I'm Back!!!

I started this blog about 3 years ago and hardly posted. I decided to delete all my posts and start fresh. I've been working less hours at my real job and decided to take the time to post my projects. It's a lot of work to take pics of every step of a project and finish it in a timely manner. Bare with me on the first couple projects while I'm learning the process. I may miss a few pics here and there. I've posted my projects quite a bit on Instagram and Facebook and have gotten some really nice feedback so I'm ready to get this blog started!

First up, my most recent project. I made this towel rack/shelf for the spare bathroom.

I went to Home Depot because they have a great section of wood that they mark down 70%. I always rummage through there and see what I can dig up and come up with a project for. I found this piece of 1"x9" wood that was 6 feet long. I didn't get a before pic, but you know what a piece of wood looks like right?

I cut the wood in half, leaving two pieces of wood that were 3' long. I then took one of the halves and marked it length wise at 2". I then stripped the piece down that marked line. I know the pic shows it already cut and nailed together, but I'm learning here. So you see the top ledge on the right piece of wood, that's my 2" piece cut from the left half.  I turned it sideways, slapped a line of glue across the top of the bigger portion and laid it on top, lining up the edges on all three sides (the back and the 2 sides). Then, I nailed the wood from the top (through the 2" piece into the bigger portion) so it would be even more secure.

Next up, paint/stain. For this piece I took a medium shade of grey paint and with a dry paint brush I just brushed randomly across the board. If you get too much paint in one spot, don't worry, you can just sand it right off.  

I then stained the entire board, straight over the paint with Minwax Wood Stain -

Provincial (color). Notice, no picture! I'm sorry I was bad.

I let that dry for a day before the next step. You could wait a few hours, but I took my time making a stencil with my vinyl machine. In the pic below you can see the vinyl I used to make my design. I printed the image and peeled the lines out because that was the part that I wanted to paint. You would peel the bigger rectangles out of the herringbone pattern if you wanted that part white on your board.  

After about 5 minutes I peeled the vinyl off. It left really crisp white lines. I decided to use a sealant over the entire piece because it was going to go into a bathroom. I used Minwax Water-based Polycrylic Protective Sheen.  I found my knobs at Target on clearance for $1.50 each. They were part of the Young House Love collection they carried for a little while.

I wanted the board flush with the wall so I marked off the studs and made sure my knobs could cover the screws. I screwed two  3 1/2" screws into the wood. They are hidden behind the two middle knobs. I put the knobs on after I hung the board. The second knob from the left is screwed into a stud, but the other is not. I also spaced the two center knobs a little farther apart so we don't cover the design up too much with the towels.

Grand total of this project - $9+tax

Win for me and my spare bathroom.