I have a thing for solid wood and whenever I see a plank or even a small piece discarded, I want to lay my hands on it! Sometime back I found piece of wood abandoned; it must have been a part of a window or an old door as I found a couple of rusted hinges that were half hanging on the sides. I was so excited to give it a make over that I missed taking a “before” picture. But this what the ‘after’ picture in my entryway looks like; hope you like it.
The piece I found was totally jagged and rough at the edges. It had a natural crack towards one end, which was rather deep. So, as a first step I got the hinges removed and the edges cut smooth with a local carpenter. He also fixed a “pin” along the edges to prevent the crack from deepening further. I tried to smoothen most of the surface using sand paper. This is what it looked like.
I then started applying chalk paint, I directly started with blue which was the color I wanted. You can probably start with a white base and then apply the actual color. I was just impatient, I guess!
Since the plank was quite dry, it did take up quite a bit of paint, which when dried made it look a tad flat. I started sanding it a bit more, using the last bit of sand paper I had. This gave the plank some more texture.
Finally gave it a generous lick of matte varnish for smoothness and a dull shine. The shade in the picture appears a bit different; guess it was the due to the light.
Next step was to get screws for the hooks and the back clamps so that it could be wall mounted. I could not wait to fix the beautiful ceramic hooks that my sister got for me from Udaipur at the bottom part. The two hooks on top were given as part of an Instagram contest which I won. The mix of color gave the piece a perfect boho vibe!
While the piece has a functional appeal; it can store the miscellaneous keys, masks, bags et al which are always things that you need to keep handy before stepping out, I am just using it to display my unending travel souvenirs! The display can always be changed and the stand can sure be styled in more ways than one!
Do let me know what you think in the comments:)
Notes:
- The natural light in my entryway is quite poor and switching on the lights makes the shadows appear in the pictures, which I somehow could not remove:(
- I used the paint and varnish from Little Birdie.
Click here and here to read about my other upcycling projects.