Once we shared the duplex yard makeovers final month, I promised extra particulars about how we made the ornamental oars that grasp on every shed. So right now I’ve received an in depth tutorial for you (together with how NOT to screw up your makes an attempt to make them out of doors pleasant) together with a couple of different “hacks” you guys requested about.
The oars truly weren’t a part of our unique plans. However after the sheds had been constructed we nixed our plans to run electrical energy to them (for price causes – and since they actually don’t want it). However the empty house the place we’d deliberate to hold a light-weight above the door wanted… one thing.
That one thing grew to become oars after a visit to HomeGoods the place we stumbled upon an ornamental surfboard. Cape Charles isn’t actually a browsing city, however there may be loads of kayaking and paddle boarding, so oars felt a bit extra relevant for our little seashore city. I went on the hunt for some on Etsy and located some actually good choices (like this, this, and the ones pictured below) however all of them had been a bit pricier than we had in thoughts. Simply couldn’t justify spending $350+ on this venture to finish up with 4 cool trying oars to hold on the sheds.
We truly ditched the thought solely for a few weeks, however then we stumbled upon two ornamental oars at HomeGoods for $25 every. They weren’t the colours or design we wished, however that may at all times be mounted with paint! So we purchased them and took them to Cape Charles and held them up to ensure we had been barking up the suitable tree. We wished to ensure we preferred the scale & form earlier than altering them with paint (thereby making it unattainable to return them).
With renewed pleasure for this concept, we tracked down two MORE ornamental oars (due to having two HomeGoods in Richmond). All 4 of them price somewhat over $100, which was nice… however they didn’t look the way in which we wished. They really appeared fairly terrible collectively at this level:
However I used to be emboldened by our luck at sanding down and refinishing the duplex eating tables, so I took to sanding every right down to their uncooked wooden. Right here’s the orbital sander I used, which does the job very well.
It took some elbow grease, however the outcomes had been extraordinarily encouraging. Right here’s a side-by-side of the 2 most comparable oars – one sanded, one not.
As soon as I had all of them sanded down, I stained all of them to get their various wooden tones trying extra comparable. It was principally trial and error of varied leftover stain cans in our storage, however I’m 95% positive it concerned Rustoleum Summer season Oak and Minwax Weathered Oak being layered over one another.
Earlier than I stained them I additionally took an image of them grouped on the bottom and began Photoshopping varied stripes and shapes on them. YES, THIS IS THE MOST ANYONE HAS EVER DONE IN THE PURSUIT OF PERFECTLY COORDINATING DECORATIVE OARS. I really feel like I deserve a Bachelors of Science in Oarology at this level.
Anyway, we knew we wished to make use of colours impressed by these discovered elsewhere within the duplex, just like the mint inexperienced shutters, the white siding, and the muted pink and inexperienced discovered on the inside doorways. So doing all of this in Photoshop helped us high quality tune our course earlier than cracking open any paint cans. Additionally it earned me that extremely esteemed Oarology diploma. (*steps as much as podium and clears throat*) “I’d prefer to thank my mother and pa, who instilled a love of oars at an early age…”
Proper, again to the tutorial. Subsequent we used the digital mock-up to tape off every oar utilizing painters tape. We deliberately left loads of wooden “stripes” in our design (, the areas UNDER the tape) as a result of every time two colours contact, it’s important to paint one and let it dry earlier than you’ll be able to paint the opposite. So for effectivity we minimized these cases, however we didn’t utterly get rid of them. The explanation you don’t see any tape on the highest part of that third oar is as a result of I needed to do a base of the mint shade earlier than I may tape and paint my subsequent colours.
As soon as all the pieces was taped, I primed every space first (that is our favorite primer) after which as soon as that had dried, I painted every part – being cautious to reference my rendering alongside the way in which (though we did deviate somewhat as we went). Apart from the mint shade (SW Pale Patina) we didn’t use the actual paint colours we used elsewhere within the duplex. The white was simply an exterior white we had readily available (SW Snowbound) and the pink and navy had been extra saturated variations of the inside doorways colours (SW Downing Pink and SW Riverway, respectively). You undoubtedly ought to use exterior paint in the event you’re going to hold your oars outdoors, FYI. Additionally colours have a tendency to clean out in exterior lighting (there’s extra solar outdoors than inside) so that you generally have to go darker or extra intense with a shade than you’ll inside your home.
The venture was going nice at this level. Issues had been drying shortly within the warmth outdoors. We received that unmatched satisfaction of peeling off a crisp line of painters tape…
AND THEN THINGS TOOK A TURN. And that is the place I would like you to study from my mistake.
After I had completed portray all the stripes, my final step was to seal the entire thing so it’d be much more sturdy open air (this stuff will probably be uncovered to the weather 24/7/365 (and that’s not simply rain, it’s a lot of warmth and even snow). So we wished to layer on an exterior grade polyurethane sealer, that are usually oil primarily based – however VERY sturdy. Now, I ought to’ve examined the sealer I had readily available in an not noticeable place first – however I used to be working up towards a weekend that we had been going to Cape Charles and I wished to complete these and convey them with me. So I simply WENT FOR IT.
Sherry described what occurred subsequent as “not a giant deal” and “nothing to freak out over – John, you’re being loopy.” However I had gotten so pumped about how these had been turning out to this point that I used to be extraordinarily pissed off at myself for messing them up on the final step. Right here’s what occurred:
Oil-based stains tend to yellow. That’s why we use water-based ones in most of our initiatives. However once more, exterior-grade = oil-based. And we didn’t need these oars to get ruined over time as a result of we used the unsuitable sealant. However, I used to be bothered by HOW YELLOW it made the colours and since the oars are barely rounded, the stain pooled because it dried in varied spots – leaving brownish-yellow streaks and dots alongside the oars.
Sherry’s proper that it’s a comparatively minor difficulty – one which most likely wouldn’t be tremendous detectible from the space at which they’d be seen in any case. However I used to be irritated at how way more “rustic” the oars had turn into because of the yellowing and the streaking.
So I did the one smart/loopy factor {that a} Licensed Oarologist™ may do on this state of affairs. I sanded off all of the streaky spots, taped all the pieces off once more, and repainted all 4 oars. It wouldn’t de-yellow the wooden tone, however not less than I may get again the crisp vibrancy of the unique paint colours we had chosen.
As a result of right here’s the factor we didn’t actually take into consideration once we began this venture: we had been utilizing exterior paints on all the pieces, so that they didn’t truly must be sealed. Solely the wooden wanted sealing. Soooooo… if I had been doing this once more (or in the event you’re at house doing it proper now – to begin with welcome to the sphere, it’s good to have a fellow Oarologist in my midst) I’d’ve sealed the wooden (either side, btw) BEFORE I painted any of the stripes or detailing onto the oars. Would’ve dodged all the bullet and all the oar can be sturdy and outdoor-safe.
Ultimately all the pieces was high quality (though the additional paint job meant we minimize it a bit nearer to rental season than we’d hoped when it got here to really hanging these up) and we actually love how they turned out. Hanging them was easy too – we simply drove a 3″ exterior screw via the oar and siding, proper right into a stud behind it (I predrilled a small gap within the oar to make it sink proper via simply).
You may see the screw heads within the picture beneath (see the little dots). I attempted to keep away from placing them via painted sections once I may, since they appear to mix extra into the wooden tone than the lighter painted sections, however in the end your eyes don’t actually deal with them except you’re actively searching for them.
This tutorial truly ought to maintain up for something that’s wooden that you simply’re pondering of sanding, staining, portray, and hanging outdoors. So in the event you’re interested by a surf board as a substitute – or an indication with your loved ones title or one thing – this course of would work. Additionally, bear in mind to at all times add string lights (these are the ones we use everywhere) as a result of they make actually all the pieces higher.
To see the complete reveal of our duplex yard (with sources and data on the sheds, patio, furnishings and many others) click on right here – and in the event you haven’t seen the pink home yard makeover, which we completed proper after the duplex yard, it’s important to verify that out proper right here.
*This put up comprises affiliate hyperlinks
