Driftwood Nautical Lamp

As snow was falling this last winter, I was dreaming and planning of decorating our "new" boat. I had a Pinterest board that was rapidly filling up with rugs, pictures, pillows, etc. I wanted to play up the nautical theme, but I quickly learned there is a very fine line between chic nautical and cheesy nautical! One of the items that I fell in love with was this lamp from Get The Lighting:

Problem was, I couldn't swallow the $108 price tag! As I've thought I million times in life, I figured "I can make that so much cheaper." Only this time I actually did. How 'bout that?! For this project I started with a pretty straight hunk of wood. I knew I could count on my father-in-law and his endless supply of firewood, and I was right. He hooked me up with the perfect piece of Poplar from one of the recent tree losses in his yard. 

For this lamp project I used a combination of DIY tutorials I've learned over time on Pinterest. The first one was this tutorial on how to make any ol' piece of wood look like driftwood. I found that it didn't work exactly as easily as the blog implied. I really had to peel and scrape the bark off and I had to leave my wood in the solution for a lot longer than they indicated, but that may be a difference in type of wood/tree. I actually did like the way all of the extra soaking and sun drying put cracks and splits in the wood though. After a few days of soaking, a few times scraping and peeling bark, several days sun-baking and some sanding to round the edges, this is what I was left with:

The other thing that didn't turn out quite the way the DIY Driftwood blog post said was the color. The wood was still quite "fresh" looking and not nearly the aged color I was hoping for. I used a thin wash of my wood aging solution I also found on Pinterest. (I love this trick and use it a lot!) I also did a thin layer of Minwax stain in Sunbleached and dabbed on some random streaks of Weathered Grey. I was left with this as the final product:

I had my husband help, and my father-in-law donated the use of his drill press, and we put a 1/2" hole straight down the vertical center of the log. I also had John drill a smaller diameter hole down near the base of the lamp, perpendicular to the center hole so the cord would exit on the side rather than straight out the bottom. I used this inexpensive lamp kit from Menards to add the electrical component. 

For the rusty cleat on the side, which really gives that lamp a nautical touch, I purchased a cheap cleat from West Marine. When I got it, it was fully galvanized to prevent rusting , which you don't want on  dock of course. 

However, for a fun, weathered lamp, you want it rusty (of course!) I soaked it in straight vinegar for about 48 hours. That removed all of the galvanization. To add a layer of rust, I used YET ANOTHER Pinterest-learned trick (which I also use  LOT) and sprayed it with a solution of vinegar, peroxide and salt that I learned on this website. 

Pop on a cute Target shade and a bulb and it looks perfect in its new spot! Perfect for those rainy nights curled up on the couch watching a movie or reading.