Painted floors and a rustic barn door for my cottage office

 

 

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Well how do you like it?

Surprised by the green?

Ok you’re right. I’m just kidding. But a gal can dream about sitting in an office that’s totally D-O-N-E can’t she?

The truth is, I’m finally making progress on my office and this weekend I’ve been hunkered down in sweats and t-shirt determined to finish my floor. Did I tell you I decided to yank up that ugly carpet?

Living in a house built in 1966, I had a teeny-weeny hope that I’d hit the jackpot and discover hardwood underneath. Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen?

But nooooooo this is what I found instead:

Caked on glue and random staples sticking out of some disgusting looking plywood.

 

And you may wonder what kind of crazy person would ever waste valuable time yanking out staples and painting over this kind of plywood?

The answer is moi, of course.

(Can you imagine all this yuck painted a pristine white? Don’t worry I can’t either)

But since Mr. Moss and I haven’t had a single discussion about flooring for our upstairs (so many other projects) painting my little office floor with white porch paint buys me some time …and makes me happy for now.  

The fabulous news is that my Mom and Dad came to visit for New Years and besides having a beautiful week together, my awesome Dad made me some bookshelves !!!!

 

 

And yes….I love-love love my new wall-to-wall bookshelves, and just finished painting them a few days ago. By-the-way, my parents couldn’t believe how real that beadboard wallpaper looks behind the bookshelves. Stay tuned, my reveal is coming soon.

But first, I gotta finish this floor.

Will it work? I have absolutely no idea, I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Oh, and did I mention the barn door I’m working on now? I’ve been eyeing these all over Pinterest and whenever I go to Home Depot with my Dad it never fails. I get giddy happy about a new idea. Seriously, that place is my version of a flashing neon disco with this song blasting overhead…

Forgive me, I digress.

Back to my DIY barn door.

So. Once we decided on the sheets of pine for the shelving, I had my Dad include an extra one in his truck along with a thin (quarter inch) piece of plywood --that might have been a type of paneling because it had a grain pattern.

We cut this plywood into six inch strips.

Can you guess why?

Yep. Those would become the fake planks on my barn door. I’m telling you, I figured out how to make a pretty authentic barn door for pennies compared to the real ones.

After we decided how tall the barn door needed to be to slide over my closet, we cut it.

Then framed it with the extra pine pieces from my bookshelf project.

The plywood was cut into strips that would fit inside

This is a photo of the six inch wide ‘planks’ fitting into the front to create the illusion of a plank door.

And here’s what I did today.

Before staining the entire door, I distressed the “planks” by brushing the sides with black paint to add depth.

Then I laid them on the floor and proceeded to age them by scuffing them up.

Basically I filled a plastic bag with screws and nails and randomly placed the bag around the thin strips of wood and started pounding.

Once I got the effect I wanted I glued them onto the front of the barn door where they now sit and dry beneath the weight of some books.

I stain it tomorrow.

 

Don’t forget to check back to see the finished door and my painted floor.

And the color decision for my bookshelves. Remember that question? Seems like ages ago.

Today I ordered my barn door hardware from HERE. Since I’ve only spent $34.95 for the pine sheet and $12.95 for the plywood (planks) I don’t mind splurging on some cool hardware.

…oh I’m sooooo ready to be finished with this office!

hugs to you all,

Leslie

I’m linking up at The Scoop, and  Inspire Me Tuesday and Wow Us Wednesdays

 

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