From the moment I came across various versions of blanket ladders on Pinterest, I set out on a mission at every vintage market I visited to find the ‘perfect’ one to store and display my pile of throw blankets that typically find themselves in piles on the family room couch. I loved the idea of a rustic ‘older’ wooden ladder, and it seemed every time I found one I liked it was going to cost me roughly $80-$100. Plus, I’d spend time refurbishing it to something I liked and something that worked with my personal décor.
Feeling discouraged (and not willing to spend that much on a ladder that would never be used as a ladder), I began to look obsessively through Pinterest to see if I could find something I could work off of to make my own. There are many, many, many versions out there, so I took one of my favorite versions, tweaked it a little, and decided to jump in and give it a try! Not only am I super excited about the finished product, but the total cost of this entire mission was less than $20 all in!
Supplies:
- 3 – 2x3x8 wall studs (I found mine at Home Depot in the fencing area)
- Sandpaper/sander (I used my Ryobi orbital sander)
- Chalk Paint (I used Rust-oleum Chalked in Chiffon Cream color – spray)
- Art Wax (I used Crème Wax from DecoArt Americana Decor)
- Wood Glue (I used Gorilla Wood Glue)
- 2 ½ inch finish nails
I started off encouraged because the project kicked-off pretty simple. Since there are only a few small cuts, I brought the measurements to Home Depot where I purchased the three long boards, and then asked them to cut them for me. I only needed 2 – 60-inch boards for each of the long sides of the ladder, and 4 – 18-inch boards for each rung of the ladder (I could have cut these myself, but since it was free at home depot it saved me the trouble (and the clean-up!).
After bringing my boards home, I plugged in my Ryobi orbital sander, and sanded each piece nice and smooth. Then I cleaned up all of the dust from sanding, and took a very lightly damp rag and wiped all of the dust off of each board.
I protected my work area with a couple of drop cloths and followed the directions on the spray can to spray the Rust-oleum Chalked paint onto the boards. This was probably the longest part of the process, because I had to let each coat dry completely before rotating the boards and/or spraying on additional coats. I found that 2-3 coats covered the boards nicely to the look I was looking for.
Next, I wanted to distress the boards a bit to give it a more rustic-chic look. I took a chisel and scratched and poked the boards up slightly until I was satisfied, and then used brown Crème Wax from DecoArt Americana Decor to darken the ivory paint. This was the first time I used this art wax and let me tell you… it won’t be the last! It was SO easy to use, dried fairly quickly, and gave the boards the exact look of antique I was looking for. I played with it a little, and I’m confident it has a lot of flexibility if I wanted to go darker or lighter on a future project. I’m hooked!
Putting the ladder together wasn’t too hard either. I just needed to make sure I laid it out exactly like I wanted, put a good squirt of Gorilla glue to the end of each rung before using my Bostitch Smart Point nailer and 2 ½ inch nailers to secure each rung in place on both sides.
Waa-la!
Not only do I now have a way to store my blankets in a much neater way, but it really warmed up the room and feels much cozier! The blankets are always handy when I want them, and easy to fold and place back in place when I’m done!
Have questions about this project? Post them below.