Angie of The Country Chic Cottage shares how she gave some unfinished wooden oars the Ballard-treatment with just some basic supplies. Angie simply stained or painted the oars and then used tape and number stencils to create each unique design.
I love how she shook things up a little by combining two oars to create a long, double-sided paddle and then tied rope around the middle.
These beauties are going to be finding a home as wall décor in Angie’s nautical-themed bedroom very soon!
When it comes to DIY decor, nothing is more fun than when you have a raw item as a blank canvas. That’s exactly what these wooden oars bring you.
From Angie’s project, you can clearly see how she took each oar and created a truly authentic piece of artwork.
Using stain on one oar produced a nice contrast to make the painted ones stand out. With her “worn” effect applied to each one with her specific paint style, they stand out even more.
Adding stenciled numbers gives these oars even more of a throw-back appeal. They seem to say, ‘Hey, one time we were actually used in rowing!’ (And now we’re looking great on your wall).
When you try this project yourself, experiment with other slight touches when it comes to patterns. Angie did this with painter’s tape and masked out a few lines.
Angie was inspired by the Le Seine Paddles and Oars from Ballard Designs.
She bought oars that were all the same type to save cost and for simplicity. Of course you can mix it up like the Ballard original, but let’s remember the 80/20 rule there. All the same oar shapes will work just fine!
Find Angie’s complete tutorial at Live.Craft.Love.
There she’ll explain more about her painting approach and give you a complete supply list. Yes, it even includes where she found her oars.
You gotta love how she combined two oars for the double-paddle version. Simple genius, so go check it out!