DIY Coat Hook & Dog Leash Holder With Font

I'm so proud of myself this week as I used my Dad's old router for the first time ever and succeeded on a new project.

I love being creative where I can and I've always loved drawing and if you're the same, then I recommend having a play around with one too.

It was only a few months when I thought someone was talking about a router to access the internet, so please don't feel silly for not knowing.  Unless it was just me?!  In fact, when I watched a YouTube video about one, I thought there was a typo.I'd heard of most tools growing up down Dad's wood yard, so it was pretty weird when we ended up having a conservation about one.  How had this tool never come up before because it's actually frickin' awesome!

So, low and behold, he had a spare one I could have.  Honestly, I wouldn't be able to do half the stuff if it wasn't for him.  I do everything on a budget where possible and the price of tools often amazes me (and wood for that matter).  But I've come to realise that sometimes there are occasions I really need to fork out to make DIY jobs easier.  And my Dad doesn't live close enough for it to be cost effective to borrow this or that.

It took a couple of tries one rainy afternoon on the font for my coat racks, but thankfully, if you're just getting started like I am, then this will also be a great project for you too!

Please don't assume I'm a professional in any DIY.  I am definitely  not.  And recently it dawned on me that don't necessarily like to learn how to do things.  I just like to know how.  Although any challenging obstacles that force me to think differently doesn't do me any harm at all.  In fact, problem solving has helped on each new project the more I do things.

So this coat rack was initially tricky as I had to work an easy way how to transfer the font.  But as soon as I had a light bulb moment about printing a free font, laminating it, then cutting out, it was very straightforward!

Note, it helps to use a big font and in a handwriting style.  Anything too formal, then the flaws show up immediately.  And anything too small, then there's risk of the letters looking too merged and illegible.

And using an old value pine shelf from B&Q (about 12mm thick), I held the stencil at the top of it and drew the outline of the font with a pencil.

I made sure I started at the top in case I messed up and cut cut off any poor fonts and start again.  However, I found it easy to reverse on to the non-carved side and try again.

If you're trying this for the first time, it's best not to try on some expensive wood.  In fact, as it's a shabby chic project, any tatty dints and scratches show more of a vintage look when coming to using a dark wax.  I personally think this is a good thing.

I'm particularly happy that we now have an organised cloakroom area.  Everyone in the house has their own dedicated hook, including our Tri Border Collie, Hans.

Note, it was very important to ensure all the walls in this area were washable.  I used Dulux's easycare range and haven't looked back.

Each morning, we'll pop to the park with Hans and a shared coffee, then bring the mud back with us.  If we break the routine, Hans will let us know immediately.

And I'd like to say a huge thank you to my Instagram friend, Trena.  We've been friends for a while after admiring each other's projects in a DIY on a Budget facebook group.  Little did we know though (until months later) that we'd grown up two villages apart in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

I didn't even know she had a shop with homemade dog leads and lanyards.  And as soon as she saw Hans' personal hook, she kindly offered to send Hans a new one, so here it is.

I love the fact that Hans wears a dog lead that's lovingly handcrafted in Yorkshire and it's so beautiful!

This is in no way a sponsored post, but if you would like to buy one for your pooch, then you can purchase one online from Trena's shop is here.

There are so many choices in colours with either a clip or a slip.  I opted for a slip because Hans doesn't wear a collar and it's so easy to pop round his neck and set off.

You can be sure to see him wearing it in one of our next camper van holiday adventures!

So once I carved my font out and one called for my dog (Hans), I chiseled out any ugly bits and roughed up the font with coarse sandpaper

What I painted it with was one coat of my homemade DIY chalk paint.  I just mixed 2tsp of calcium carbonate with basic matt white emulsion from Screwfix (usually for walls).  *Note: It's often on offer, like 2 for £15.

You don't need to prime the wood either.  It just sticks to it and depending on what coverage you're going for - I wanted to distress later, so only painted with one coat and left it to dry.

Then I sanded out my brushstrokes with very fine sandpaper.  TIP: It's MUCH cheaper if you buy it in packs from the market or a local bargain DIY shop as you'll go through the expensive stuff.  OR you could use fine wire wool instead.

SEALING THE PAINT

I've used many types of waxes to fix paint in place.  Annie Sloan's, Lord Sheraton's furniture wax, lavender polish from Tesco, but right now I have a tin of Rustoleum's Clear Finishing Wax which I find is more accessible than Annie's.  If I could order Annie on Amazon, then I would, but sadly there isn't a stockist near me.

And to give it an aged look and to allow my font to really stand out, I mixed up an antique glaze using a small amount of white spirits with Annie Sloan dark wax which has lasted me years.  It's never gone off and a little bit goes a long way.

The Visual Learning Bit!

So I brushed the glaze all over my project, but mainly focused on my font before rubbing the excess off with a lint free cloth (but avoiding the dark wax in the font itself).

To remove any dark wax you don't want in certain areas (like the outer parts of the font), just rub off with more clear wax and a lint free cloth (or something along the lines of an old plain t-shirt or bed sheet will suffice).

Then for the final finish, I screwed on some vintage style coat hooks (10 for £3.90 off ebay), which were much cheaper than Amazon and arrived in two days.  And then I screwed two holes in my coat rack ready to be fixed to the wall using raw plugs.  If you're a bit confused, then here's my video tutorial.

Any questions, just ask in the comments below!

TOTAL SPEND: £3.90

This is NOT a sponsored blog post.  If there are any affiliate links, it is only by pure luck.  This means if you do buy tools through the links (eg Amazon), I earn some pennies, (literally)!

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