Wood Barn

I wanted to find an art piece for our new study. Something that captured the natural look we’d created. I searched and searched but to no avail. I’d wondered about creating my own piece, something a bit different but personal. Something that looked good but was subtle and good to look at.

We fiddled with bits of wood that were off-cuts from the project. We laid them out on the work bench and played around with them. They looked interesting and abstract enough to work. Tidied up and oiled they’d create a 3D cityscape vibe.

However, I decided that as we live in the countryside, we don’t have any real connection to any city. I needed to think harder. While pootling in the workshop I tripped over the 3 metre long, oak worktop off-cut. It had the discarded live edge including some furry bark remains. An idea hit me. What if I cut equal lengths and arranged them into a straight edge top and bottom? Would that work?

Above was my first thought. They needed to be tidied up a bit and cut to length but…it would look quite cool (or so I thought!).

After a painstaking process of sanding (not too much) and Osmo top oiling (a lot), I had four pieces ready for hanging. Of course, I hadn’t really considered how they’d be attached to the wall! This wasn’t as easy and straight forward as I’d assumed. In the end, we fixed flat and inset ‘hooks’ to the rear of each piece using the router to ensure a flat back. Getting each straight edge level was achieved using a laser level but was tricky to get right!

In the end, we have a unique piece on the wall that fits our style and the natural materials used in the room. Job done!