This post was originally published on DIY Network’s blog Made + Remade in March 2013.
Dibs, this fine piece of driftwood is going to be fabulous feature decor in my home. Natural driftwood? Check. Subtle color infusion? Check. Practical? Check.
Keep on reading to see what materials I used to create this great, inexpensive conversation piece (and then go make one yourself for <$10).
Here’s what you need:
- Your finest piece of driftwood.
- Enamel spray paint (you won’t have a full rainbow to choose from at the store, but the finish will be really durable and hopefully you’ll be as thrilled with it as I am)
- Hooks (I bought 8, and spray painted 8, but only ended up using 5).
- Drill with a bit slightly smaller than your hook screws (optional, but predrilling makes assembly easier)
I started with a great piece of driftwood found right on the shores of our local beach. This piece has been sitting and drying for months, and was the perfect candidate for any number of DIY projects.
There’s never not a need for extra hook storage in our house. Keys, scarves, kitchen utensils, you name it, we need that stuff hooked, organized, and accessible at a moments notice.
The hooks I bought were 1-1/2″ in length, and plenty heavy so that they would secure solidly into the driftwood. I took advantage of one of our most springtime-ish days and set up shop outside.
Spray paint works best when it has something to bond to, and to give it a fighting chance at staying put on my new metal hooks I roughed them up with a fine grade sandpaper before spraying them with yellow enamel. See, yellow works nicely with my paint palette, and I liked that it would give a bright flair to something as natural as driftwood, but black would have looked great too, a classic look a la Pottery Barn, I suppose. Try it, I think it’d be classy.
But back to my screams-look-at-me yellow.
I sprayed one side thoroughly, and let it air-dry outdoors for an hour in the breeze before daring to flip the hooks over and spray the other side.
They turned out really nicely with just the one coat of spray paint on each side.
On the driftwood, I measured out holes 3″ apart (this is why I only ended up needing to use 5 screws instead of 8). I predrilled the holes to make twisting the screws into place a little easier on my own hands, and within 2 minutes, all 5 hooks were installed.
The length of the driftwood measures 38″. Where would you find yourself displaying it purposefully in the home?
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