Blanket ladders! Such a great way to organize your blankets without taking up so much room AND bring extra warmth to your home. And I’m all about organization! But I’m not all about the cost that some places are selling them at. They range anywhere between $35-$200. $35 is not bad – especially from people who are hand making them – but $200 is WAY too expensive. What if I told you, though, how to easily make a beautiful blanket ladder without power tools for around $20? I will walk you through each step to create your own beautiful blanket ladder without spending a fortune. And when you’re finished, you’ll have a great piece to bring warmth and comfort to your home!
Step 1: Collect Your Supplies
Depending on what you already have in your home depends on what the final cost will be. But I will list every single piece we used and the approximate price (from Lowe’s and Walmart) in case you have to start from scratch.
Side note! Military families get 10% from Lowe’s using their MyLowe’s card (not a credit card…yay!). This will save you even more!
- Wood
These instructions are for a 5’x21” blanket ladder. If you want to change the height, it’ll change the size of 2×4’s to buy as well as the cost.
-2’’x4’’x10’: $4.34 (note: actual size of board is 1.5’’x3.5’’x10’.)
-2’’x4’’x92-⅝’’: $2.44 (note: actual size of board is 2”x4”x92-⅝’’.)
- Sandpaper
To effectively smooth the boards, you’ll need at least three different grit levels of sandpaper (about $3.00 for each pack):
-60 grit “coarse”
-100 grit “medium grit”
-220 grit “extra fine”
- Stain/Polyurethane (at Walmart)
-Miniwax 8fl oz. stain (your choice of color): $4.82
-Miniway Polyurethane: $4.97
-Brushes or cloth: find whatever you can around the house that you don’t mind using for stain and polyurethane!
Use whatever sealer you would like! If you don’t want to use any sealer, you don’t have to. The sealer helps to protect the stain from changing color over time and keep it from getting ruined by getting wet.
- Screws (at Walmart)
-Box of 50 – 3’’ interior screws: $2.97
-Screwdriver and elbow grease!
- Ruler/Tape Measure
Step 2: Get Your Boards Cut
You’ve figured out your board dimensions, you’ve bought your boards, now you have to cut them. But how are you supposed to cut the wood without power tools? I promise you don’t have to use a handsaw! Although it’s a killer workout if you want to give it a go. I have an easier way for you though. Many home improvement stores that sell lumber have a wood cutting station where they will cut your boards for free!
That’s exactly what I did. After I bought my wood at Lowes, I went to the back and had one of the employees saw my wood with their saw in the dimensions I needed. It’s free and you don’t have the mess or the cost of sawing the wood yourself.
Step 3: Sand the Boards
Starting with the coarsest sandpaper (60 grit), sand every single board on all sides and ends with the grain until it’s smooth. A good rule of thumb is to slowly rub your fingers along the grain. If you feel like you’ll get splinters by rubbing along it, sand a little more. When it’s smooth, you’ll be able to comfortably run your hand along the wood without worry.
Move onto the 100 grit sandpaper. Give it a good once over.
Move onto the 220 grit sandpaper. Give it another good once over.
It should be so soft and smooth now!
Step 4: Stain!
Read the directions on the can of stain to get a good idea of how to properly stain your boards. Depending on your desired level of color depends on how many coats you’ll put on. With our blanket ladder, we used one coat of Special Walnut.
Let it dry according to the directions on the can.
Step 5: Seal it!
Read the directions on the can of polyurethane or sealant to understand how to apply it best. Again, we only used one coat of poly because while we wanted the stain to be protected longer and have a slight shine, we also wanted it to retain a rustic look. Remember, this step isn’t required, but recommended.
Step 6: Measure it
I’m going to be completely honest with you, I pretty much eyeballed the slanted angles of each piece of wood. I set it up how I wanted and used something to prop it up underneath to maintain that angle. Then with a pencil, I outlined the ends of the “steps” on the inside part of the two 5’ sideboards. If you’re wanting to achieve perfection, get an angle square from the store:) They’re cheap, only about $3.00. I outlined where the ends would be placed on the sideboards so that I knew where to make the holes for the screws for the next step.
Figure out how far you want the top board to be placed from the top of the sideboards, the distance between each board, and the length between the bottom “step” board and the bottom of the blanket ladder. From the center of each “step” board, mine are about 9.5” from the top, 9-⅛” from each other, and about 14” from the bottom.
Step 7: Connect the pieces with screws
After you’ve figured out and drawn where you want the “step” boards to be placed, it’s time to make the holes for the screws. You’ll need 2 screws on each end of each board. This can be done without a drill! It just takes some muscle and elbow grease. With a screwdriver, guide the screw through the 5’ sideboards in each spot where the “steps” will go. This will take longer than using a drill, but totally cheaper if you don’t have one.
After each hole is made, you’ll need the help of someone else to hold the boards in the desired position and place pressure on the boards and sideboards to keep it in place while the other person screws the screw through the sideboards into the steps. This makes sure there will be no open space between the steps and sideboards. You don’t want the screw to be exposed in between. Again, this will take time. If anything, it’s a great workout!
Step 8: ADMIRE!
After all the pieces are screwed into the exact spots you want, stand it up and lean it against the wall. Congratulations! You’ve just finished creating your very own beautiful blanket ladder without power tools. Doesn’t it feel good? There’s something to be said about doing hard work with your hands.
Hang up your blankets on them and you’re completely and totally done. Enjoy your blanket ladder!
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When I was researching how to make a blanket ladder, everything out there (though quality information) required the use of high-powered, expensive tools or items that my husband and I just don’t have at this moment in our life. So, having a basic understanding of how to create it, we used basic tools – screwdrivers, sandpaper without a sander, etc. – and our own hands to create a beautiful blanket ladder for a fraction of the cost of a store bought blanket ladder. In total, we spent under about $15 for this blanket ladder using what we already had and our military discount at Lowes. If you’re starting from scratch, you could do it for $25 at the most!
Happy building!
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July 21, 2022
very clear and good article easy to understand. Thank you