Rustic house number

From Designer DIY and DIY hacks - ideas and inspiration

Use timber offcuts and some creativity to make a rustic house number sign.

There can be all sorts of clever ways to utilise old pieces of timber. This project is a good example of how you can turn scrap building materials into a fun and practical piece for the home.

You will need

Instructions

Step 1:  Cut your pieces of trim to make a frame for the wooden board using a small handsaw. Lightly sand all the edges to prepare them for painting, but don’t worry too much about getting a perfect finish as this project is meant to look rustic.

Step 2:  Apply one coat of Resene Quick Dry primer undercoat to the border pieces. Once dry, paint with two coats of Resene Alabaster. Set aside to dry.

Step 3:  While the border pieces are drying, apply one or two coats of Resene Waterborne Woodsman stain to your wooden board. Sarah chose the colour Resene Crowshead. Use a clean rag to wipe the stain across the board until you have the desired coverage. Allow to dry.

Step 4:  Once everything has dried, attach your frame to the edge of the board using glue. If you have access to an electric drill you could add additional reinforcement this way.

Step 5:  Apply two coats of Resene Rose Gold metallic paint to your adhesive numbers. Once dry, attach these to the board in a visible position. If you don’t have any stick-on numbers, use a stencil or hand paint your numbers onto the board.

Step 6:  Attach the pot plant of your choice. A couple of screws in the back of your board and some string means you can hang it up like a picture frame, or you might like to fix it more permanently to a fence or wall with an electric drill/hammer and nails.

Top tip

Sarah used a real plant in my hanging pot, but you could definitely use a fake one. This could be just as effective as well as less maintenance! If you don’t want a hanging plant you could attach a shelf to your board.

If you prefer a painted finish to a stained one, replace the Resene Waterborne Woodsman with your favourite Resene colour in a testpot and paint that on instead.

There are lots of ways you could vary this project through colour or extra features, so choose finishes that suit your home and extra features that will be helpful to you.