IDEAS BOOK - HOW TO MAKE DECORATIVE LADDER

Photo Krzyzanski1 

Hello everyone! It's been a while, but I'm officially back with the first diy project for this year's ideas book - an old ladder revamp. Hope you all like ladder decor as much as me, because this one is really easy to make, so if you have unwanted ladder in hand then you got to read this tutorial to find out how to have it restored in few simple steps.

Photo Krzyzanski

The story behind this ladder is pretty long and I only know small part of it, but I bet if only the ladder could speak for itself, it would have told it better than me. Anyway I know it's at least 20 years old and it was hand made by our neighbor. When we started building the house my husband borrowed it from our neighbor just for 'a while' and ever since it stayed with us. Today we got proper ladder for all the high up works, but we kept this one just in case...
While ago I have noticed that we only move it from place to place but never use, so I have decided to adapt it to something else. The neighbor had nothing against when I asked him if we can keep it for good and he even gave me his bless for what I wanted to do with it. That's where the new story begins: from an old, wobbly ladder to a handy room decoration and the neighbor loves it! - what to want more...


SUPPLIES:

For this project you will need:

• an old ladder
• hand saw
• sander and sanding paper (different grits)
• wood varnish with color of your own choice
• paint brush

HOMEmade MAKEOVERS & Photo Krzyzanski

STEP BY STEP

As you can see the ladder was quite long, so I had to cut it first. I measured everything up and then I used hand saw for cutting. The wood was pretty weak, so I had to be very careful to not to break it accidentally. If your ladder is as old as mine and requires some adjustments just remember to take extra care during cutting.

HOMEmade MAKEOVERS

After cutting I had to prepare the wood for painting. To do that I used sander with low and high grit sanding papers. My old sander barely lasted this step as the wood elements were really uneven and difficult to polish, but in the end I successfully removed long-standing dirt and paint.

HOMEmade MAKEOVERS

Next step was the painting. I used white wood varnish to give it this washed kind of look. After applying two coats it looked pretty much like I wanted: rustic and stylish.

HOMEmade MAKEOVERS

HOMEmade MAKEOVERS

Next thing was to put it all back together which was not easy at all, as that stubborn thing was falling into pieces every time I tried to do that. When I got most of the spokes in place I discovered that one of them was way too short (meant to check that before, but didn't think the end of it would chip). I wanted to replace it with another one, but my husband burnt the leftover wood (wrrrr....!) so I had no choice, but to leave it as it is. I'm still happy with the look and I've been already planning to make another one - this time from the scratch, so see you soon!

Photo Krzyzanski