DIY Painted Oars – Easy & Inexpensive Wall Art

I love anything that reminds me of a beach or a cottage and DIY painted oars are an inexpensive way of bringing a little bit of the oceanside to your home regardless of where you live!  

DIY painted oars are an easy project that lets you customize the colours and patterns so you can create something you love as wall art for your indoors or outdoors.

And if you want a little extra incentive to give this a try, consider how much some painted oars sell for!  Most are minimum $100 but you can make one for less than $40 easily and possibly even less depending on what supplies you already have at home.

I recently completed two DIY painted oar projects.  One was a makeover of an oar I painted a few years ago that hangs above the doors of our pool house.  It has held up well despite our snowy winters but it was starting to look a little worse for wear and needed a re-do.  The other was a 60th birthday gift for my brother-in-law who is a competitive paddler. My goal was to incorporate the name and colours of his canoe club into the design.

So follow along with these easy step-by-step instructions and learn how to paint an oar (or should I be saying paint a paddle?!) and you’ll have something beachy you’ll love!

Step 1 – Supplies You Will Need for DIY Painted Oars

• Oar
• Paint (acrylic or chalk paint work best)
• Paper’s Tape
• Paint Brush or Foam Brush
• Shellac (or spray varnish)
• Jute Rope
• Glue (my trusty E6000 works great)
• Fine Grit Sand Paper (optional)

Oar

I have a friend who has found a few oars that have been put out with people’s garbage… what a score!  However, I purchased both of my oars at Canadian Tire because they tend to go on sale frequently for 50% off. I only paid about $15 for one and $20 for the other.  I can’t wait to stumble across a really cool vintage oar at some point though!

Paint

I had most of the paint that I needed already due to my painting addiction that results in a pretty great at home paint shopping experience.  🙂 

However, I did raid my daughter’s acrylic crafting paint supply for the yellow that I needed. I also purchased a small sample pot of paint from Home Depot for the correct shade of blue.  

Although I used a few different varieties of paint (mostly because I just go with what I have whenever I can to keep it simple), acrylic craft paint and chalk paint work best.  Dollar stores have a great selection of acrylic craft paint that will work just fine.

Painter’s Tape

Although I never worry too much about things looking perfect, using a good brand of painter’s tape is important because it is what you use to create the design.  You want a painter’s tape that gives a crisp line when it’s removed.  I prefer to use Frog Tape brand because I find it works well for all of my DIY projects.

Fine Grit Sand Paper (optional)

Confession… I didn’t do any sanding of the oars before applying the paint.  But in the interest of being thorough, I have seen tutorials where they recommend sanding the whole thing so that the paint adheres better and then they varnishing the oar after.  However, I have about as much interest in sanding an oar as I do in eating french fries without a Diet Coke.  It’s not happening.

I also didn’t feel I needed this step for two reasons.  One is that my “pool house oar” is fully painted in Annie Sloan’s chalk paint first and that stuff sticks to everything!  Second, I knew I would shellac the “canoe club oar” and so long as the paint adhered, the paint job would be protected.  

Shellac (or spray varnish)

I discovered long ago that I struggle with a can of spray paint.  Don’t ask me why.  I find I can’t apply it consistently and it drips everywhere and seems to float through the air and stick to my face.  So, I’ve accepted it usually isn’t for me. I prefer to use shellac or polyurethane finish applied with a sponge brush.  I have way more control over where stuff goes when I use a brush instead of spraying it out of a can.

Note that I only covered the canoe club oar with Shellac because I wanted to make sure the words were well protected and didn’t peel away.  I didn’t bother with the pool house oar because I prefer the chalky finish and it held up well outside without a protective coat for the past four years.

Jute Rope

Adding the jute rope is the best step because it’s the perfect finishing touch that makes the oar look nautical and overall just awesome. You can find different thicknesses of jute rope at dollar stores so just choose what you like the look of.

Glue (E6000 works great)

You will need a bit of glue to attach the jute rope.

Step 2 – Choose Your Design & Colour Scheme

This is a fun part!  Check out some images online to get some inspiration for a design and colours you want to use.

I knew I wanted to add some red to my pool house oar and use the same navy blue paint colour that I had just used to re-paint the pool house doors (Benjamin Moore Newburyport Blue).  Ultimately I was going for a more traditional navy and red nautical look.

For the canoe club paddle, I wanted to use colours that matched the canoe club’s uniform colours.  Canary yellow and royal blue are definitely not colours I would have chosen otherwise, but they turned out to be true to the Balmy Beach Canoe Club’s colour scheme.

Step 3 – Use Painter’s Tape to Create Your Design

Depending on the design you would like, you may be able to use just the painter’s tape to get uniform spacing.  However, you could also use a ruler or even a protractor to get accurate angles.

Press the tape firmly in place so that you get a crisp line when the tape is removed.

I also printed an image of an anchor and made a DIY stencil out of a sheet protector but it took a bit of touch up and free hand to create the anchor.

Step 4 – Paint

Depending on the colour, you will need 2 or 3 coats.  I only needed 2 coats of the blue colours but I needed 3 of the red and yellow.  It really doesn’t take long at all to paint as the area to paint is so small.  

For the text, my friend was kind enough to spend some time with me matching fonts and printing stencils for me using her Cricut machine.  Thanks Crystal! 🙂

Step 5 – Remove Painter’s Tape While the Paint is Still Wet

Slowly remove the tape while the paint is still wet.  If you let the paint dry, it may peel up when you remove the tape.  If you really want to be extra careful, aim to pull it away on about a 45 degree angle and pull slowly, rather than just ripping it off at high speed!  

Step 6 – Admire

Take a few minutes to check out how cool it looks, congratulate yourself on being super crafty, and imagine that you most likely will become a millionaire by selling custom painted paddles.  Then move on.

Step 7 – Shellac

Like I mentioned previously, I didn’t shellac my pool house oar shown above because I prefer the matte, chalky finish of the white paint. However, I did use a foam brush to shellac the canoe club oar.  It took just a few minutes and went on really smoothly.  I suggest using 2 coats for a durable finish.

Step 8 – Wrap and Glue Jute Rope

I like to add jute rope in two places – near the top of the handle and near the bottom of the handle.  I started by spreading a bead of E6000 glue at the back (where it will be against the wall) and then run the cord vertically through the glue.  Next, carefully and tightly wrap the jute rope around so that you have filled the desired length on the oar handle.  Leave enough extra rope so that you can glue the end at the back.

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Again, admire your work and congratulate yourself for making your very own wall art on a budget.

To hang the oar on our pool house, we just drilled right through it and attached it directly to the building to keep in place through wind, rain and snow!  I just filled in the holes with a bit of wood filler and painted over it with the navy paint.

You could also attach picture hanging hardware to hang it or I really like the look of using the jute rope to create a loop to use for hanging as in the amazing image below.  I think I’ll try this look if I make another one and find a cool hook to hang it on.  

Now, pour yourself a drink and pretend you’re on the beach! For more DIY beachy decor, check out How to Create Pebble Art in 5 Easy Steps.

Thanks for reading! KJ 🙂

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