Boot rack with kick

Hands-on time: Less than three hours.
Total time: Add drying time for the paint and glaze.
Skill: Moderate.
Project cost: Less than $20 for supplies (not including boot rack, bought at a garage sale for $1).

Materials and Tools

• Wooden boot rack (or similar garage sale find)
• Sandpaper and tack cloth
• Navy blue primer
• Painter's tape in assorted widths, ruler or measuring tape, pencil
• Five acrylic paint colours (I used lime green, and assorted shades of blue and aqua)
• Glaze medium
• Paint tray and stir sticks
• Several flat paintbrushes, 1 cm to 2 cm, depending on the width of the stripes, plus a 7.5 cm brush and a varnish brush (5 to 7.5 cm)
• Wood-grain rocker (5 cm to 7.5 cm)
• Exterior varnish

Garage sale season is here. And what better way to try new paint finishes and techniques than with those garage sale findings?

Combining multi-coloured stripes with a wood-grain effect lets you camouflage defects on less-than-perfect items. Graining is achieved with a curved rubber tool called a rocker. It is pulled through wet paint or glaze in a slow rocking motion and leaves a spectacular wood-grain pattern. These renewed pieces make great decorative accents for the mud room or the cottage.

Thoroughly clean the boot rack, and lightly sand it. Even if your piece has several coats of paint, there is no need to strip it. Wipe away the sanding dust with a tack cloth. Apply a base coat and allow it to dry completely. (I used navy primer for the interior and lime for the exterior.)

Place painter's tape on the sides to create vertical stripes in various widths. You can measure these, or simply eyeball them.

Paint in the stripes, using assorted acrylic paint colours. Start at one side of the boot rack and work your way around it, painting one colour at a time. Once the stripes are all painted, gently remove the painter's tape and let the item dry for a few hours. It doesn't matter if some of your stripes bleed through; they will be covered with a darker finish and imperfections will not be so visible.

In a paint tray, prepare the navy blue glaze mixture (one part acrylic paint colour and one part glaze medium). Mix well.

Place the boot rack on its side onto a work table. Working on one side at a time, apply a coat of the navy blue glaze with a 7.5 cm brush, covering several painted stripes at a time (about the same width as the graining rocker).

Immediately follow with the graining rocker, starting at the top and gliding it downward, slightly rocking it back and forth to create the wood-grain appearance. The multi-coloured stripes will show through the pattern.

Should you not like your wood-grain design, simply brush on more navy glaze mixture and go over it again with the graining rocker.

Repeat the above steps to apply the wood-grain effect onto the remaining three sides. Allow 6 to 12 hours for the glaze to dry.

Since boots are usually wet, apply two to three coats of exterior varnish to protect the finish, letting it dry between each application.

Wait 24 hours before using.

Variations

• This clever paint effect is sure to add flair to other findings such as drawers, small benches, shelves and containers. Use this technique to revive items around your home. Try making a fashionable plaid, or horizontal stripes. Make each side a different colour, using different shades for the fall/winter side. Turn it around for the next season.