Barnboard Crafts

Rustic Shabby Chic Projects
for Weathered Barn Boards

The patina of old barnboards is hard to fake, so finding real, weathered barnboards or hand split shakes off old buildings, sheds or houses is a valuable resource.

Advertise in the local paper to see if there are any potential boards from fences or other destruction projects that can be picked up – depending on your level of confidence and energy, another option is to offer a service of taking the boards off yourself.

Storing the boards is fairly important – keep them dry and use spacers to allow air movement between them.

Barn boards are notorious for breaking down quickly once removed from the vertical and allowed to get damp.

Take any nails out of the boards before storing.

To use your precious store of boards for making barnboard crafts they can be lightly planed or sanded to take the slivers off, but to remove too much is defeating the purpose of having the weathered patina.

The nice thing about old barnboards is the quality and thickness of the boards – anything milled locally more than fifty years ago will most likely be clear (no knots) and thicker than lumber you can get now.

Some barnboard crafts to make

Barnboard nest boxes

Barnboard Potting bench

Barnboard hook boards

Barnboard signs

Twig furniture, benches, chairs and tables made with a combination of twigs, driftwood and barnboards.

weathered boards for Barnboard Crafts

All these rustic crafts add so much to your home and garden – the atmosphere and ambiance of old time creativity and shabby chic.

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Rustic Crafts

See more Barnboard Crafts on Blue Fox Farm