As you know, I love anything beachy or coastal. Weathered shingles, pieces of driftwood, chippy buoys, starfish and conch shells. I also really LOVE old, rustic wooden oars. For quite some time I’ve been wanting some for our house.
I kept seeing some great oars on Pinterest. The more I saw, the more I wanted some:
I’ve been searching high and low for them for quite some time. Last, Thursday was my lucky day! I asked if anyone had unwanted oars on Freecycle and a very nice woman said that she had two very long oars that needed a home. Perfect! They would look great over the bay window in our kitchen.
Here is what they looked like before. Beautiful, rustic wood with some rust or deep red paint showing through.
(Before)
On Sunday, I got to work. I sanded the oars down really well and then wiped them down. They had been in a basement for quite some time. Then I got my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint out. You don’t need to use chalk paint, you can use whatever you have on hand. I did one coat of Old White on each.
Once, the paint was dry. I put some tape on where I wanted stripes to go. I used the tape for delicate surfaces:
Then I selected the paints I wanted – ASPC in Duck Egg Blue (my favorite!), Greek Blue and Country Grey (a nice beige grey). I did different stripes and paint combination on each oar.
Once the paint was dry, I removed the tape. There was a little wood that came off with it. It isn’t supposed to but I think it is due to the condition of these oars. I wasn’t concerned though because I knew I wanted to distress them.
I got some fine grade sandpaper out and sanded various parts of the oar – the blade, the painted stripes, the handle etc. I really wanted that aged, weathered look! Here is a close up of the blade.
Yesterday I went to Lowe’s to try and figure out how I was going to get these babies up on the wall. I was looking at ugly hooks when a very nice man pointed me in the direction of cable ties. I have to say I love the look as your eye goes to the oar and not the hook. They were pretty cheap too!
In case you were wondering this is what the ties and fasteners look like:
Luke hung the oars for me. Don’t they look great with the $7.99 shell fairy lights I scored at Christmas Tree Shop?
I really love the newest addition to our kitchen. If anyone has old, wooden oars that they no longer want, please send them my way. I’d love to do some smaller ones for John and Conor’s rooms.
beautiful! Love the softness of the colors! We are making a beach themed room for my dd. these would be a perfect addition! pinning these for later! I would love for you to stop by and link to my Sew Crafty Saturday Party!
Beautiful – great job with making them look weathered! I have to find me some! Please come by my linky party hapening now to link it up – I would love to see you there! Stacey of Embracing Change http://staceyembracingchange.blogspot.com
Featured you today – hop over to see ad grab a button while you are there! Thanks for coming to the party – please come back soon! Stacey of Embracing Change
I just love this idea! They look great!
Thank you so much!
They look great!
Thanks!
Love the oars…what a great find!!
Thanks, Lynn.
Looks great Danielle! I like the stripes and yes, they look great near the window and lights 🙂 Very unique!
Thanks, Jessica!
They look great! I really like what you’ve done with them. Please visit my blog, I have passed the “Liebster Blog Award” to you! 😉 x
Karin, thank you. Thank you so much for giving me the liebster blog award. Very sweet of you.
Danielle! These are BEAUTIFUL!! I love how they turned out and I LOVE that you scored them off of Freecycle!! So completely awesome!
Thanks, Cheryl. Isn’t freecycle awesome!
Yep, they look great. I love the colours and also your little shell lights – they’re so cute !
Thanks, Fiona!
Thanks for sharing your pics. My old oars have found a new, happy home and I am thrilled about that! Great job, they look wonderful!
I so appreciate the gift of the oars. I love them. Thank you.
Your oars look terrific! I love anything coastal style too, so am joining up to follow you 🙂
Cas x
Thanks, Cas. So kind of you. I followed you back 🙂
I love love love the oars. So beachy and cool!
MC
Thanks, Michele. I love them too!
gorgeous !!!
x
Thank you!
those are awesome! Love the stripes you added! I’m visiting from the TT&J wrap-up!
Thanks, Mary Kathryn. I like the stripes too.
beautiful! Love the softness of the colors! We are making a beach themed room for my dd. these would be a perfect addition! pinning these for later! I would love for you to stop by and link to my Sew Crafty Saturday Party!
Thanks for you kind comment. So excited you’re pinning them!
Beautiful – great job with making them look weathered! I have to find me some! Please come by my linky party hapening now to link it up – I would love to see you there!
Stacey of Embracing Change
http://staceyembracingchange.blogspot.com
Thanks for linking to Sew Crafty Saturday! Just shared this on my Wildflowers & Whimsy’s Facebook page ! Can’t wait to see what you share this week!
Featured you today – hop over to see ad grab a button while you are there! Thanks for coming to the party – please come back soon!
Stacey of Embracing Change