How to make your own ‘barn boards’ ~ DIY-style!

About yesterday, thanks for letting me vent all over all-y’all, and for the comments of encouragement. Pretend I’m giving you a big ol’ virtual hug. Actually you might be interested to know that I’m not the hugging type. I’m pretty awkward around emotional people, because I don’t know what to do. But it’s not a problem with affection… cause I’ll make out with my smokin’ hot man-child in the checkout line at Hobby Lobby. Any trained psychologists out there want to analyze that one?

Let’s move on from that, shall we?

Remember how I mentioned I’d love to snoop through your house? I was reminded of that just now when I realized the blinds are open on our huge bay window… and it’s dark outside… and all the lights are on in my house. Cah-REEPy.

That’s right, I’m blogging in the evening. Since Nick works second shift, sometimes it gives me something to do after the girls go to bed. (they may be in bed, but they are NOT sleeping at this moment). So this post that you’re reading right now was actually composed LAST NIGHT! It feels weird saying that, because ‘last night’ is right now for me.

Wow, can we say chatty? LET’S GET TO THE POINT.

I would like to show you how to age/distress wood to look old. It’s alarmingly easy. You’ll cry tears of joy, I’m sure of it.

We used cheap pine 1x4’s. And by cheap, I mean $1.82 for an 8 foot board.

I forgot to take a picture of our ‘before boards… but they looked exactly like this:

via

 

I started by whipping out some cans of paint in the color scheme that I was aiming for. I wanted navy blues and grays, so I had navy, two shades of gray (giggles), black, and white.


I took a dry brush, got a small amount of paint on it, and swiped it on. I added a bit of another color here and there… not even being careful to completely cover the wood. The whole point is to be careless! After all it’s supposed to look old and unfortunate.

 

I let this dry overnight, and then went at it with VERY ROUGH sandpaper (40 grit I think). It didn’t even take much elbow grease. I looooove the way the sandpaper makes the grain pop right away!

Some boards I sanded more than others. The key is to be random. And just truly not care.


You could almost stop there, because they look pretty weathered and all… but the last step is what really gives it something special! I promise!

After sanding and dusting all the sawdust off, I stained with a medium brown stain (Minwax Provincial to be exact).

I didn’t let the stain sit very long. I quickly stained all the boards, and then went back and immediately started wiping them off with a dry lint-free cloth.



That’s it: {PAINT} {SAND} {STAIN}

Are you crying tears of joy? I KNEW it!

For your Pinning pleasure!


I’ll meet you back here tomorrow to show you just what we did with these here boards.

Chiao chaio!