[Make it] DIY bamboo ladder - Jewellery storage

I have a bad habit. No, in fact, I have a few!

One of them is an unstoppable attraction to bright and shiny things, in this case, costume jewellery.

I have tried a few different options, but all of them resulted in having jewellery stashed in a heap of different places and boxes and never being able to find what you want and it having it out of sight so you forget you even have it.

So, I was looking for an option of how I could store my excess of necklaces and bracelets so I could see them when I was getting ready.

I considered getting a vintage ladder, as I quite like that look, but the vintage ladders in my area were going for $50+ which was a bit much.

So I thought of making my own ladder and  bamboo came to mind.

I saw this video on Youtube that inspired me but I also wanted the horizontal bamboo to be supported by the vertical bamboo and I didn't really want to drill any holes.

I found the bamboo at Bunnings in the gardening section. The pieces were loose but apparently they are to be sold in a 6 pack. I ended up getting the two verticals and two pieces that I made the horizontals for $2. Score.

These were the steps I took:

• I wanted the ladder to be narrow at the top than the bottom, so I laid out the two vertical poles at the width I wanted.

• I measured an equal distance down the vertical poles (approximately 30cm) and placed marking tape at each interval.

• I then measured the distance between each vertical pole at each of those intervals and measured that distance on the shorter poles.

• I cut the shorter poles with a hand saw while the pole was secured in a vice.

• The vertical pole was then cut 1/3 of the way through to create a notch for the horizontal pole to rest in. To get the notch out, once have sawed 1/3 of the way through, hit that area lightly with a hammer and the notched part will break out.

The masking tape was handy to get the broken bamboo out.

• Once all the notches were cut on the first vertical pole, I then mirrored those measurements onto the second vertical pole and cut them also.

• I then laid out the pieces on a flat surface and started tying with twine. They didn't have the twine I wanted at the hardware store so I purchased a twine that had 3 intertwined pieces and undid them and came out with the perfect thickness. I didn't really know what I was doing with the knots, so kind of  just did what I was comfortable with.

Thanks for helping, Stella.

Detail shot of the end knot.

 

• Once the knots were tied, I put a bit of hot glue on the back of the know to make sure they did not come undone. I then tied some rope around the bottom feet for aesthetics. My ladder will be on carpet, but if it was to be on floorboards, I would put some felt or floor protectors underneath to stop it scratching.

So, all in all, with the twine, the ladder cost about $10. The time it took me to make it was about 1/2 hr to measure and cut, 15 minutes to untangle the twine and about 20 minutes to do the knots.

Here are some detail shots. I took the photos in my lounge room as it has better light. The ladder is leaning up against part of my gallery wall.

I may do a post on that soon!

Let me know if you have any questions!