DIY - Home and Garden Building Projects, Using Recycled Rustic Barnwood

When you travel the country roads and even the highways you can see lots of old barns that are in a state of disrepair.

Age, type of construction, and weather have taken their tole on many beautfiul barns all across this the country. Some property owners are willing to have the barns removed before they become a safety hazard.

That is better for both the property owner and the environment. Much better than a barn falling, and being burned to remove it from the property. because no one wants to take it down.

Reclaimed barnwood is beautiful. It is naturally weathered to a gray or brown color and can be used for many purposes, in a rustic setting.

Here are some suggested uses for reclaimed barnwood, based on my experiences, with being fortunate enough to have been involved in removing a few barns in the past.

Smaller projects include making barnwood crafts. With the right tools barnwood can be used to build birdhouses, wall shelves, picture frames,and more.

My favorite small project using reclaimed barnwood, is making the handpainted signs from scraps of barnwood that I offer for sale, called the Scrappy Signs Collection. I love being creative and this is a great way to do it.

Moving up to more sizeable items such as furniture, such items as tables, freestanding book cases, and benches, are all great projects for recycled barnwood.

Indoors recycled barnwood makes beautiful wainscoting for walls, in a room such as a home office, den, bedroom or sunroom. It makes beautiful built in shelving and a desk for a home office. It would also be nice on cabin walls for a rustic look.

Outside in the yard, here are a few ideas for repurposing old barnwood.

Build structures in the yard such as a pergola to support growing vines, and a porch swing. Build a raised bed garden, using reclaimed 2 x 6's for the beds. Surround the garden with a fence built out of tobacco poles taken from a barn loft.

Build a rustic potting bench, such as the one featured on one of my articles here oh Hubpages.

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And I have one other project that I will share with you.

This project is the main reason for going to the work of removing barns.

Use the barn siding, the 2x4's. 2x6's and any other useable wood to build a garden shed or workshop for a combination of both.

The garden shed project is the reason that I have barnwood. The cost of building the shed will be drastically reduced by using the recycled barnwood.

The look is rustic, which is perfect for the country style gardens in the backyard. It matches the privacy fence that is naturally weathered to gray. And I love the historic look and appeal of barnwood.

Each time something new is saved, when something old can be used in its place, that is a good thing in my opinion.

And the old barnwood, can be cleaned up, the rotted ends removed and become a beautiful material to work with, to create something really special.

Much more special then just going to the lumber store and buying a stack of new wood.

The next time you want to build something special, that looks old, rustic, or one of a kind, consider using reclaimed barnwood, from your area. Look online on sites like Craigslist or post a wanted ad for barnwood.

Sometimes you can purchase it from someone that has removed a barn and needs to sell the wood. Antique barnwood is very valuable and is great for many uses.

Some of the wood such as wormy chestnut is hard to find nowadays. So if you can get it, go for it, and build something beautiful for yourself.

Give it a try yourself, and share your experiences with us.