From an Old Ladder to Amazing Blanket Storage.
I have always loved old things, I imagine it is the influence of my maternal grandmother when I was growing up, she also gave me subscription to Martha Stewart Living when I was ten, that probably helped. Big Grandma (as we lovingly called her, she was really tall) always told me stories of her life, and all the beautiful things in her home had a story. So finding creative ways to use old things is one of my many passions, I’m also passionate about The Hubs, bacon, and Starbucks Coffee.
For a while I have wanted some antique ladders to hang blankets on. I live in Colorado, it gets cold here, I also run about ten degrees colder than your average human being. So always having a nice warm blanket near by is an important, perhaps necessary, part of my survival.
About a year ago I was at our local antique store and I spotted a pair of old painting ladders. Up to this point all the ones I had seen were either too short or too tall for the space I wanted to put it in, this one was Just Right! These ones were also pretty rustic, which I also like. So I brought them home, and out came my power sander!
I am going to wax poetic about my power sander for a minute.
I love my power sander, it’s probably the biggest time saver I have when working on a project. Its perfect for really cleaning off old pieces that might have years of build up or layers of paint that you might not want. Use a finer grit, though, and you can create an amazingly smooth surface that is perfect for staining or just putting on a nice clear coat. I use mine on wood and ceramics and occasionally on metal. Weather its a circular sander, a belt sander, my little Dremel rotary sander, I love them all!
Back to the ladders. For this one I really wanted to keep that rough look so all I did was sand down the really rough edges, I made sure the rungs were as smooth as possible since my blankets were going to be hanging there (a snagged blanket lets cold air in) then I gave it four coats of spray polyurethane. This allows a lot of the grain and the texture of the wood to shine through but be smooth enough to not cause damage to blankets.
The finished product has plenty of space for me to hang some of my favorite blankets….when I’m not buried under them.
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