Driftwood is often used in indoor decorations to bring a modern, coastal feeling to a home. However, few people know how to use driftwood to decorate their houses. So how do you integrate driftwood into your home? How to use driftwood for decoration?
You can use driftwood to make things such as sculpture art, Christmas trees, candle holders, or dividers. You can also use driftwood to create a base and place a piece of wood or glass on top to form tables or stools. You can also create furniture from driftwood, such as storage shelves, floating shelves, and mirror frames.
This article explores how you can use driftwood to decorate your house as furniture or decoration. If you want to check out how you can use driftwood to decorate your garden, check out our guide here.
What Type Of Driftwood Is Best For Decoration?
No single driftwood type can cater to all types of interior decoration needs. This means you may want to look at your projects before deciding on the most suitable type of driftwood for them. Some driftwood may come in shapes or colors that make your work easier, so they may be more suitable.
There are over 73,700 trees out there, so you can easily have 73,700 types of driftwood. However, there are few popular ones, as some trees produce better driftwood.
READ MORE: Best Driftwood Types: The Ultimate Guide
These driftwood come in all shapes, colors, and sizes, which means they may be suitable for many types of uses. This likely means that you may not be able to use only a single type of driftwood for your decoration needs.
For example, suppose you plan to create a strong base for tables and chairs. In that case, you may be better off with Mopani or Malaysian driftwood since they are stronger and sturdier. If you want to make a standing divider, you could do well with long, thin driftwood pieces like Crepe Myrtle.
Therefore, selecting driftwood for decoration may not be straightforward. The goal is to select the best-fitting driftwood shape and size to make your decoration job easier.
How To Use Driftwood For Decoration?
You can turn driftwood into a decoration for your house by turning it into sculpture or wall art. You can also use it to make furniture such as shelves, tables, and chairs. It can also create a hanging surface for lighting, clothing, shoes, etc. Driftwood decoration adds a modern and coastal feeling to your home.
Divider
A divider helps physically separate space but allows lighting and air to pass through it. You can easily create a divider using some driftwood.
Start by looking for some long driftwood pieces with some branching. Then treat the wood, and cut them to a similar height. You may secure these driftwood pieces into a wall by using 2X3, 2X4, or 2X5 wood strips along the upper and lower ends of the driftwood.
Consider screwing in triangular stands at the bottom of the divider for stability. You can also screw in wheels or castors if you need to move it around.
Tables And Chairs
You can take some driftwood pieces and arrange them in a way that will form a stable base. Some like to cut thicker driftwood into the logwood-type thickness and then stack the wood. Some prefer to arrange them vertically instead.
Once you have the base, you can place a wide piece of wood, metal, or glass to make it a table. If not, you can place a smaller piece of flat wood and then some cushioning to make it a comfortable stool.
Light Decorations
Lighting around the house can be boring. A stand, a bulb, and some sort of diffuser over the bulb. What about spicing it up with some driftwood?
Take some long, thin strips of driftwood, and wrap the driftwood around the stand. Remember to tuck the dreaded cable under the driftwood to hide it. Secure these driftwood pieces by either gluing or screwdriving them together. Screwdriving is a less permanent solution, which may work better for you.
Mirror Frame
Your house may have several places with mirrors. You can easily spruce up the mirror with some driftwood pieces. At its most basic, take up thick pieces of driftwood, and cut through the center of the wood. This way, you will have rounded and flat inner sides for your driftwood.
Arrange these driftwood pieces as the outer frame of your driftwood to add some rustic vibe to your mirror. You can also glue smaller pieces of driftwood randomly around the mirror to form a frame.
Pendant Lamp Hanger
Pendant lamps are nice. They add a homey feel to the house and can be used to project direct lighting to any surface you wish without occupying space. You can use driftwood to make a pendant lamp hanger.
Take a long piece of driftwood, and attach cables to it several inches from the edge. Secure that to the ceiling. Then run several wires from the ceiling, and connect bulbs to these wires. Wrap these wires around the driftwood piece to create a rustic, cool pendant lamp.
Chandelier
The chandelier does not have to be expensive. You can easily make your own chandelier by using driftwood pieces. Take random pieces of driftwood, and arrange them to form a bowl-shaped chandelier, something like a bird’s nest. Secure these wood pieces with glue.
Then run some wiring, and attach light bulbs to them. Attach these light bulbs to the corners or edges of the chandelier to have a driftwood chandelier.
Floating Shelf
Floating shelves help to create space to place things without occupying the floor space. It is a popular option with smaller houses. You can add some rustic vibe to your space with driftwood floating shelves.
Take a thick and long piece of driftwood, then cut through its middle. This will give you a rounded, natural driftwood edge and a flattened edge. Secure the driftwood to the wall, flattened side up. Your floating driftwood shelf is ready!
Clothing Hanger Rack
If you do not have a wardrobe, you can always use a hanger rack to organize your clothing. Rather than getting an Ikea loathing hanger rack, why not make a rustic one with driftwood?
Take a long piece of driftwood, and attach cables to it several inches from the edges. Secure the other end of the cables to the ceiling. You can now hang clothes on this as if they are your clothing hanger rack.
Clothing Hanger
Suppose you made a clothing hanger rack with driftwood but wanted an even cooler accompaniment to the rack? Consider a driftwood clothing hanger then.
Take pieces of driftwood that are long enough to allow clothes to hang on it. Take a large screw or ceiling hook and screw the hook into the driftwood piece. You now just made yourself a driftwood clothes hanger!
Storage Shelves
You can also take driftwood pieces and turn them into storage shelves. You can do this by replacing the outer frame of the shelves with driftwood pieces. Take four long, thick driftwood pieces, and cut them to a similar height. Flatten and smoothen the edges.
You can then screw in flat pieces of wood or framed metal plates to these driftwood pieces. Each driftwood piece can be screwed into one end of the flat surface. Screw in several more, and you just made a driftwood storage shelf for yourself.
Sculpture Art
You can also take suitable driftwood pieces and turn them into sculpture art. Some prefer to keep the raw driftwood piece as is. They only treat the driftwood and then place the whole piece as a sculpture. Some driftwood types, such as Bonsai driftwood, are excellent options for such sculpture styles.
However, suppose you prefer to put some individual flair into your driftwood sculpture. In that case, you can see, file, and sand the driftwood into a sculpture of your preference. We have detailed guidelines on how you can create your own driftwood sculpture.
And you can also read our article about “Finding Passion At 60 – Driftwood Artist Joe Treat” who makes amazing sculptures.
Wall Deco Art
Another way you can use driftwood pieces for your home is to create some wall deco art with driftwood pieces. You can technically be as creative as you want here.
For inspiration, consider collecting small pieces of driftwood and then arranging them to form your desired shape. It can be a sun, a popular human figure in a pose, or the map outline of your country.
You can also grab a beautiful piece of driftwood, treat it, and secure it directly to the wall to turn it into a sculpture-like wall deco art piece.
Christmas Tree
Nothing beats a simple, rustic driftwood Christmas tree. They are easy to make, easy to store, and do not need you to spend a lot of money to put decorations on them.
You take driftwood pieces of multiple lengths and then stack them vertically by putting them through a wood dowel or steel rebar. You then turn the driftwood pieces randomly to create the Christmas tree look.
YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN: How To Make A Driftwood Christmas Tree?
Candle Holder
One way to add some rustic and coastal feel to your boring glass candle holder is to add driftwood to it. Take small sticks of driftwood, and glue them to your candle holder.
If your candle holder is rectangular, glue it on each side with the driftwood sticks. If they are round, you can glue your driftwood to them vertically.
Railings
One really brave way to use driftwood to decorate your house is to use it as staircase railings. It adds the rustic vibe of the place, and with white walls, it also exudes a modern coastal feel.
Screw in wall brackets around the wall of the stairs. Then take long, thick pieces of driftwood, and place them on the brackets. Secure the driftwood to the bracket by screwing it in from the bottom. This hides the screw and gives it a nicer, natural look.
