If you’re like me, then you believe that IKEA is a magical land of clutter free organization.  Something about the never ending maze of baskets, dividers, and impossibly perfect small spaces always sparks my desire to go home and go through every nook and cranny of my house.  As of late, some of their organization options have tied in perfectly to the farmhouse look I’ve been going for but they remain a little too plain.  I found this set of hanging pots from the Fintorp Collection to begin with.  Once I got them home, I thought it looked just a little too plain for my style so I began brainstorming different options and I finally decided to mount the set on a thin piece of stained lumber.

Once the piece was stained I went to mount the set, but I started wondering what else could be done to add a little pizazz.  So I looked to my craft arsenal, and took stock of my options.  I finally settled on some dark green milk paint.  Applying a small amount thinly was the key for this project.  I didn’t extend all the way to the edge because I knew I would be sanding some of it off to create a more distressed look.

Once that dried, I stenciled this __ pattern with white milk paint.  I definitely should have thinned this out with a little water because it went on super thick and I wanted it to act more like a whitewash…but live and learn!

Once everything was dried, I went to town with the sanding block.  This is where I could definitely tell that the white needed to be thinned because sanding it started to blend the colors together.  I think that with a thinner coat of white paint it would have distressed much easier.

Once it was sanded down, Sean mounted the hanging set to the board and I chose the location!  I LOVE the way it all turned out…function, organization, and a little flair!