How To Turn A Jigsaw Puzzle Into A Wall Decoration - Home Improvement Project

There are many ways of adding a personal touch to your living room, but one of my favourites is framing jigsaw puzzle pictures and hanging them on the wall. Not only it makes a unique decoration but also gives an opportunity to enjoy playing with jigsaw puzzles, an activity you might have thought was for children only.

Choosing the right jigsaw puzzle

It all depends on what effect you want to achieve. From picturesque cottages and city views to classical art and modern abstractions, you can find it all in a form of a jigsaw puzzle. Have a look around and pick something that matches your interior and taste.

If you are a romantic person, I would suggest checking Thomas Kinkade series. It’s an extensive collection of magical and picturesque puzzles created based on Thomas Kinkade work. The Horses above were chosen to complement a living room kept in shades of yellow and brown. This particular picture brings warmth and energy to the room.

However, before you buy, it might be wise to check the size of the finished picture as well as number of puzzle pieces. Puzzles made of 500 and 1000 pieces are most popular and reasonably quick to finish. It takes usually an afternoon for a 500 pieces jigsaw to finish and 3 to 4 afternoons for 1000 pieces one.

The quality of the puzzle pieces is one of the main factors deciding about the speed and especially fun of playing with puzzles. Ravensburger brand is widely recognised for its quality of pieces and the company claims that their pieces are unique in shape within one box. For puzzles made of 500 or 1000 pieces you will be fine with other brands but I wouldn’t recommend anything bigger than that unless you have already experience in that field.

Choosing a matching frame.

Once you made a decision on the jigsaw you would like, it may be good to have a quick look around for a proper frame. Typical 500 and 1000 pieces puzzles usually do not differ much between brands and they fit nicely in the standard frames. You can find nice frames in many online or retail shops. The Thomas Kinkade puzzle pictured here was put in an aluminium frame from Ikea to give it a silvery look.

Unfortunately, not all puzzles are of a standard size. The panoramic Horses pictured above required a special custom-made frame. Custom frames tend to be quite expensive, so it is a good idea to shop around and find something that meets your expectations and is within your budget.

The golden frame for Horses was ordered from The Picture Gallery, a very reasonable shop. They have a big selection of custom frames, short delivery times and what is most important, a fantastic customer service. My first frame was broken in transport and they not only sympathised with me but also replaced it with a new one in 3 days.

Joining all together

You have chosen your frame and jigsaw puzzle picture. Now it is a time to spend a few days playing with puzzle pieces. Once you finish the picture, you need to frame it and hang on the wall. In order to frame your finished work, you need to join or glue pieces together. There are several options including dedicated glue, but from my experience, the sticky transparent paper works the best.

Just turn your picture upside down using two cardboard pieces and stick the paper to the back of the picture. It will keep the original look on the front side while connecting pieces together. Then simple put it into your chosen frame and hang in a nice spot on the wall.

Now take a picture of it and share it with all of us here.