DIY Bedroom Series: $10 DIY Blanket Ladder

I love this ladder!  If you're anything like me, you have blankets everywhere cluttering up linen closets or piled in the corner of the room just taking up space.  I feel like we have blankets coming out of our ears.  Winter in Utah can be a little chilly, so we always need the blankets handy, but I hate having them on the floor.  Anyone else ever worried about spiders crawling out?  Seriously creepy.  Problem solved!  way to keep blankets off the ground and can also be a great way to display quilts, etc.  Plus, when you can make it for $10, what could be better?!

Materials:
As a perfect beginner project, the only tool you really need is a drill.  You'll also need wood, 2" screws, stain/paint of choice, and some brushes.

We purchased our wood at Home Depot.  We got a 16 foot 2x4 piece for $7.  We had them cut it right there at the store.  For this ladder we did two 5' pieces and four 18" pieces, however, when we do another one I think I'd prefer shortening the "rungs" to 15" and increasing the length by 6". 

Once you have all the pieces cut and you've made it home with all your supplies you'll need to decide where you want your rungs.  We started our first about 6" from the top and each one under that was 12" from the bottom edge of the rung.  We made the angle so that the corners of the rung were flush with the sides of the ladder.  Really you can do whatever angle you'd like.  It's not rocket science here! 

Mark the boards where you are going to place them.  Pre-drill holes with a bit that is comparable to the screws you're using. 

 

(Ours is marked twice because I had my husband lower the rungs a bit.  If you're lucky you might just only have to mark them once!)

 

Now, my husband screwed each rung to both sides first.  It may be easier to screw each rung into one side, then screw it into the other side.  I leave that up to you.

*Note:  I stained the ladder after it was all put together.  If you prefer, you can stain/paint it before it's screwed together. 

Once it's all put together, you really should sand it a little before staining, but being the lazy person I am, I didn't. 

 For this ladder, I used Minwax Dark Walnut 2716.  It's what I had left over from a bench we made.  I truly do love the dark stain, but I think we'll make another ladder and this time paint it white, or if I get really ambitious I may try to give it more of the weathered look to fit in better with the beach theme.  I mean, really, you can never have too many of these hanging around!

Follow directions on your stain.  Again, with this project I was a little lazy.  I just used a foam brush to paint on the stain and then used an old rag to wipe it off.  I did two coats.  The second coat I left on for a few hours and then wiped it down.  I left the stain overnight before applying a coat of Minwax Polycrylic

.
Apply 2-3 coats.  Then you're done!!  Hopefully that was pretty clear.  If you have any questions, let me know!