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Now, onto today’s tutorial….
There are so many times that I find myself online searching for inspiration and stumble upon an absolutely adorable nursery design or project made for little hands and imaginations.
Despite the fact that my hubby and I don’t have plans involving kids anytime soon, I am able to live vicariously through my friends who DO.
So when I came across the idea of an oversized rustic wooden wall ruler made to measure the height of little ones as they grow, I decided to go ahead and make it with the intention of gifting the finished product to my friend. I can’t wait to see her family use it as they measure the boys’ heights in the years to come.
Supplies:
1 inch x 6 feet piece of wood
light stain (save a trip to the store here!)
dark stain
clear water-based polyurethane
thick paint brush
old rag
thin paint brush
black acrylic paint
Instructions:
The first thing I needed to do was give my piece of lumber an aged, rustic finish. To do so, I started by brushing on a layer of the light colored stain (Minwax, “Golden Oak”) with a thick paint brush.
After wiping off the excess with an old rag, I used the thick paint brush again to brush a couple of quick strokes of the dark colored stain (Minwax, “Ebony”) across the wood in various sections.
This particular color was SUPER dark and only needed a tiny bit to get that rustic look. After wiping off the excess, I left the wood to dry overnight.
The next day, I took my thin paint brush and began to freehand marks every six inches and numbers every foot up the length of the board. I actually marked the first foot only 6 inches up from the bottom of the piece of wood.
This was to allow for the ruler to hang above the base board, which is typically about five inches high. The photo below of the ruler up on the wall may illustrate this concept better than my words do.
Once my marks and numbers were painted on and dry (I gave it a few hours), I used the thick paint brush again to add a layer of clear polyurethane to give it a nice glossy finish.
A few predrilled holes and some black finishing screws later, and this DIY Rustic Ruler is ready to mark the passage of time and inches.
Carrie Waller is a freelance writer and designer living in Lynchburg, Virginia. Her DIY blogging features for Burlap+Blue are available the second and fourth Thursdays of each month. For a real-time rehash of her home renovation projects and other DIY how-to’s, visit her blog at DreamGreenDIY.com.
Barbara Radley
Wednesday 16th of January 2019
Really like the idea. Think I’ll add some small photos slots and maybe inch marks on other side.
Karen
Tuesday 15th of January 2019
How wide is the board?
Megan @ Rappsody in Rooms
Thursday 25th of October 2012
Such a cute idea! I will have to keep that one on the back burner. I like that it is something you can bring from home to home. We started a measuring wall in one of our homes but 5 homes later...gone!
Beth @ BAndBBuildALife.com
Thursday 25th of October 2012
Oh thank you for sharing this - at such an opportune time! Though I don't plan on making an over-sized ruler any time soon, I DO have some shelving/hat rack/storage table plans in mind for our Living Room, and Bill and I are butting heads on finishes. He wanted to go all dark to go with our Ikea black brown pieces we already have, while I want to mix it up and layer in a few DIY pieces with a lighter finish. (worried the room will get too heavy with all that dark finish!) The staining technique you used marries the lighter base with a darker wood detailing - the perfect middle ground! THANK YOU for sharing (and for solving an argument! lol)
Carrie @DreamGreenDIY
Thursday 25th of October 2012
Awesome, Beth!! Happy to hear that you were inspired =)
burlap+blue
Thursday 25th of October 2012
So glad to help, Beth!! Definitely sounds like the staining technique is a good middle ground for you-best of luck! xoxo