Home Decor 889: DIY Weathered Wood Wall Hook Rack- Entryway Progress

Y'all. Can you even believe that at this time next week, we'll be donning our Christmas jammies and setting out our Santa cookies? It's 8:30 p.m. here in South Carolina right now and I just tucked Olivia into her bed. I'm so ready for it to be here that I can hardly stand it.

(Side note: Our two year-old calls Santa "Pee Pee Claus". Is that not the grossest nickname ever?)

Anyways...before I started decking our halls with tons upon tons of greenery, I managed to squeeze in one little home improvement project that I just now got around to showing you guys. And it's so simple that you probably don't even need this tutorial, but hey, what are friends for?

Bless'er House | DIY Weathered Wood Wall Hook Rack - Simple to make and way cheaper than store bought

When we first moved into this house, I knew instantly that I wanted a bench with wall hooks in our downstairs hallway as a makeshift mudroom. After living with shoes strewn all over the floor and hats and jackets laid anywhere for an entire year, I'd finally resolved to do something about it. (And if you follow me on Facebook, you might have noticed that today marked our official 1 year anniversary of closing on our house! Happy Birthday, Casa de Shaver.)

Once I madeover our Craigslist wagon bench, I got right to work on creating a weathered wood wall hook rack. It has made a ton of difference for when we have guests and they need to hang up their winter gear.

Here's what I used:

1x6 plank cut to 5' (We happened to have a scrap piece in our garage.)
Minwax Pre-Stain (optional but recommended)
Minwax Stain in Dark Walnut
Minwax White Wash Pickling Stain
3 sponge brushes
Rags
Drill
Pencil
Tape measure
Wall hooks and screws (I found mine in the hardware aisle of Lowe's.)

The best part- I already had all of the materials on hand besides the hooks, so this little project in all cost me less than $20.

To condition the wood and give it a more even finish, I applied the Minwax Pre-Stain and waited 3 minutes before wiping off the excess.

Once the wood is dry, apply a coat of the Minwax Dark Walnut Stain. I just followed the instructions on the back of the can.

After the stain was dry about two hours later, I applied the Minwax White Wash Pickling Stain and wiped up the excess after about 3 minutes. You can water it down if you want more of the darker stain showing through. I wanted more of a contrast between the wall hooks and the bench, so I didn't water it down.

It's easier to see in person, but the layers of the colors in the wood are perfect and look just like weathered wood. You can even rough up the wood a little bit by hitting it with hammers, chains, and any other metal pieces that could leave marks to make it look more worn.

Using a tape measure, I marked where I wanted the hooks to be.

I marked where I needed the screws in the hooks and pre-drilled them.

I screwed in the hooks and that was it! Power tools and I don't really get along, so if I was able to handle this on my own, I promise that you can.

To make sure it was secure to the wall, we drilled through to the studs and anchored the rack. It's definitely not going anywhere.

It's been so convenient since we put it up a few weeks ago. My next step is to get some crates for shoes underneath the bench. Installing board and batten is on my wish list for 2015 too.