Vintage Ladder UpCycle: Blanket Organization ~ DIY Friday

After a hot season of summer I'm really enjoying the crisp cooler evenings.  Plus nothing else says the holidays are coming like cuddling up on my couch in a cozy blanket with a fire going.  What I don't like is wrangling with the blankets when they aren't wrapped around someone.  They're usually haphazardly thrown across a couch or stuffed in a cupboard, either way they become an unorganized hassle.  Now I'm bringing my blankets center stage (and organized) by displaying them during the day on a fun upcycle project,

an old vintage wooden ladder!

If you haven't noticed yet I've been decluttering my entire home room by room, task by task each week.  This week I worked on organizing my Living Room which also happens to be the place my blankets live.  I picked up this awesome vintage extension ladder this summer at a barn sale.  It had been laying outside for years and when I offered to give it a home the gentleman just gave it to me!  Woot woot!

This is just one half.  Some might not love the rusty details, but I do.

  Now it's not in the best shape.  You won't see me trying to scale up this old thing.  But to be used as a decorative blanket rack to help me organize my life it's just perfect.  All I really wanted to do was clean it up a bit.  But not the fantastic rust!  Just the dusty wood so I wouldn't get a handful of slivers when I touched it.

A simple once-over with a palm sander did the trick.  It cleaned off the dirt, brought out the character of the wood and smoothed out any deep dings in the ladder.

That's it!  I've contemplated painting it, and probably will one day.  Maybe not...but I just love how quick you can change the look of things with just a coat of paint.  Plus I still have the second half of my ladder just waiting to be used for something!

Fold a blanket to fit the width of the ladder, lay one end over a rung and tuck the other end behind a lower rung.  Fold and repeat!  

 Being an extension ladder it's really tall.  I lean it up against the double-sided fireplace I have between the dinning/living room (turned playroom) and our kitchen/family room/great room.  See how I decorated my Neutral Fall Mantle here. 

  So next time your out antiquing or barn sale'n look for an old vintage ladder and 

give it new life!  Happy organizing!

*With little ones around I highly recommend anchoring the ladder to the wall to prevent any boo-boo's or accidents*

How do you organize your cuddly blankets?  =)