Well HELLO there!!

Wanna makeover something?  What about your backyard gate?!?  That’s exactly what I did and I’ll show you the steps I took to go from this little eye sore….

To THIS!!

Much, much more welcoming!!  The bamboo gate was a “problem fixer” 9 years ago when we originally moved in.  The dogs kept squeezing through the wrought iron gate, so we thought, yes, let’s put a panel of bamboo and zip tie it in place.  Easy!

And it worked, for a minute.  We went through our fair share of zip ties, but that solution has done the trick.  Now the problem?  It just looked pretty tired.  Neglected.  Oh, and it was dragging on the floor… so sad.

Well, inspiration can come from anywhere and a few months ago I saw this comforter in a JCPenney ad with a cool motif… I drew it in my journal and from that comforter picture sprung the idea of this here little gate!

Anyhoo, let’s get this show on the road!

Here’s what I used…

• 1 plywood panel 3/4 cut to size of gate
• 2 8ft pieces of 4″ pine
• 3 8ft pieces of 3″ pine
• Exterior Paint and primer, paint brush and 3″ roller with tray (You really only need a brush)
• Wood filler and sanding block (optional)
• Nail gun and 1″ nails (a hammer and nails would work too) and wood glue
• Miter saw (or a miter box with a hand saw)
• Jig saw and wood blades
• Galvanized screws and drill

Now for the interesting part.  I can’t really tell you what your measurements will be, so just repeat after me, “math is my friend.”

First frame out the plywood panel with 4″ pine trim.  Miter the edges 90 degrees.

Then decide how big you want the center box to be and cut your 3″ pieces to make a square.  But where to place it?  Okay, take the length measurement of your panel and subtract the length of the square, then divide by two.  That’s how far into the panel on each side your square should go.  Do the same equation for the width, and that’s it!!

Now I had to make room for the swinging hardware and you might have this issue too.  But no fear, it’s easy to cut out a little square!

Measure and mark out.  Drill two holes in each corner with the largest drill bit you have, so that your jig saw blade will fit through.  Then just cut it out with the jig!!  Sounds like a lot, but it took me about 10 minutes.

Cut the rest of the 3″ trim to make the rest of the design and nail gun it in place, with some wood glue if you have it.

Here she is, all patched and roughly sanded.

Prime it up!  I put on one coat.

Now, paint it up!!  Here I put on two coats of Sherwin Williams Talipot Palm in their Ovation paint.  The stuff is pretty amazing and I’m kinda in love with it.  It’s like painting with pudding… in a good way.

And right now it’s on sale!!  I don’t get paid for this or anything, I just really like their paint and I also like saving money.  Win-win!!  I hope you have save yourself a bit o’cash!

Once your new baby is painted and pretty, have a friend help you hold the gate in place while you screw it in through the wrought iron into the wood.  (Or you can clamp it if your friends are all too busy washing their hair.)

Then, enjoy!!!

Here’s the front… so pretty!!

And the back!  Girl has got IT. Going. ON.

I think all in all (with the $15 pint of paint) I spent about $50 bucks and I must say I’m pretty happy with my snazzy new gate!!

After the crazy work on the triple bunks, this was such a fun project to get done within a few days!!  Sometimes you just need a little project to put some wind back in your sails and get your spirit back into the wild DIY west!!