Wood Barn

Having successfully managed to find a DIY solution for our shoes, I decided we needed somewhere for our coats, jackets, jumpers and scarves. Being a tidy person I decided the back of the dining chairs was no longer going to cut it, we needed a better answer.

I love lumpy, big chunks of wood so what could be better than an oak sleeper like the ones I’d made the outdoor raised flower beds with? Off to Winkleigh Timber I went and purchased a fairly dry, straight looking one for £45 and brought it home. I allowed it to dry out as much as possible in the workshop before I tackled it.

It was looking a bit sorry for itself so I grabbed the belt sander and attacked it with 60 grit to start with. I was amazed at the result in a very short space of time. The oak came up beautifully once the green dirt and grime had been sanded off. I liked the saw marks on the faces so didn’t want to lose them. I therefore immediately reduced the grit before finishing at 120 which left a smooth but not over polished surface.

I lightly stained the sleeper with an antique oak oil finish, applying three coats which gave the piece a rich deep tone.

All that was left was to work out how to get it to stand up! I opted for a fairly simple solution of sanding and staining an oak board off cut to bolt to the bottom as feet. I purchased some big strong bolts and countersunk the heads into the boards. This wasn’t going to fall over or be unstable on my watch!

The finishing touch was to buy some old school-style coat hooks from an Etsy trader and in what had taken only a couple of days, I had a fully functional, large, rustic, chunky coat stand.

Costs:- Oak Sleeper £45, School Hooks x 9 £31, Bolts £2.45 = Total £78.45