Monday, February 17, 2014

Wooden Ladder Turned Blanket Rack

I think it's a fair assumption that I am not the first person to have a pile of potential projects in the garage because "I'll get to it this weekend."

You know what happens next. Your projects sit there for a while. Your husband complains. Your pile gets bigger. Things get out of hand.

This happens for several reasons:

a.) You have concrete plans for a particular item, but some other project comes along that grabs your attention. If you're the creative type, this always seems to happen. We need to do ALL THE PROJECTS AS SOON AS THEY ENTER OUR BRAIN.
b.) You bought the piece with no real plan but instead in an eyes-glazed-over-black-out-heat-of-the-moment, and then find yourself stumped on what to actually do with it once you get it home.
c.) You had a plan, but you find something better for your needs, and so the items sits in rejection in your garage until you figure out if you should sell it or use it.

This is one of those projects, option "c". A garage reject project, if you will.


I had been jones-ing for something...anything...to paint this weekend. I need to break out of my funk and was looking for something that would be quick and easy that would hopefully get the ball rolling on the project fantasticness.

Enter: the ladder.

Denny and I picked up this ladder at an antique store we're both particularly fond of, along with some other pieces that eventually found their way to their rightful places in our home. Originally I had plans to hang the ladder over my couch and build it up as a shelving unit because I couldn't find a multi-pane glass door anywhere and I was settling on just using this. And then Denny actually found the door at an estate sale. That's how the ladder sat in the garage for about seven months, woefully neglected and sad, until today, when I finally decided its fate.

As a blanket rack.

I realized as I started brushing on the first coat of paint that I didn't have a proper "before" photo, so this is what I present to you as the "before":


It was already painted a teal-y green color, but I knew it would clash pretty badly with what we already had going on in the living room. I gave it just one coat of Salt Glaze by Martha Stewart. It's the same color I painted our buffet, a very pretty, cool shade of blue.

We are dealing with a slight warping issue due to the fact that the antique dealer
we purchased this from was keeping it outside,
but I have hopes that Denny will help me fix that soon.


This is a much better storage solution for our blankets (which are seeing a lot of use because OMG COLD) than just draping them over the top of the couch. Let's be honest: you can drape them all pretty all you want, but they never stay that way, right?

So, who else has a "pile o' projects" in your garage/basement/shed/spare room/etc? What's the next project on your list from that pile?


12 comments:

  1. I so love this idea. First of all that you were able to find such a cool ladder and then go to Plan B and convert it into a pretty cool towel/blanket holder. You now have a pretty unique one-of-a-kind pice. Well done!

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    1. Thank you, Thea! I knew once my original plans for it were abandoned that I couldn't just let it sit in my garage forever--I'm so pleased with its new purpose!

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  2. Super cute, idea! I've had a wood ladder that I've been wanting to turn into a blanket rack for-ever! Thanks for the reminder :) Love the white.

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    1. Thanks, Kelly! Glad I could provide the reminder! :)

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  3. I had to chuckle so much at the opening of the junk piling up and the husband getting made. I went thrifting yesterday, and my husband says "what is wrong with all the junk sitting in the garage now?"

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    1. You can never have too much "junk"! Thanks for stopping by! :)

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  4. I love this so much, you've been featured on The DIY'ers today! http://homecomingmn.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-diyers-51.html

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  5. I know those scenarios all too well, my garage pile just keeps growing! This turned out so nice, love how you used it.

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