DIY Decor Ladder for Your Home!

Jonathan Ellis
by Jonathan Ellis
9 Materials
$25
1 Hour
Easy

DIY - How to make a decor ladder for your home! I'll take you step by step in how I made this beautiful rustic decor ladder for my home. You can also watch the youtube video for a detailed view on this project, please subscribe to my channel if you enjoy my content! Thank you.

Hey everyone! Welcome back! If you enjoyed this tutorial, I would appreciate it if you headed over to youtube and subscribed, all my content is free and I only get paid when people view and subscribe to my channel! Lets get started by grabbing ourselves a couple of 2x4s.

I used a roll of blue painters tape to get a nice rounded edge on the ends of two 2x4s. You can use a can or anything else with a rounded shape. Cut these with a jigsaw or a handsaw.

Mark a line to 64 inches (or any size you prefer) on your two 2x4s.

I set the miter saw to 15 degrees for the cut at 64 inches long. If you don't have a miter saw, don't panic! You can easily get this angle with a square and cut it with a handsaw. I prefer Japanese pull saws for their cutting power. They are very strong and work well. You can usually pick one up for $15-30 online.

Since my lines weren't angled on the boards to match the 15 degrees on the miter saw I simply cut to the right of the line. After I cut my two long boards down to size, I used the scrap and an extra board to cut 4 ladder steps at 16 inches wide, be sure to reset the saw back to 0.

Start marking lines 14 inches apart for 4 ladder steps on the two 64 inch boards. You'll only need 4 lines.

Take a ruler and measure off that line, in to about 3/4 of an inch. This will be the center point of your ladder step, so when you drill the screws in, everything is lined up properly.

As you can see, the parallel line is 3/4 away from that 14 inch line, and the other two perpendicular lines are also 3/4 to an inch from the edges. Do not drill all the way through! Set a stop line with some tape on your bit.

Sanding! get all your sanding finished and prepped! I know, its tedious, but it must be done! ;)

After pre drilling the holes for my ladder steps, I plugged in a few 3 inch screws about half way, so they are ready when everything is glued up.

Stirring up a can of Varathane weathered gray from home depot.

Make sure you apply heavy and wipe off ALL EXCESS or you will have inconsistencies in your stain. Do not attempt to go back minutes later after staining to apply more, you will end up taking more stain off when you go to wipe it again. Its a tricky stain and doesn't work the same as Minwax. Be sure to use a test board to make sure you like the color and know how to properly apply the stain.

I applied titebond glue to the ends of the ladder steps with a small brush to even it out. I did not go heavy on the glue as I don't want any or much squeeze out after clamping it together.

I clamped everything up then screwed it together. If you don't have any clamps, you might have to get creative. It shouldn't be hard to have a helper hold your board in place while you drive the screws in. You can also save the staining for last if you prefer, I just didn't want to deal with all the corners and tight places so I stained before-hand. You may also add a clear coat after everything has dried if you want added protection.

Again, thank you for viewing my tutorial and I hope you viewed the video also! This content is 100% free and so are my youtube videos. I would appreciate it if you could take the time to subscribe to my channel and like/comment! Stay tuned for future content and have a great day!

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Frequently asked questions
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  3 questions
  • Em Em on Aug 03, 2018

    Did you consider using large dial rods for the rungs instead of 2 x 4's? Your ladder is lovely, just thinking the dial rods would look more like a vintage ladder.

  • Paula Lanza Paula Lanza on Aug 25, 2018

    Love your sofa! who is it by and what color is it considered?

  • Where is your channel? You Tube? Lots of Jonathon Ellis channels out there . . .

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  • Drewetta Flowers Drewetta Flowers on Jul 30, 2019

    I think I would give this a try because I’ve Beene wanting a blanket ladder for a while and they are so expensive to buy and I already have the wood to start. Thank-you


  • Susie Cantrell Susie Cantrell on Jul 31, 2019

    🙋🏼 Very Nice Ladder! 😃💚

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