Here’s how to make a simple rustic DIY blanket ladder:
Step 1: Buy a couple 1/4″ boards. I had our drywall guy pick them up while he was getting supplies for our sunroom roof, since we are lacking a truck. The boards came 8′ long and I ended up cutting them down to around 7′.
I also picked up some 1″ dowels at Lowe’s. Luckily, these come in smaller 3′ and 4′ lengths so they are easily transportable. I failed to take a raw materials picture (sorry).
My plan was for the ladder to be a little wider on the bottom, so I cut each dowel an inch bigger than the previous one. The top rung is 22″ wide, and the bottom is 26″ (5 rungs total).
After my cuts were made, I laid everything on the ground to get a general sense of how it would look:
Works for me!
Next was time to measure where the dowels would go.
I marked the center and drew a vertical line down the 1×4, then made a mark every 14″ where the dowels would go (and repeated on the second board, of course).
I then took a small drill bit and went straight through the board on each mark I had made, in order to mark the drilling locations for the final screws that would hold the dowels in.
Once I had my holes drilled, I used a 1″ wide spade bit to chisel out a hole for the dowel to fit into.
Within a few minutes, my holes were drilled and ready to go:
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| Be careful not to hollow it out all the way through… about 1/2″ deep should be good. |
This next part required Brad’s help.
While one board was laying flat, I applied some wood glue to the dowel ends and nestled them into the holes I had just drilled. When the dowels were in, we carefully lined up the top board and did the same. To secure it into place, we used a rubber mallet to make sure the dowels had seated all the way.
Success!
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Whitney says
Ahh! I am off to home depot to get supplies to make the ladder! I LOVE it!
hilda dada says
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thelotteryhouse says
Both of these projects turned out so beautifully! I've been itching to DIY a ladder – luckily now we have an awesome tutorial to follow along with. 🙂
Diana @ Boy + Girl says
I love them both! I was to do a globe so badly! I will have to find one on sale somewhere or maybe at a thrift store.
Beach girl says
I love the ladder! The way it looks weathered! I would love to do that to a dresser!
Jenna Sue says
Thanks for catching that! Fixed 🙂
Callie and David says
Looks so good! I was wondering how you did the globe 🙂 Tiny editing police – I think you mean *continents* most places where you've written countries 🙂
Brittany says
That globe is SO cool! I think it looks great and am inspired to try this out myself.