DIY Rustic Shutter
Make your own with these easy steps!
A few weeks ago I was out shopping & browsing with my mother-in-law and one of the items we ran across was a large, decorative wooden shutter & the price was outrageous. Once again, my inner DIY'er said you could make that! And I did. I found a couple leftover cedar boards from our flower box project from a couple of years ago. I also found some smaller pine 1x2 pieces from a scrap box that I got from friend (Thanks Bob!). My husband hooked me with his orbital sander & sanding disks and I got to work. Overall this was quick & fairly easy project if you know how to run an air compressor for the sander and are comfortable with the jig saw. You could also use an electric sander but the orbital sander was a lot simpler to use, not having to cut the sanding sheets to fit the electric sander.
Here's how to make your own:
Items needed:
*A wooden board -size will vary depending on how big you want the decoration to be
*1x2's or other appropriate sized wood pieces
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| Wood & jig saw |
*Sand paper of various grits- I used 150, 180 & 220 which was what I had on hand but if the board is really rough, start with an 80 grit or 120 grit.
*Saw tooth hangers
*Stain in your choice of color or paint. Brushes too!
*Jig saw
*Hole saw (goes into an electric drill like a regular bit)
*Sander of some kind (orbital or electric)
*Construction adhesive
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| All sanded down |
1.) I started out by sanding all 3 pieces of wood until I got the smoothness I wanted. I even went so far as to really sand on the edges to give them that rustic, worn look. Make sure you dust all the wood dust off after you are done sanding everything otherwise it will mess with your stain or paint.
2.) After sanding, I printed off the shape of a star I liked and traced it onto the wood, centering it between the top & bottom pieces. Now this is where it gets fun. I drilled a hold in the center of my star with a hole saw and then took the jig saw to cut the rest of the star out. I suggest setting the board atop a 4x4 post to raise it off your work surface so the hole saw & jig saw don't ruin it.
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| Holesaw bit |
3.) If you decide to cut a shape out in the board (you don't have to!) sand the edges of the shape until they are smooth and achieve the look you are going for. More sanding on the edges=smoother & more rustic looking.
4.) Once again, I wiped it down of saw dust and proceeded to stain all the pieces. I used a handy trick on saw on Pinterest where you use push pins to raise the object you are staining/painting off the newspaper covered work surface so that it doesn't stick to it. I let the stain sit for 5-7 minutes before taking a rag and wiping the excess off. Both types of wood readily absorbed the stain and I got a nice, rustic color after it was completely dry. When you go to wipe off the excess, wear a pair of rubber gloves so you don't stain your hands! If you are painting, don't worry about wiping the excess off as you shouldn't have any excess. Just let it dry.
5.) Next I measured & found the center of the biggest board and 2 inches down. There I attached a saw tooth hanger so I could hang the shutter on the wall. You can find these at any hardware store. Quick & easy.
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| Stained & glued together |
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| On the wall next to my fireplace |
6.) Finally I applied a squiggle of construction adhesive along each of the smaller boards and pressed them down where I wanted them to be on the bigger board. I weighted each board down with quart paint cans and let them dry all afternoon. After they were dry, I hung it up on my wall!
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| Stain matches the mantel |
