Rustic Barn Shelf

[Keel McDonald]

The LOML has been after me to build her a rustic coat rack/shelf to hang over the rustic bench I built for her last year. I finally got around to building one the other day. I made it from salvaged wood off of an old barn at my grandparents' house. I must admit, working with nice straight lumber is much easier than trying to get this stuff to line up and be square. But I suppose that adds to the charm of the piece.

She wanted me to use old doorknobs as the "hooks" to hang the coats on, but I didn't have any just lying around the shop. I got to thinking about what I did have that I might could use. I remembered that I had some deer antlers that I had used to make some pens. I kept the tips of them hoping someday I would find a use for them.

I drilled a 1/4" diameter hole in the ends of the antlers about 1" deep I used epoxy to secure a 2" piece of threaded rod into the hole, leaving 1" sticking out. I inserted that end through a 1/4" hole in the shelf, and secured each one with a washer and nut from the back side.

She liked it very much, and I do too.

[Jim Becker]

That's really nice, Keel. It looks like it will do exactly what is expected with a very nice country feel. The picture kicks it up nicely, too. Good job!

One hint from someone who lives with a LOT of barn wood in the house...vacuum is about the only way to clean these things. Stay away from it with ANYTHING 'fluffy' or that has fibers that can come loose... ;)

[Keel McDonald]

Jim

I'll have to remind my wife about that when Christmas time comes. She loves to decorate with the "cotton-type" snow. I doubt very seriously that that stuff would come off the shelf easily.

Not only does it catch "fluffy" things easily, but it also catches finger easily and likes to leave splinters behind. It's very different than working with nice, smooth, straight wood.


That's really nice, Keel. It looks like it will do exactly what is expected with a very nice country feel. The picture kicks it up nicely, too. Good job!

One hint from someone who lives with a LOT of barn wood in the house...vacuum is about the only way to clean these things. Stay away from it with ANYTHING 'fluffy' or that has fibers that can come loose... ;)

[Jim Becker]

Yea...avoid the "cotton-like" snow like the plague. Your shelf will grow a beard! Stick with other forms of seasonal decoration...pine boughs really look nice on barn wood and are pretty traditional in that respect.

But even normal, every-day dust can build up and get hard to remove...reasonably frequent vacuum attention deals with it. Unfortunately, the beams in our great room don't get done nearly enough...I gotta do that again real soon now!! It's a "big ladder" operation as the beams are 12' up.