Hello Friends and welcome…..see above….LOL to the blog today. I’m working on a new display for the wall in my Morning Room and thought “Welcome” would be a nice theme.
A few days a go I found this old welcome sign at the Thrift Store. I thought it quite charming but it had a few difficulties. If you look at the sign you can see that the “L” is sandwiched tightly between the “e” and the “c” making it seem cramped. I knew I would need a longer board. I thought the flowers were a cute idea but not really in keeping with my style so that had to be changed. The board was not very sturdy and had seen better days. I like the white-washed style but needed something different for the sign’s new home.
This poplar board was in our wood stash and was left over from a different project. Turned out it was the exact size needed for this project. Lucky Me! A little light sanding and the board was ready for the next step.
I knew I wanted the board to be dark so I started with some ebony stain I had on hand. I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted so started out streaking the board. It was a nice effect but didn’t quite work. I continued to darken the board until it was quite dark and then removed some of the stain so the grain would show through giving it some texture.
The next step was to remove the flowers so I could unscrew the letters from their current home. I kept the screws for reuse.
Next I spray-painted the letters with a coating of white Rustoleum. I really liked the original sage green color but wanted to freshen things a bit.
After the paint dried overnight I took some sand paper, medium grit, and sanded off some of the white so the sage green showed through…..a little shabby chic.
The letters were positioned on the board with the first and last letters a little bit above the others. Those two letters spell “WE” and then the whole thing is “Welcome” so “We Welcome”. My hubby used a punch to create the holes and then was able to easily screw in the hardware to secure the letters to the board.
I was happy with the outcome. The letters show up really well on the dark board and will blend in with dark picture frames. Other pieces will join the Welcome Sign as I make some progress transitioning the wall for late Summer into early Fall. When the wall is completed y’all will be the first to see it. Have a great week.