Sprucing Up the Dining Room

I worked on a bunch of little projects this week.  They aren't as satisfying as the big reveal to me, but you get a bunch of them under your belt, and you've got yourself a success almost as satisfying as a big project.  Almost!  I got a little more barnwood this week, and I was searching for some with a little bit of green in it.  These particular pieces had clearly been outside in the weather, and have a little moss color to them.

I love making these signs, and thought that a little added dimension with the use of a box to make the sign stand off the wall would add some nice change.

This idea actually came from none other than Joanna Gaines.  She had a beautiful Instagram post around Christmas of her decorated tree, and right above it was a gorgeous "Dining Room" sign.  I decided I wanted the "Dining" to be in more an elegant font, and cut the stencil out with my trusty silhouette, obviously this one was a big enough stencil that I needed to piece it together!

For "The" and "Room"  I traced this stencil on the wood

You can barely see the traced line, but you can also fudge a little on the hand painting as well.

Take some 220 grit sandpaper just over the black letters so as not to take off too much of the texture and cool colors of the barnwood.

Next up is the box!  When I picked out this barnwood, I got so lucky after cutting the pieces for the box it was discovered that the wood was oak, even better!  The grain is so beautiful so the exposed cut wood without it's weathering doesn't detract from the overall look of the finished piece .

We also used some fence pickets to make this sign.  Fence pickets, really?  They are the perfect rustic type wood for any of these signs I think.  I used a gray stain which was a first for me.  What I loved about this stain is that a light layer of it enhanced the fence pickets and gave them a different rich color.

I also branched out with the stain on the letters as well.  I purchased an ebony stain instead of using black craft paint.  Just saying, I loved it!  It didn't cover up the wood grain it only enhanced it.

Got the letters all layout out, and attached them using wood glue and some brad nails.  I used a q-tip to add a little stain to cover up the brad nail holes and make them look less noticeable.

Here it is all hung between the windows in the dining room.  Both of these signs were excellent additions to a room that was in need of a few special touches.  They look amazing!