others. I'm going to play with the idea of making the storage compartments on the back of these boards deep enough like a shadow box to hold these little plastic boxes. I'll probably use a larger, flatter box for games that have a lot of pieces, like Monopoly. I'm curious about some of the games on your wall – I don't recognize all of them. I see Pictionary, Scrabble, Cranium, Trivia Pursuit, Dogopoly, Scene it?, Men Are From Mars, I think I see Careers … and I have no idea what the remaining games are… can you fill me in? As many board games as we have – collected many over the years – I don't recognize these! Thanks!Kat
LikeLike
Thanks, Katy! You're right — it is Careers. The others are Othello (never actually played it but received it as a kid), Rummikub for Kids and a locally made game called Super Tok (which is technically the game Trouble except with marbles).
LikeLike
I'm certainly very happy to read this blog site posts which carries plenty of helpful data, thanks for providing such information.Mafia 4 Map
LikeLike
This is so adorable. We are looking for something fun in our Creativity Tribe Studio…this just might be it! Thanks a ton for sharing your ideas.
LikeLike
Do the picture hangers on the back scratch the table when you play or make the board tilted? Do you put something underneath it first?
LikeLike
That’s a good question! It probably depends on the angle/size of the game board, but we never had an issue. We also don’t have a “precious” table so we wouldn’t have noticed, ha!
LikeLike
Pingback: Non-screen Things You Can Display in Your Family Room | Home Trends Magazine
I am totally going to use this idea! I might try staple-gunning a 2” elastic band on the back to hold in the heavier pieces… Thank you for sharing this!!
LikeLike