JessicaRose Home Decor: Farmhouse-Inspired DIY Cutting Board

***Disclaimer: Please make note that this is a DECORATIVE piece - I do not suggest using it to place, cut, prep, or serve your food on!!!

I've been going antiquing a lot lately & have noticed a lot of aged/rustic kitchen items that I wanted to somehow incorporate into my kitchen decor. I knew I wanted to arrange them on a cutting board, but I wasn't happy with the ones in stores - they were too new/modern looking. Not to mention they were so pricey - I didn't want to pay $20 for something I would only use for decorative purposes. So I decided to make my own instead - AND IT ONLY COST ME $3!!!!**

You will need the following materials:

2- 5/8 in. x 5-1/2 in. x 6 ft. Whitewood Dog-Ear Picket Fence - $1.55 each (Link Here)
Hand or Power Saw

Wood Glue
Hammer

Nails

Sandpaper - 220, 150, & 80 grit

Acrylic Craft Paint

Measure out the appropriate dimensions suitable for where you will be placing your chopping board. For reference, my dimensions ended up being approximately 22" long, 16" wide.

Using a hand or power saw, cut 6 - 22 inch pieces. Take one of the 6 pieces and cut that in half, vertically. Arrange them as shown to compose your top & bottom sections. The half piece will allow the top & bottom to connect together.

Top Section

Bottom Section (Don't mind those drill holes - I am using scrap wood)

Apply a liberal amount of wood glue in-between your bottom & top sections. Secure with nails. Let it dry overnight.


All glued together :)

Note: placement of nails

Next is to make this baby smooth to the touch! Because cedar wood so it splintery, it is important not to skip this step. I sanded first with 80 grit - then 150 - and finished with 220. Doing so will ensure that your paint goes on smoothly. It also slightly changes the coloring of the wood to more of a soft beige, which we want to peek through at the end.

The next subsequent steps involve a lot of layering different paints + one stain. This method is very important to the distressed finish. As I have said in my previous tutorials on distressing, layering similar yet juxtaposing colors allows them all to peak through when you sand away at them at the end.

Apply a very light layer of wood stain. Let dry overnight. I used Miniwax Wood Finish Stain in 'Jacobean', but feel free to use any brown stain.

Top Section

Bottom Section

Now time for painting. I didn't use any fancy paint - just cheap acrylic paint. I use 3 different colors and applied 4 layers - letting each layer dry in-between. My first layer consisted of Oyster Beige, painted as shown.

My second layer was White, which I applied all over and diluted by taking a damp paper towel and wiping away the excess after each application.

Initial application before wiping away the excess

Wiping away the excess with a damp paper towel

Half complete

Second layer complete

My third layer was Parchment, applying it randomly throughout, & wiping the excess with a (not damp) paper towel.

My fourth and final layer was White again, except this time I did not wipe away the excess.

Forgot to take a photo before I started sanding...whoops! But you get the picture ;)

Time to sand again. Each grit will serve a different purpose in how the paint will look. Sand at angles and with the grain of the wood to emphasize distressing. 80 grit will take off a generous amount of paint to allow the stain to peak through. So, be careful and specific in your application. Helpful tip: sand the ends for that wear-and-tear look & don't be hesitant to sand all the way to the original finish of the wood in some spots (shown below in the close-ups).

First couple of swipes using 80 grit

This is my favorite part because this is where all your hard work pays off, specifically those 4 tedious layers of paint we did earlier ;) 150 grit will subtly bring out the colors underneath the white top coat. Find a happy medium between not sanding harshly & sanding gently to accomplish this - hard to explain - you'll understand once you do it :) Do this sporadically throughout. As you can see in the image below, parchment & oyster beige are visible in these areas.