Last week, my husband was reading Reddit and came across an interesting DIY project idea. We had just had a huge discussion about the future of our flooring at the hands of one of our dogs, and he jokingly suggested that we could just create flooring made of pennies.
Floor at Revolver in Indianapolis
I seriously laughed out loud at the thought…but, I was a little intrigued. I recalled that I had actually seen a wall covered in pennies in a restaurant. I couldn’t remember where (perhaps Washington, DC?), so I started searching for images of it. Lo and behold, there are TONS of creative people out there using pennies for unique decor.
Now, before anyone freaks out, it is not illegal to alter coins if you are not trying to pass them off as being worth more than they really are. That’s what my fake law degree tells me…and also the Secret Service website. If you choose to put together a coin project and are worried that the Secret Service is going to bust through your door, you should either a) consult a non-fake attorney or b) not do it. Okay, stepping off my soap box.
Like I was saying, I came across a treasure trove of great DIY projects featuring tarnished pennies. I loved them so much that I started a Pinterest board featuring them. I’ll continue to add to that board as I run across more projects, but I wanted to show you a few today.
Lizzie at The Hip Soiree covered a wall in pennies – in a rental property! She hung a piece of plywood so that they wouldn’t damage the landlord’s wall. She used Elmer’s Glue and about $50 worth of pennies. The result is gorgeous, and it looks fantastic with the vignette she put together.
I found this beautiful penny floor on the “modern day mancave” site Design Trawler. He used 7,500 pennies for this installation and completed the transformation in one weekend. Me thinks he’s a way faster worker than I am. From what I can tell, he just painted his kitchen tile black and started gluing. I think the shimmer is beautiful – and I love the risk taken in a bachelor’s flat.
Ashley at Domestic Imperfection painted her old laminate bar countertop black and glued pennies on it with Gorilla Glue. The bar was top coated with Epoxy for a smooth finish. She learned a lot of do’s and don’ts along the way, so be sure to check out her post if you are considering a large scale penny project.
If you don’t have enough change in your coin purse to cover a floor or wall in pennies, you can try something similar to what Rebecca did over at The Crafted Sparrow. She covered paper mache letters in pennies for a friend’s housewarming gift. So unique! This brings in the sparkle of a penny installation without the huge commitment.
This isn’t a DIY project, but I found it too special not to share. Rachel Denny is an artist who is best known for her “Domestic Trophies” work – faux deer heads covered in cable knit sweaters. She created this penny covered horse head, entitled War Horse, this year, and it is an amazing piece. I’m sad for me/happy for her that it’s been sold, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to afford it anyway.
I don’t think I’m brave enough to go for a penny covered floor. Maybe I will follow Lizzie’s lead and cover a piece of plywood. I don’t know exactly where I’d put it, though…although you guys know I can always figure out a way to work something into a room if I want to badly enough!
What are your thoughts on these installations? A penny for your thoughts?
This is one of the most innovative DIY projects I’ve ever come across. Looks like mosaic tile if you look at it in another angle, too. Keep up the good work!
I love it!!! I say go for it! I live in Indianapolis, but I have not been to that store.
I have been trying to talk my hubby into doing our kitchen floor in pennies for about six months now. He is worried about the resale of the house and people not loving it. My argument is that if we could sell our last house with a blue room, yellow room, orange master bedroom, red room, green room and brown room (I love color) we could sell a house that used pennies as a floor. BTW, our real estate agent wanted to take our house off the market because she believed it wouldn’t sell with all the color, we sold in less than 45 days (and 5 of that they took our house off the market because potential buyers trashed the inside of it).
I had no idea that that first image is from a store in Indianapolis. Leave it to you to figure that out! I’m tempted to stop by just to look at it!
My question with the floor installations is: what if you decide you want to change your flooring eventually? What if you end up tired of your pennies?
I say go for it, of course! A floor would be beautiful but would take forever. Perhaps you could do the top of a table or dresser….OR you could be totally BA and try to copy that horse head!
…and thanks so much for featuring my countertop 🙂
Your counter top is amazing. Great, great work, girl!
I think this is absolutely stunning! It is so beautiful, so organic with the variations in the copper, and yet so simple! Who would have thought pennies! While I do love it, I don’t think I would want to take the plunge myself. Perhaps in an small galley style kitchen- I think this could be amazing! I am thinking of a small tray or maybe a hot plate/trivet done in pennies. Still unique but not so overwhelming a project. Love it!
What neat ideas! We are renting at the moment (military family in a 2 yr assignment) so I can’t do floors or walls, but I may have to try some letters or something!
I think I love this!
I love ’em all! It’s actually a pretty inexpensive option for flooring compared to other conventional flooring. I’d love to do this in a bathroom!
So cool, but so much work! Maybe for a bartop though, that looks like my kind of project!
Sorry not a fan of pennies on walls or floors. It seems like a project for a kids treehouse. Unless u live in a whimsical home I think the pennies really cheapen a house and in no way look classy. But to each his own…. 🙂
I would be concerned about resale of a house…while neat, if I were looking to buy all I would see would be the insane PITA to take that out. Floor would concern me since there are little gapes between the pennies that would just hold grit and grime and ick. LOVE the bartop & the moose especially! Wouldn’t work for me though, I would be too OCD and couldn’t make it without needing all the sides to face the same direction and up. And I’d obsess and worry about too many shiny vs dull ones in patches.
I love the bar top and the letters on the wall!
Amanda Rose
http://sewmuchtosay.blogspot.com
what a cool and fun idea! i would love to try this if i had time. i see that you called a few of your friends to help! smart =) what did you use to secure the pennies and did you use a primer of some sort to protect the tiling?
I’m Lizzie from The Hip Soiree and I LOVE IT that you featured my penny wall!!! That being said, even after the backache of the project, I’m totally making those penny letters.
Oh, and I wish I’d been patient and waited to take the picture after we got the bronze switchplate and painted the trim. I couldn’t wait, though…
Oh yay!! I love, love, LOVE your wall.
I totally hear you about not being able to wait, either. I’d have wanted to share that with the entire world. It’s gorgeous, and I love that you did it on plywood.
Hey, thanks for featuring my penny kitchen floor! Once you get going you can easily get a surface of this size done in 6-8 hours. The pennies are covered in a gloss resin similar to the countertop you featured, so nothing gets stuck in between and it’s easy to clean.
Thanks also for the nod about ‘bachelor pads’. It’s actually been a massive hit with realtors, tenants and vacationers — yes, you can *actually* live in the penny floor apartment if you ever come to visit London — I only accept payment in pennies 😉
That penny floor is so beautiful. I would love to do that in my apartment. How could I do it so it could go with me when I move? Also, how can we know we’re not gluing down any pennies that are worth more than the entire floor?
i love this, seen the floor on pinterest a while ago, love the horse and Ashley’s counter-top. i sure you can use some sort of filler for all the little gaps, other wise it would be a nightmare trying to keep it clean!
FANTASTIC AND AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!! i WONDER IF IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO GROUT A FLOOR LIKE THIS INSTEAD OF RESIN. ANYONE GOT IDEAS ABOUT THAT?