Once we shared the duplex backyard makeovers final month, I promised extra particulars about how we made the ornamental oars that grasp on every shed. So in the present day I’ve acquired 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 number of different “hacks” you guys requested about.
The oars truly weren’t a part of our authentic plans. However after the sheds had been constructed we nixed our plans to run electrical energy to them (for value 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 turned 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 undertaking to finish up with 4 cool wanting oars to hold on the sheds.
We truly ditched the concept completely 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 verify we had been barking up the proper tree. We wished to verify we favored the dimensions & form earlier than altering them with paint (thereby making it inconceivable 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 value slightly over $100, which was nice… however they didn’t look the best way we wished. They really seemed fairly terrible collectively at this level:
However I used to be emboldened by our luck at sanding down and refinishing the duplex dining tables, so I took to sanding every all the way down to their uncooked wooden. Right here’s the orbital sander I used, which does the job rather well.
It took some elbow grease, however the outcomes had been extraordinarily encouraging. Right here’s a side-by-side of the 2 most related 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 wanting extra related. It was mainly trial and error of varied leftover stain cans in our storage, however I’m 95% certain 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 numerous 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 effective tune our path 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 quite a lot of wooden “stripes” in our design (, the areas UNDER the tape) as a result of every time two colours contact, it’s a must to paint one and let it dry earlier than you possibly can paint the opposite. So for effectivity we minimized these situations, however we didn’t utterly eradicate them. The rationale 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 might tape and paint my subsequent colours.
As soon as every little thing 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 best way (though we did deviate slightly as we went). Aside from the mint shade (SW Pale Patina) we didn’t use the precise 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 case you’re going to hold your oars exterior, FYI. Additionally colours have a tendency to clean out in exterior lighting (there’s extra solar exterior than inside) so that you generally must go darker or extra intense with a shade than you’ll inside your own home.
The undertaking was going nice at this level. Issues had been drying shortly within the warmth exterior. We acquired 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 be taught 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 can be uncovered to the weather 24/7/365 (and that’s not simply rain, it’s plenty of warmth and even snow). So we wished to layer on an exterior grade polyurethane sealer, that are usually oil based mostly – however VERY sturdy. Now, I ought to’ve examined the sealer I had readily available in an not easily seen place first – however I used to be operating up in opposition to a weekend that we had been going to Cape Charles and I wished to complete these and produce them with me. So I simply WENT FOR IT.
Sherry described what occurred subsequent as “not an enormous 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 annoyed at myself for messing them up on the final step. Right here’s what occurred:
Oil-based stains generally 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 fallacious 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 numerous spots – leaving brownish-yellow streaks and dots alongside the oars.
Sherry’s proper that it’s a comparatively minor challenge – one which most likely wouldn’t be tremendous detectible from the gap at which they’d be seen in any case. However I used to be irritated at how rather more “rustic” the oars had change into as a result of yellowing and the streaking.
So I did the one wise/loopy factor {that a} Licensed Oarologist™ might do on this state of affairs. I sanded off all of the streaky spots, taped every little thing off once more, and repainted all 4 oars. It wouldn’t de-yellow the wooden tone, however no less than I might 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 after we began this undertaking: we had been utilizing exterior paints on every little thing, in order that they didn’t truly have to be sealed. Solely the wooden wanted sealing. Soooooo… if I had been doing this once more (or in case you’re at dwelling doing it proper now – to start with welcome to the sector, 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 every little thing was effective (though the additional paint job meant we reduce 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 by the oar and siding, proper right into a stud behind it (I predrilled a small gap within the oar to make it sink proper by simply).
You possibly can see the screw heads within the picture beneath (see the little dots). I attempted to keep away from placing them by painted sections after I might, since they appear to mix extra into the wooden tone than the lighter painted sections, however finally your eyes don’t actually give attention to them except you’re actively on the lookout for them.
This tutorial truly ought to maintain up for something that’s wooden that you just’re pondering of sanding, staining, portray, and hanging exterior. So in case you’re serious about a surf board as a substitute – or an indication with your loved ones identify 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 every little thing higher.
To see the complete reveal of our duplex yard (with sources and data on the sheds, patio, furnishings and many others) click here – and in case you haven’t seen the pink home yard makeover, which we completed proper after the duplex yard, it’s a must to check that out right here.
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