DIY An Ornamental Iron Fence For A Luxurious Look On A Budget

The classic look of wrought iron fencing can be a beautiful way to elevate the outdoors around your home. Installing real iron fencing, however, especially on a temporary basis, can get very expensive. Whatever your needs for a fence, whether as a way to make your yard look like a beautiful English garden for a party or creating the perfect graveyard enclosure for your outdoor Halloween decorations, a temporary fence can sometimes be a better option to the real thing. Luckily, there's a clever DIY for a faux iron fence that looks exactly like the real thing, but can be made on a budget.

This fun wrought iron fence idea uses a frame made from lightweight wood and PVC pipe, and is topped with foam pieces and real metal finials. While most of the materials, like wood, metal caps,  PVC pipe, have outdoor endurance, others, like the foam that forms the thinner iron work at the top, may prove less enduring over time and need to be replaced. Spraying your fence with an outdoor sealant over the paint can also help maintain longevity.  

Build the frame from 8-foot pieces of 1-by-2 inch wood cut down to the desired size of your fence panel. Use a ⅞-inch drill bit to create large holes in each wood piece at 8-inch intervals. These holes will thread the ½-inch PVC pipes through, which you can secure along the length of the board with drywall screws driven through the wood and the pipe. The top of the fence is constructed of double-sided sticky foam, which you can string from each pipe top, topping the PVC with genuine metal fence finials, like the Cast Iron Spear from King Metals, with glue. You can also make them yourself using pieces of craft foam cut into finial shapes. Once the fence panel is assembled, paint it entirely in flat black spray paint for the look of genuine iron.  

To mount the fencing panels in your yard, place two pieces of rebar in the ground at either end and slip the tubes of PVC piping over, which will hold the fence up securely. You could also fasten the sections together with black zip ties for additional stability if you live somewhere with high winds.

This DIY hack for easy iron fencing can be easily customized for your outdoor decorating needs. The size of the construction pieces can be adjusted in terms of how much fencing you need and the desired height. Make a tall and dramatic fence or a shorter one for a small area or garden bed. Leave it black or add a faux rust finish using a cinnamon hack for adding a vintage look. You can also use wider PVC poles at the end of each panel or vary the height along the fence.

You can make faux stone or brick pillars to accompany your fencing for a cheap and easy Halloween graveyard decoration  Build a simple square box frame from 1-by-2 and 2-by-2-foot pieces of wood in a column shape, fastened together with screws. You can cover the exterior of the frame with sheets of faux brick or stonework panels. You could also use plywood and paint to create a faux stone effect with hand-drawn lines and textured medium. Like the fence itself, these columns are lightweight and can easily be moved and stored away off-season. To add stability and extra weight, place sand bags inside the bottom.