This Budget-Friendly DIY Upcycles A Pool Noodle Into A Beautiful Crate & Barrel Dupe

No doubt about it. Chic stores like Crate & Barrel have some beautiful items in stock. One such item that's getting a lot of play right now is a 9-inch white sculpture. Shaped like a double knot and made of white marble, the piece is a stunner. Unfortunately, the $99 price puts it out of the range of some. That is, unless they're skilled DIYers. Then, all they need to do is to DIY a pool noodle until it looks like the C&B sculpture but without the $99 price tag.

If you count yourself among the crafty Crate & Barrel fans who want to try your hand at making this dupe, then you'll need a pack of Oodles of Noodles' 6-pack foam pool noodles to get started. Using a little creative tying and some spray paint trompe l'oeil, you'll twist one of those foam pool floats into the faux sculpture of your dreams. The pool noodles recommended here are standard-sized instead of jumbo. That size is the better choice for a couple of reasons, though primarily, their smaller circumference makes it easier to twist them into a knot. The standard-sized noodles are easier to trim, too, due to having less surface area to cut.

Other supplies you'll need to make a this piece of abstract pool noodle art is some Polar all-surface primer matte white primer and a can of Rust-Oleum gold bright coat metallic spray paint. A piece of scrap cardboard or a large leftover grocery bag keeps your work surface paint-free. Finally, a small serrated-edge knife allows you to trim off any extras from the pool noodle.

This one's easy peasy – so much so that you'll likely not believe how elegant the end-result will look. You're going to tie one pool noodle into a loose knot. You want the knot to be tight enough to keep the twist intact and loose enough to make the knot size look fluffy. Pool noodles tend to crease, bend, or flatten if they're tied too tightly into a knot. Once the knot is made, trim down the ends with the knife. After that, spray on some primer, and then, once that's dry, color the pool noodle with the gold spray paint to make it look like a sculpture made from cast metal.

If you'd like to make a piece that looks closer to the Crate & Barrel marble sculpture,  you'll need to form a round pool noodle wreath or foam doughnut. You'll also want to trim the noodle down, though how long it will be, will vary because the circumference of the noodles can fluctuate from noodle to noodle. Basically, it needs to be long enough to allow you to tape the two ends together with some craft tape, but short enough to make the hole in the center of the doughnut fairly small. Thread the second noodle through the hole and tape the two ends together, as well. You'll end up with two interlocking rings if you've done this correctly.

Next, rotate the donuts so the joins are inside the hole. Once the taped ends are hidden, spray paint the noodles with Rust-Oleum specialty marble spray paint with black marbling. This gives it the appearance of a marble sculpture without the hefty price tag.