make.it: rustic garden gate

Loving the ladder trend means trying to incorporate it into our life (does that happen to you?). Since we've been meaning to add an official (read bigger and less ghetto) garden entrance, a Ladder Gate it was!

1. Cut your wood. First rip three 2x4's in half. These will be your long posts (or ladder sides).

2. Using scrap wood, make a pile of 18" long 'rungs.'

3. Sand all edges.

4. "Distress" the wood (we banged it up with a hammer, scraped with nails and screws, and just generally roughed up the wood). Our inspiration was the distressed console Jon and Sherry made for Young House Love- they have an extensive tutorial on how to make new wood look old here.

5. Stain all wood pieces. We assembled two colors of stain (ebony and new american were the colors), a cup of water, a pile of foam brushes and an old rag. Using the water and stain in various combinations, we were able to achieve a variety of distressed looks. More specifically, sometimes we put water on the board first and then stain, sometimes we used just one kind of stain and wiped it off, sometimes we layered the two colors of stain.

6. Add a coat of polyurethane to seal the wood (especially important since this little structure will be permanently outside). As a side note, doesn't the finished distressing look good?

7. Construct the side ladders first (attach the 'rungs' to the bottom half of the soon-to-be-ladder-sides). Then, assemble the top by evenly spacing the rungs across the entire length.

8. Once the sides and top are all assembled separately, anchor/set the sides at your desired location. Once they're secure, attach the top (nail the sides and the top together).

9. Decorate with twinkle lights, hanging lanterns, climbing vines, etc. and ENJOY! Love your garden. Even more than you already do.

ps- This thing is great as a photo prop and is fantastic for party decor. Just a couple added bonuses.