Just as I told you in the post DIY FULL-LENGHT MIRROR MATCHING MY HEADBOARD in which I showed you how I made a mirror for the bedroom, we needed a coat rack. So here I show you the steps to build this fantastic DIY to make a decorative ladder rack. It can be used to temporarily leave the clothes that you remove at night, or to leave ready the next day’s clothes.
The materials I have used are:
- 3 wooden slats: 2 of rectangular section of 19×46 mm and 1.8 m of length; and one round of diameter 20 mm and 2.4 m long (which I split in half in the store to be able to transport better);
- Nordic Blue and Winter Sky Chalk Paint for the rungs;
- Wax for Chalk Paint, both dark and transparent.
- Matte varnish light oak color;
- Screws for wood 4×60 mm;
- Saw, brush, screwdriver, drill, meter, toothpicks.
This may seem like a long list, but the paintings and waxes were materials I already had from other projects. You can use some you already have or study well what colors you need and use only a paint, a wax and a varnish. Or leave the entire ladder in one single color.
The Chalk Paint I previously used in several of my projects as in the MAKEOVER OF A CLASSIC CONSOLE WITH CHALK PAINT o THE NEW LIFE OF A DULL BOOKCASE.
It is a natural painting that contains no acrylics and comes from the chalk. The finish that is obtained is ultra matt and with a very soft touch. I highly recommend it because it does not need sanding or etching before painting and maintenance.
There are several types depending on the use you are going to give it, so if you are not sure which one to use in Create, decorate, recycle you have it: See: CHALK PAINT TYPES (Spanish).
They also have online stores to be able to buy what you need.
10 STEP PROCESS
- The first thing was to cut the circular strips in 6 equal parts of 40 cm, which would serve as rungs. The rectangular strips did not need to be cut since they already had the appropriate measurement: 1.8 m long each.
- For this type of painting you do not need to sand as I told you, but I sanded the edges where I cut them because they were not very even.
- I varnished with two hands of paint, the rectangular strips that would be the two sides of the stairs and let them dry.
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Foto: ©Home archiLABFor the crossbars I wanted to get a worn effect. To obtain this effect, I painted all the crossbars with the painting Chalk Paint Winter Sky, which is the clearest of the two (I used it in the transformation of the console). When they were dry, two of them I painted over with the darkest painting, Nordic Blue. I chose those two colors because if you remember my headboard, also DIY, it is blue sky (See: UPHOLSTERED HEADBOARD).Therefore the range of blues are the shades of the bedroom.
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
5. When they were dry, I sanded the top unevenly, letting the clear paint to come out that I had left below the dark paint, and the natural wood to come out from the clear rungs.
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
It gets an aged effect that gives texture and interest.
6. To finish with the part of painting I only needed to apply the wax on the rungs.
At home I had two types of wax, dark and clear. To decide, I tried both waxes on each of the blues on a piece of wood. This made me decide to apply dark wax over dark blue (Nordic Blue) and clear wax over light blue (Winter Sky).
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
In the picture below you can see the difference of each of the colors with and without the wax. In the case of Nordic Blue, the dark wax alters the color even in the base wood. However with the clear wax the Winter Sky simply rises a bit the tone but does not vary the color.
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
7.Then I measured the position of each crossbar correctly. I recommend that you support the base of the rungs on a wall so they are straight. With a meter and a pencil I marked all the positions on which to pierce.
The idea was to introduce the screw from the back of the vertical slats, to cross them and to reach the rung, all from behind so that the screw is not in sight.
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
8. On the rungs, start to create the path of the screw making a small hole with the drill (with a small drill bit). This step is very important since, being so close to the edge, if you do not make the hole first, inserting the screw can break or chip the tip of the bar.
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
9. Where the positions have been marked, a hole must now be made with the drill, in the rectangular slats, that cross it completely.
- All that is left is to screw. To keep everything in the correct positions, which is very important for the ladder to be aligned, I placed the rectangular slats face down on the steps. I helped myself with some fine toothpicks to mark the position and screw in at that point. In the photos you can see the process of how the stick marks the position, the stick is removed and in that place without moving it, the screw is inserted.
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
This is how well the ladder turned up at the end:
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
Light oak wood matches the DIY mirror, Upholstered headboard frame and Hanging lamps .
The blues follow the fabric range of the same headboard.
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
I almost have the bedroom finished and you will be able to see it completed very soon. For now, all the projects are turning out much better than I though. Don’t tell me that the mirror and the ladder don’t make a perfect tandem!
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
I leave some photos for you to notice the details of the ladder:
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
It is a nice decorative ladder rack in which you can have a hanging plaid to decorate a bedroom wall or use it to leave your clothes ready for the next day.
Photo: ©Home archiLAB
The idea is not to have it always full of used clothes and without folding, because it would give a look of disorder to the room. After seeing how well everything turned out after applying MARIE KONDO’S METHOD TO ORGANISE,
, it’s not something that is in my plans!
But I do believe that it is necessary to have practical houses that really serve to live comfortably and to leave clothes momentarily in a designated place for it. This type of rack prevents you from accumulating a lot of clothing, as it could happen with a chair, but it gives you that utility.
What did you think of the result?
