I've wanted a ladder to hold the blankets and quilts in my living room for a long time now. On a whim, I hopped in my car and ran down to Home Depot. I had no idea what I was doing, but for a planless project, I'm pleased with the results.
Looking at the wood at Home Depot I found 2x3 8 foot pieces for 2.14 each. I had the guys in the back of the store cut it down for me down to five feet each. With the remaining 3 foot pieces (one from each pieces) I had those cut in half again so I had 4- 18 inch ladder steps. I also bought the totally wrong screws. So, don't do this if you care about things like that, BUT....I wanted those fat heads to show on the sides. It holds the wood well enough to hold my blankets, so whatever. Just make sure they are long enough to go through the 2 inch wood...been there, done that.
I then measured down the ladder starting at 1 foot down b/c I wanted the top to be a little higher than the bottom for the hanging blankets and then I positioned the rest of the steps every 12 inches. I drilled a hole into the outside edge and then screwed the screw into the wood on through to the step. At first, I used this little guy...
That took forever, so I then used this little thing. I don't know what the names are, but....it made life easier. You can also use a nail and just hammer away.
I decided to put each 'step' on at an angle so that the blankets hang a little neater.
I repeated the process with side too (much easier to do with side two). June is in her cage at this point b/c she wanted to lick wood stain.
With 4 something in wood, and a dollar in hardware, I then went to the craft store and bought this little can of dark walnut wood stain. It didn't even take half of the can. I also used a coupon, so it was less than 5 dollars.
I painted the whole thing with a foam brush, and then rubbed off the excess with a paper towel (just follow the instructions).
Last, I took a sander and sanded the edges for an aged look.
This is going in the corner of my living room to store the 17 blankets I keep on the chairs to hide from all both weeks of winter that come through Texas. OK, maybe more than two weeks, but when the thermometer reads less than 70, I'm under a blanket.
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