Turn An Old Wooden Ladder Into Rustic Style Shelving and Age Your Own Wall Brackets

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I love buying vintage from car boots and the older style odds and ends shops where you can pick up a bargain.  This wooden ladder was a steal, I paid about £10 from a local 'rag and bone' shop.  It measured just under 2.5m so was a squeeze fitting into my little corsa.

I had seen a few pictures of people using ladders as wall features and shelving and wanted to incorporate this into my scheme.

I decided to saw the ladders in half so I could use in two spaces. The longer section (1.5m) is positioned at the foot of the stairs, hanging horizontally, and is used as shelving.




The smaller section (1m) is hanging vertically at the top of the stairs and will display a few black and white photos (still to do).




When I bought the ladders they were covered in cobwebs and dried on mud so I gently wiped them down before sealing them with clear furniture wax. The ends that I had cut needed distressing which I did with dark wax.

I hung them using angle brackets (£2.99 from Aldi), they were the super shiny galvanised kind and just didn't look right, I wanted a rustic finish.

To turn shiny new hardware (brackets and screws) into old rusty ones you will need:-

Angle brackets (£2.99 from Aldi, bulk pack)
Steel wool
White vinegar (under £1)
Hydrogen peroxide (3% food grade) (£7.95 for 1litre) - I also use this for home cleaning solutions
Table Salt

Do in well ventilated area - outside is best
Wear protective gloves and face mask
Mixing hydrogen peroxide and vinegar releases a small amount of toxic gas - do outside
  1. Sand away the shiny rust proof finish of your hardware to help the liquids penetrate surface 
  2. Place the hardware into an old tub and cover with equal parts vinegar and hydrogen peroxide (watch this react) - remember toxic gas so do in outside/ well ventilated area with face mask.
  3. After 5 minutes add Salt (let it sit and react until you get desired effect)
  4. Finally let it air dry - it will rust even more as it dries.  
  5. You can choose to seal them (to avoid rust marks on your walls/shelves)
There are lots of other ways to rust metal, I read this on WikiHow.

Once the brackets and screws were dry I attached two to the top and bottom using wall plugs and the rusty screws. 


Renew rather than buy new!

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