DIY A Coastal-Inspired Beach Sign for Your Home

Check out this easy tutorial for a DIY Painted Rustic Beach Sign – a gorgeous homemade wooden sign for you coastal beach-style home.

Hey there, everybody!  How are y’all doing?!  I am super excited to show you what I made!  I have been wanting this sign for my wall for literally 2 YEARS!!!  It wasn’t until I was shopping one day at Hobby Lobby that I came across this 24” x 48” sign blank for 50% off!  Eeeeeeeeeee!!!  I have 10-foot-tall ceilings so finding inexpensive wall décor that is large enough can be a little challenging to say the least!

This sign blank normally goes for $39.99, but with the discount, was only $19.99!  I can barely even type this without squealing!

A picture containing the front and back view of the sign blank

Materials Needed:

  • 24” x 48” sign Blank

  • Background paint – I used Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams because it matches my adjacent living room wall.

  • Paint for lettering – I used Apple Barrel Snow White

Tools Needed:

  • Medium-size foam brush for the background color

  • Small Flat Paintbrush for the lettering – I used a #10 Flat brush for acrylic paint

  • Wrapping paper or paper large enough to draw your letters on – I have even used newspaper for this

I knew that I wanted my sign to look well-worn, like it had been on the beach for years. 

So, when I started painting the background color, I pretty much dry brushed the whole thing.  By dry brushing I mean “a technique of painting in which a brush having a small quantity of pigment or medium is applied to or dragged across a surface.” What I did was I put paint on my brush and then swiped it across my rag or paper towel (whatever you want to use for clean-up) to get most of the paint off my brush and then applied the rest of the paint onto my sign.  This way you sign will look “weathered.”  Make sure your paint is completely dry before doing the next step.

Now, I would like to tell you that I used some scientific formula to make my letters, but…well…yeah.  Not so much!  What I did do was to place my wrapping paper across the surface of my sign and then I loosely drew out the letters to fit.  I bought a ton of brown and white craft paper after Christmas for 90% off.  I used the white for my letters.

A picture my beach sign with the lettering cut out and sitting on the top of the sign

Now don’t get discouraged making your letters.  I have been working with lettering for at least 50 years.  Wow…that’s a long time!  Besides, if your letters turn out a little wonky, even better!

A picture my beach sign from a different angle with the lettering cut out and sitting on the top of the sign

Now that I have my lettering how I want it, I taped the paper down to my sign and traced around each letter lightly with a pencil.

A picture of my lettering lightly drawn with a pencil

Using my #10 Flat brush, I painted inside the lines.  Use a wet paper towel or rag to wipe off any paint outside the lines.  I also used very little paint on my brush to give it that well-worn look.

Well, here she is!  It only took me 2 years to make, but I really LOVE it!

A picture of the finished sign hanging above my French doors in the dining room.

Now hopefully, I will be able to take the boarder off from around the room soon.  I have only been wanting to do that for 4 years! Lol

Let me know if you enjoyed this project!  I love hearing from you! 😊

-Danielle

Hi, I’m Danielle!

I am the designer, writer and diy’er behind this blog. I enjoy decorating my home for practically nothing by doing most of the work myself, finding new and imaginative ways to make it beautiful and by watching for killer sales. I find humor almost anywhere and can laugh at myself through it all. I have learned that most projects don’t go exactly as intended, but can be more beautiful than the original plan.

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