Today I’m sharing my latest build with you.
It’s free and it’s pretty and I made it myself, 3 of my favorite things. 🙂
If you don’t happen to have a gigantic pile of scrap wood in your garage (actually, this is one of three piles) you might need to spend $20 or so.
I’m super excited about this project for several reasons:
1. It was free
2. I made it from scratch, as in this time I cut the wood this time and everything. All. by. myself.
3. I figured out how to get it to look like aged barn wood, which I happen to think is beautiful and also sort of hides my mistakes (of which there are plenty, mostly because I cut everything with the jigsaw, a.k.a the only saw I’m not scared of.)
I used this plan from Ana White, but I added an extra divider and turned it upside down.
Now on to how to get cheap pine to look like aged barn wood…
Step 1: Torch it. I used a charcoal grill lighter because I needed to be able to get into some tight spots. I guess you could just add streaks of black paint, but where’s the fun in that?
Step 2: Paint it. I made a wash of 3 parts gray acrylic paint, 1 part baby blue, and 4 parts water. Then I brushed it over the entire piece.
Step 3: Unpaint it. I used wet paper towels and rubbed off as much of the blue/gray as I could just as the paint was almost dry.
Step 4: Paint it again. I made another wash out of 1 part soft black (almost purple) and 1 part water. I rubbed that into the piece with more paper towels.
Just keep adding and taking off paint until you get the look you want. Here’s a close-up.
I wasn’t sure Hubby was going to be a big fan. He sort of hates when I take new stuff and try to make it look old and beat up. I happen to love it. But, actually, he came home and said, “Wow. That’s a really cool finish.” Winning.
Linking to:
Stories A to Z
Cassie @ Primitive & Proper says
that looks awesome! love that you built it! and the finish is nice and soft and rustic.
Cassie @ Primitive & Proper says
that looks awesome! love that you built it! and the finish is nice and soft and rustic.
Cassie @ Primitive & Proper says
that looks awesome! love that you built it! and the finish is nice and soft and rustic.
Katie @ On the Banks of Squaw Creek says
lol. Up until a couple weeks ago, I cut everything with a jigsaw, too. But I read the manual for the compound miter saw and used it, and let me tell you, it is amazing!
Shabby Soul says
I love it! How smart of you to “torch it”! I scare my husband when I try to use the saw. 🙂
gatheredinthekitchen.com says
Wow! I never would have thought to torch the wood first. Awesome idea!! I’ve been recently using my hubby’s table saw, miter saw and router…oh.my.gosh!! so much fun!